Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The year was 2016, and the game was supposed to be the biggest of her high school career. 

Point guard Kiara Smith (a.k.a "Kiki") was defending Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Player of the Year and future Maryland All-American Kaila Charles in the opening minutes of what turned out to be a defining moment in her basketball career. Charles, on the right wing, put the ball on the floor in the first quarter and when Smith turned to stop the drive her left knee gave out. She instantly knew. Smith limped to the sideline and all she could think about was the pain.

Smith had torn her ACL — for the second year in a row. 

The standout senior at Forestville (Md.) Military Academy was supposed to go to Syracuse that fall. 
 

Fast forward to the fall of 2019. Circumstances landed Smith at Florida, where she is the leading scorer for the Gators (4-0) heading into Friday's date against No. 18 Indiana (3-0) at Exactech Arena. Her journey to Gainesville was propelled by her resilience and positive outlook on life.

Smith, originally from District Heights, Md., first tore her left ACL in a summer-league game as a junior in high school and recalled not even noticing the injury.

"The first time it didn't hurt that bad, I would have never known that I had torn my ACL," she said. "But the second time, it hurt way worse."

Smith can remember the agonizing pain and instantly knew that she had shredded the ACL yet again while playing Charles and Riverdale. After her senior year, she decided to forgo attending Syracuse and opted for a more unconventional route: junior college. 

Smith wanted to take time to get her confidence back before she opened up her recruiting again. She never doubted her chances of playing Division I basketball and attributes her confidence to her family and its support system.

Smith's father, Keith Smith, remembers keeping his daughter's spirits high during a time when her future in basketball was uncertain. 

"We kept her encouraged and we were always there for her as far as not letting her give up on herself," he said. 

Smith redshirted her freshman year in the 2016-2017 season at ASA College in New York in order to rehab her left knee. What she did the next season justified the plan for her comeback, as she led ASA in points (16.7), assists (5.9) and steals (4.8) per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field as a redshirt freshman. 

With ASA totaling a 22-2 record on top of it, Smith playing Division I basketball was only a matter of time.

Enter Florida.

"The show is here," Smith said this week. 
 
These type of moments encapsulate what enticed Florida associate head coach Kelly Rae Finley to recruit Smith in the first place.

"She's got a lot of gifts and strengths centered around people," Finley said. "She's fun, she's engaging, she's understanding. She's been through a lot in her life, so she can relate to just about anything."

Finley loved what she saw from Smith as a person, and the feeling was mutual.

"I had a different relationship with Coach Kelly," Smith said. "I felt comfortable with her after our first conversation. I didn't feel like she was pressuring me or anything like that, and once I got on phone with Cam it was just the icing on the cake."

UF coach Cam Newbauer never hesitated when it came to recruiting Smith and he cites her "insatiable desire to be great" as a main proponent of her high stock. So far, Smith leads the Gators in scoring at 13.5 points and assists at 4.5 per, and checks in tied for second in rebounding at 6.8 a game. 

"She just wants more, she works, she has great enthusiasm and young people don't always have great enthusiasm to just work hard every single day," Newbauer said.

Smith committed to Florida and started her career as a Gator in the 2018-2019 season where it became apparent to the coaching staff and her teammates that Smith didn't take herself too seriously.

"She'll make everybody laugh and lighten the mood and just play so hard, and that I think is her greatest quality," Newbauer said. "That's also who she is as a person."

Finley described Smith as a "prankster" and her latest hijinks involved Smith using a "shock pen" to get a good laugh at the expense of the coaching staff and her teammates.

Smith's father knows his youngest daughter's antics all too well.

"I always tell her 'you play too much,' " Keith said with a chuckle. "I always tell her that … always doing something to get a laugh."

Forward Zada Williams believes that Smith's humor and ability to relate to others is her best quality when it comes to being a leader for the Gators.

"She's definitely goofy, but fun, loving, caring, she has such a positive attitude, she makes the whole room light up when she walks in," Williams said. "She finds a way to make the best of any situation. She's never too down on herself or anyone else, she's just a great person to be around." 

Despite the quirks and pranks, the 5-foot-10 left-handed guard is a flat-out work horse for the Gators.

Smith is averaging 34.5 minutes a game and has been asked to be a jack of all trades to lead Florida this season.

"She's got to do a little bit of everything for us and she knows that," Finley said. "She's our floor leader."

Smith's emergence and charisma have propelled the Gators to the best start to a season since Newbauer's arrival to Florida in 2017. Perhaps Smith's father can be credited for the team's early success as a good luck charm. He made the 12-hour drive from Maryland to Gainesville on Nov. 4 and UF has yet to lose a game since he arrived to support his daughter.
 

Keith Smith made the 800-mile trek in an RV and the father of four gushed with pride when asked what Smith's success meant to him.

"I'm so proud of her," Keith said. "When I get to see her on the court, see her on the screen … I can't even describe the happiness I feel."

Father will be there Friday to watch the Gators and Hoosiers, as the home team seeks to start the season 5-0, which the Florida women's program has not done since 2000. 

The UF coaching staff wasn't hesitant when recruiting a player who tore the same ACL twice and so far, her progression has left its head coach pleasantly surprised.

"She's become a far better player than what I thought she would be," Newbauer said. "I thought she would be good for us, but I didn't think she would have the impact she's had and then still continue to grow as a player and as a leader on the court for us right now is really special."

The show is here to stay.