Don Ryan/AP
Louisville guard Russ Smith speaks at a news conference in Portland, Ore., Friday before the Cardinals battle Kentucky for a spot in the national championship.
NEW ORLEANS Louisville has brought to this Final Four a very compelling wild card named Russ Smith.
The 6-foot reserve guard out of Archbishop Molloy High in Queens is as unpredictable as they come. The sophomore scored 30 against national semifinal opponent Kentucky when the Cards lost, 69-62, on Dec. 31, the most points scored against the Wildcats this season. He did the rabbit ears behind Rick Pitino during a national television interview after he totaled 17 against New Mexico as the Cards reached the Sweet 16.
His improvisation has included very bad moments in games when Pitino has chewed him out. It also led him to end one such incident by saying ok, coach, now lets hug. Hes the reason Louisville players use the phrase Russdiculous.
Hes not from another country, hes from another planet, Pitino said.
Asked for his riff on Pitino Friday after practice, he replied Hed kill me: I already gave him the bunny ears.
My (antics) definitely get him over the edge. But as long as I give my A effort and . . . make some good plays, he can definitely deal with it, Smith said of Pitino.
Smiths father, Russ Smith Sr., is a long-time friend of Pitino and ran Big Russ Barber Shop in Harlem, a place visited by President Bill Clinton, Stephon Marbury and former NBA player Rashad McCants. Smith Jr. was the MVP of a Pitino-run camp in Louisville he attended as a middle schooler. But Pitino didnt want to recruit him, even after he led the CHSAA in scoring twice and played well at South Kent (Conn.) Prep, because he remembered a short kid. Former assistant coach Ralph Willard straightened him out.
Ralph kept hitting me, saying, Thats the kid you should go after. Pitino said. I said, Russ Smith? I knew his dad when he was Russ age. . . . Hes 5-foot-8.' Ralph said, No, Rick, he was 5-foot-8 in the eighth grade. Hes 6-foot now.
All it took was one campu s visit by father and son and the deal was sealed.
This week upon taking a call from Molloy coach Jack Curran, Smith said: Hes very proud of me. When I came into Molloy I was very short, like 5-2. . . . I worked hard every day, and coach Curran respected it. I wasnt as good as some of those players he coached, like Sundiata Gaines or Kenny Smith and Kenny Anderson, but I tried my best during the games.
Hell be doing that again Saturday, but no one knows what to expect.
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