Mitchell 'Mitch' Smith (born 4 September 1966) is former professional basketball player. He played most of his career in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He graduated from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

with a B.Sc. degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

in 1989.

High school

As a senior in high school he averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds while leading Alhambra High School to a state championship.

College

After his senior year of high school, Smith was in high demand among college recruiters. He recalls that 56 coaches came to his house seeking his sports abilities for their team.

Lynn Archibald Lynn J. Archibald (September 27, 1944 – May 28, 1997) was an American college basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach at Idaho State University and the University of Utah. Early life Born in Logan, Utah, Archibald moved to Oreg ...

persuaded him to play for

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. His career numbers at Utah are still among the best in the school record books. In addition to top-10 marks in rebounding, blocked shots and minutes played, Smith is currently in 10th place on the Utes' all-time scoring list with 1,628 points, right behind Tom Chambers and just ahead of

Andre Miller Andre Lloyd Miller (born March 19, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player and the current head coach for the Grand Rapids Gold. Miller has played professional basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Phi ...

and Nick Jacobsen. As of 2017, he still ranks high on the school’s career lists for scoring (10th), rebounding (fourth), blocked shots (third), free throws (eighth), and steals (seventh).

Professional career

He spent most of his professional career in

and played for

Pınar Karşıyaka Pınar is a common feminine Turkish given name A Turkish name consists of an ''ad'' or an ''isim'' (given name; plural ''adlar'' and ''isimler'') and a ''soyadı'' or ''soyisim'' (surname). Turkish names exist in a "full name" format. While th ...

, Nasaş, PTT Ankara, Fenerbahçe, Netaş and Kayseri Meysuspor. He also played for

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

and Las Rozas in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, for

Spirou Charleroi Spirou Basket, commonly known simply as Spirou, is a Belgian professional basketball club that is located in Charleroi. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier of basketball in Belgium. The club's home arena is the Spiroudome which ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Honours

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

* ''Runners-up'': 1994–95

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

* ''Runners-up'': 1991–92 Turkish Presidential Cup * ''Winner'': 1994–95

Belgian League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

* ''Champion'': 1997–98

Belgian Supercup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, t ...

* ''Winner'': 1997

References

External links

Official LinkedIn PageTurkish League Profile
1966 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American Latter Day Saints Latter Day Saints from Arizona Basketball players from Phoenix, Arizona American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Converts to Mormonism Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Karşıyaka basketball players High school basketball coaches in the United States Power forwards Utah Utes men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen {{1960s-US-basketball-bio-stub