UALR guard gone
UALR’s men’s basketball team is one player shorter. Coach Steve Shields announced Tuesday that the school and DeVonte Smith, a senior guard from Oklahoma City, have agreed to part ways. Smith played in 21 games this season, starting 8, and averaged 2.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 21.8 minutes a game.
The only thing that has kept DeVonte Smith out of UALR’s starting lineup the past month has been disciplinary measures. The senior guard from Oklahoma City will now be out of it permanently.
UALR Coach Steve Shields announced Tuesday that he had mutually agreed to part ways with Smith, a point guard who has played in 21 games this season and started eight. Shields cited the birth of Smith’s son in October as one of the reasons for the split.
Smith was suspended from UALR’s victory 69-61 victory over Texas State on Saturday. On Jan. 22, Smith was suspended for the first half of a victory over Troy because he missed a weight-lifting session the previous day.
“Since the birth of DeVonte’s son in October, he’s obviously had to take on much more responsibility in his personal life,” Shields said in a statement. “We met Monday and mutually agreed that it was in both of our best interests for him to step away from basketball for the remainder of the season.”
Shields said Smith will stay on scholarship the rest of the semester and is expected to graduate in May with a degree in criminal justice.
Smith averaged 2.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 21.8 minutes per game this season.. He had 38 assists, third-most on the team, and scored a season-high eight points against Louisiana-Lafayette on Jan. 30.
Smith was more productive for the Trojans last year after transferring from South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. He started the final 28 games, averaging 5.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 28.0 minutes per game. He had 97 assists and his 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio led the Sun Belt Conference and ranked 17th in NCAA Division I.
This year he started playing behind point guard J.T. Thomas but seemed to have found a spot in the starting lineup. He has started seven of UALR’s last nine games, only missing two starts because of suspension.
After missing the first half against Troy on Jan. 22, he helped spark UALR to a 73-65 victory. He then started the next four games before missing Saturday’s game because of his suspension.