From Newsday.com:

Adelphi's Smith on verge of history

by Steven Marcus
Published February 15, 2008

The gem was in her own back yard, but Adelphi women's basketball coach Kelley Watts had no way of knowing that nearly four years ago when a fellow coach suggested she watch Gianna Smith play basketball at Waldorf School in Garden City.

College basketball players are rarely spawned from the academically tough-athletically light schools in the Independent Private Parochial School Athlete League [IPPSAL]. Smith was having a nice career at Waldorf - she had over 1,300 points in four varsity seasons - but as Watts observed, "It wasn't like [recruiters] were beating down her door."

Fast forward to today. Smith, a 5-11 forward, is on the verge of becoming Adelphi's all-time leading scorer, needing just 58 points to break Kendra Koneski's 12-year-old record of 1,519. She has at last five games remaining. "That's awesome," said Koneski, who works in Manhattan for a manufacturer and designer of precious diamonds and is rooting for Smith. "It is something to be proud of, a recollection of your achievements. It is something pretty special."

Koneski has no problem seeing her record surpassed. "It's almost like a legacy passing it along [to Smith]," she said. "You pass it down to generations like a family heirloom."

Smith still has to pinch herself to believe what has transpired over her career, saying, "I wasn't planning on going to college to play basketball. I didn't think it was a possibility. I was applying to Syracuse, Rhode Island, places down south, Fordham and Stony Brook. I never thought of playing basketball. Truthfully, it [the record] is shocking to me every day. I thought I'd just come in, play my role and do what I'm supposed to do. Coach saw something in me and knew I had the talent to play at Adelphi. There were actual plays, something we never had [at Waldorf]. And I was playing with teammates who had actually played basketball before."

Watts wanted Smith the moment she saw her at Waldorf. "It was like `Oh my, here is a grown woman playing with little kids,' " Watts said. "She was coachable, athletic, long and lean." Smith was invited to watch Adelphi practice, which was like a WNBA camp compared to Waldorf. Watts said to Smith: "Do you think you can handle this?" Watts said Smith responded, "Well, looking at this, we barely practice two days a week let alone at your pace, but I'll give it my best shot. That's the attitude she had. There was no way I would predict her setting a record but after her first year I as blown away. She almost averaged a double-double in points and rebounds as a freshmen. I then knew this young lady was going to be fantastic."

Smith also carries a 3.3 grade point average, is president of the Student Advisory Board, coordinates programs for community fundraising and is a prominent role model for young women of color as Adelphi commemorates Black History Month.

Smith grew up in nearby Hempstead and her inspiration for basketball was her brother, Charles, who also played at Waldorf but not in college at Stony Brook. "We never even had a basketball court at our house," Smith said. "I was an athletic kid and I was tall so I think it came naturally to me."

At Adelphi, former post players such as Carlyshia Hurdle and Courtney Carpenter helped Smith learn the position college-style and she made it her own. Watts said Smith's game is similar to Koneski. "Kendra was undersized; both played against many post players taller and stronger. Both can play away from the basket."

Hurdle went on to a pro career overseas and Smith, an intern for the WNBA Liberty, dreams of pro ball for herself. "Of course, I'd like to pursue it,'' she said. "But that is going to take a big step. It it a whole other level."

So was Adelphi.

e-mail:steven.marcus@newsday.com