Kendall Smith Proves His Value Early in Oklahoma State’s Season

You can’t replace Jawun Evans. We all knew that coming into the year. No. 1 was arguably the best point guard of the last two decades in Stillwater, and Brandon Averette + anyone wasn’t going to match what he brought to the table.

But when Kendall Smith graduated and transferred from Cal State Northridge, there was a curiosity about what exactly he would be. Surely this guy who averaged a 17-5-1 line in the Big West last year and was good enough to originally go to UNLV could fill in OSU’s void at the 1.

In the first game of the season against Pepperdine, Smith had an impressive 10-4-8-3 line but only went 3 for 11 from the field. He took long 2s and never seemed comfortable with his role within the offense.

Then on Monday against Charlotte, it clicked. Smith went 8 for 13, had 19 points, 6 boards and 3 assists and did it all in just 23 minutes on the court. He still took a couple of ill-advised shots (you’re not in the Big West anymore, Kendall!), but it became obvious that he was a big-bodied creator that, along with Averette, could match maybe 80 percent of what Evans did.

“He was in the right frame of mind defensively and that’s when I think it started,” said Mike Boynton. “Then he was able to get a couple baskets to go early and that’s what got us going on the offensive end and then he felt he could challenge (Jon) Davis on the other end of the court.

“But also he continues to find a way to help his teammates to get better. He only three assists tonight, but he pushes the ball and puts pressure on the defense and he’s got to continue to develop that way.”

Smith is clever with the ball at times, but he’s also a load to guard. That’s a good thing for the kind of offense Boynton has run thus far.

Smith can both play off the ball and create off the dribble, as he showed on Monday.

“Being a new member of any team, you want to take a back seat until things are developed,” said Smith who also noted that his dad told him to hang in until his shot started falling.

“That was my initiative coming in early. Just to move the ball and see where guys wanted their shots and let the offense come to me. Today (against Charlotte) I was a little more aggressive and found my shot early.”

Smith has a gear that makes you gasp, and sometimes it gets him in trouble. But he seems intent on both scoring and distributing, and capable of doing both in bunches.

Allison Gappa caught up with the "Dunk Master" and Kendall Smith after the game. #okstate pic.twitter.com/hkLzXDeY1q

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) November 14, 2017

He still gets a little out of his world at times, as Gundy would say, but he also plays with a maturity OSU lacks at a lot of positions. I’m not positive how his final season of college hoops is going to go, but I do think he has a chance to be a real asset for Boynton’s squad. And they can use all of those then can get.