Pallotti Athletic Hall of Famer Returns to Hoop Roots

Rick Smith, a member of the athletic Hall of Fame at St. Vincent Pallotti High in Laurel, had hoped to continue his basketball career after he scored more than 1,000 points at Division I Marist in New York.

After he graduated from college he headed for a showcase in Budapest, Hungary in 2002 and later that year took part in a tryout camp at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond for potential pros.

But nothing worked out so Smith, part of a nationally-ranked team at Pallotti, decided it was time to enter the real world. "It just did not work out. Do I keep trying (for pro hoops) or get a job? You are not going to make a lot of money (overseas) unless you are a big-time player," Smith told Patch on Monday.

Eventually Smith, who grew up in Bladensburg, got involved in law enforcement and today he works as a police officer for The Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. But basketball is something that Smith, a former Laurel resident who now lives in Howard County, can not let go of. He has started part-time work as a basketball trainer/fitness coach.

Beginning June 4 Rick Smith Basketball, in conjunction with Peak Performance Fitness, will hold a summer basketball clinic for ages 10 to 15. The two-hour clinics will focus on conditioning, defensive drills, including stance and footwork, and offensive drills, with a focus on ball handling, shooting and passing. The sessions will be held June 4, 11, 18 and 25 at the Howard County Sports Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Smith, a wing player in high school, was part of a Pallotti team that advanced to the championship game of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) in 1998 before falling to powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High of Hyattsville in a game at American University. That DeMatha team included two future NBA players: Joseph Forte and Keith Bogans. Forte played in college for North Carolina while Bogans played at Kentucky.

Smith played at Pallotti, now a member of the MIAA, with several other future college players: David Morris and Nate Green (Dayton), Austen Rowland (Delaware and Lehigh) and Kenny Whitehead (Charlotte and JMU). Morris and Green were recruited to Dayton by then-head coach Oliver Purnell, a Maryland native and former assistant coach with the Terps who is now the head coach at DePaul.

Morris, Green, Whitehead and Rowland all played pro basketball in Europe, and Rowland has been with a team in France this season. Smith was an all-county player at Pallotti and was an all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player at Marist.

While Smith did not play overseas, he has remained in shape while working in law enforcement. Last July he got a black belt in street combat, a form of mixed martial arts. He learned several disciplines, including Kung Fu, boxing and knife and gun disarming.

And he has began working with young basketball players in the past few years. "I really like doing the one-on-one stuff," Smith said. "I feel I can get more information out and improve kids a lot better one-on-one. Some kids may be deficient in one area."

For more information on the clinic in June go to www.ricksmithbasketball.com