OSU Seniors Reflect Ahead of Final Regular-Season Home Game: Kendall Smith

It didn’t take a full season for Kendall Smith to discover which conference in Division I basketball was the best.

“By far the best conference in college basketball,” Smith said of the Big 12. “Top to bottom, competitive. You’re in for a dogfight every night. As a competitor, that’s what you want. You wanna play against the best players. If you come to the Big 12, you get that opportunity.”

A graduate transfer from Cal State Northridge who also had experience at UNLV, Smith said he believes he has challenged himself at Oklahoma State. The Big 12 Tournament and either the NIT or NCAA Tournament are challenges that lie ahead, but first, Smith and the Cowboys must face the challenge No. 6 Kansas presents on senior night.

Smith was instrumental in OSU’s Feb. 3 victory against KU, leading all scorers with 24 points. He was also money from the free-throw line, draining free throw after free throw in front of a hostile Allen Fieldhouse crowd.

Should Smith find himself on the charity stripe late Saturday, there won’t be thousands of fans screaming at the top of their lungs. Instead, there will be silence followed by cheers, assuming he’s able to replicate the clutch performances he has seemed to make a habit this season.

Smith will be remembered for those performances. For the pair of clutch shots against OU in Bedlam. For those free throws in Allen Fieldhouse. For his comeback stretch after being benched in favor of Brandon Averette early in the season.

“It was phenomenal, man,” Smith said of his lone season at OSU. “We had a lot of great positions, won a lot of great games. Just the journey of it all was beautiful. I’ve enjoyed every day that I’ve been here.”