LOUISVILLE, Ky.—During halftime of Saturday’s contest between No. 4 Duke and No. 6 Louisville, the Cardinals honored the 1979-80 team, which captured the first of the school’s three national titles. Former players who had returned for the game were introduced one by one, reuniting 35 years after bringing home the hardware.
But one of the key players on that year’s team was absent.
Derek Smith—the late father of former Blue Devil point guard Nolan Smith—was a sophomore on the 1980 title team, scoring 14.8 points and grabbing 8.3 rebounds per game in a starting role. At 6-foot-6, he was a three-time All-Metro Conference honoree and won Metro Conference Player of the Year in his junior campaign.
After a nine-year NBA career with five teams, Derek Smith became an assistant for the Washington Bullets. Then, while on a cruise in August 1996, he suffered a major heart attack and passed away at age 34.
Smith ranks sixth in Louisville history with 1,826 career points. He was represented at Saturday’s halftime ceremony by his daughter, Sydney. Nolan Smith was unable to attend the ceremony after tearing his ACL Friday while playing for Delaware in the NBA D-League.
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When the Blue Devils cut down the nets in Indianapolis in 2010, Derek and Nolan Smith became just the third father-son duo to both win national championships. Both won their titles in Indianapolis. Nolan Smith had 13 points and four assists when the Blue Devils took down Butler 61-59 for their fourth title April 5 and played all 40 minutes.
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