Stanford’s Aussie forward is feeling more at home
Alanna Smith and her father, Darren, like to talk about her Stanford basketball games afterward. But it’s not always easy with the two being 17 time zones apart.
Darren and his wife, Simone, watch the games on Pac-12 Networks in Melbourne, Australia. “He’s always telling me things to work on,” Alanna said.
Basketball runs in her family. Her father played professionally for 12 years in Australia. His twin, Jason, played at Cal Lutheran, captained the national team (nicknamed the Boomers), played in the Olympics, and played in Australia’s National Basketball League. Alanna’s aunt, Jo Straatsma, played professionally, too.
Alanna hopes to play on the women’s national team, the Opals (named after the country’s national gemstone).
Stanford’s first overseas recruit in women’s basketball is steadily improving as a reserve forward for the No. 10 Cardinal (15-3, 5-1 Pac-12), who host Arizona (11-6, 2-4) on Friday night and No. 18 Arizona State (13-4, 4-2) on Sunday afternoon.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore forward averages 6.1 points and 4.9 rebounds and is second on the team in blocks (23). In 20 minutes against Oregon two weeks ago, she scored 24 points.
“She runs the floor really well,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “She’s knocking her three down. She’s grabbing rebounds. She’s very physical, which we need coming up this weekend. I think she has fantastic potential.”
Smith was able to visit and work out on the Farm during the recruiting process because she already had graduated from high school, Wesley College in Melbourne, in 2014. Then she spent nine months training at the Institute of Sport in Canberra.
Her first year at Stanford was rough, partly because she was homesick.
“I had a lot of time off because we graduate earlier than American high schools do,” she said. “Coming back and going headfirst into school was a bit challenging.”
But in a year, she has gotten much more comfortable in the American game.
“I wasn’t as much of a scoring threat last year as I am this year,” she said. “I’m looking to go to the basket more. I’m looking for my shot more.”
She’d like to follow her mother and sister into psychology, specifically, sports psychology. Working with sports psychologists at the Institute of Sport sparked her interest in that field.
Smith has played in three international tournaments. Her under-19 Australian team placed third at the FIBA Women’s World Championship in Chekhov, Russia, in 2015 after a qualifying tournament in Fiji the previous year. She also played on the U-17 team in Amsterdam in 2012.
Smith played soccer and tennis as a youngster and didn’t get into basketball until she was 12. “I grew up watching basketball, but my dad didn’t want to push me into it,” she said.
She received a painful but ultimately rewarding break when she fell on a playground in seventh grade and fractured her right wrist. For a year, she could shoot and dribble only left-handed, helping her become ambidextrous.
She considered attending Wake Forest and Texas but was intrigued with the idea of being VanDerveer’s first foreign recruit. “That was really special to me,” she said. “It helped me make my decision.’’