Rutgers-Newark Athletics

By Jim Hague

One of the biggest heroines in leading the Rutgers-Newark women’s basketball team to its first-ever appearance in the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship game was an absolute unknown commodity before she arrived on the campus of R-N last fall, asking for a chance to play.

Brittany Smith, who scored nine points, including the basket that put the Scarlet Raiders in front for good, and collected eight rebounds in the Scarlet Raiders’ 54-51 upset of Kean that put them in the NJAC title game against William Paterson Saturday, spent time at two different NCAA Division I schools before arriving in Newark last September.

Smith was a standout player at Salem High School in southern New Jersey, eventually becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,623 points, leading her team to consecutive NJSIAA South Jersey Group I championships her sophomore and junior years.

Despite her fine high school resume, Smith did not receive any scholarship offers to college and decided to attend Rutgers University in New Brunswick and try to make the famed Scarlet Knights’ roster as a walk-on.

“I was a practice player at Rutgers for a year,” Smith said. “I wanted to give it a try to see if I could make it.”

Smith remained as a practice player for one year, but when that year ended, coach C. Vivian Stringer decided not to give Smith a scholarship. Smith remained as a student in New Brunswick for a bit, then transferred to Monmouth University with the hope of playing basketball there.

But a coaching change hurt Smith’s chances of actually playing for the Hawks. Disenchanted with college basketball, Smith walked away from college for almost three full semesters.

“It was tough for me,” Smith said. “I found the whole thing to be mentally draining. I needed to take some time off. I always had the hope of playing basketball in college. But after what happened to me, I started to realize that maybe it just wasn’t possible. Maybe I needed to rethink my strategy.”

Smith decided to enroll at Rutgers-Newark to continue her pursuit for a degree in business management. Once she enrolled at R-N, Smith realized one thing.

“I really missed playing basketball,” Smith said. “I also remembered that I was always a better student when I was playing sports. So I thought it would be best for me if I joined the team here.”

Smith reached out to R-N head women’s basketball coach Kevin Morris and inquired about joining the team.

“Honestly, I never heard of her,” Morris said. “I can’t take credit for recruiting her. She called us and asked if she could play. I figured that if she was already practicing at the Division I level, then she could probably play for us. She wanted to continue her education at Rutgers and wanted to give it a try. We were glad to have her.”

Morris realized over the summer that Smith had the ability to fit right in. But he also noticed another aspect about Smith’s game.

“She plays so hard all the time,” Morris said. “She doesn’t leave anything out there when she plays. She dives after loose balls and it’s unbelievable how she comes up with loose balls. In all my years of coaching, I’ve never seen anyone like her. She runs the floor well. She gets after rebounds that no one else has a business getting. She never gives up going after the ball. She defends well. Brittany does all the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. She can jump and has great timing when she jumps.”

Morris knows that he can’t expect Smith to play that hard all the time.
“She can’t go that hard for more than 15 minutes,” Morris said. “No one can. So we put her in and take her out.”

“I’ve always played like that,” Smith said. “I have to work hard all the time. I wish I could go 40 minutes playing like that, but it’s impossible. I’d rather go hard for the time I’m out there than take it easy. I love playing that way. It’s just how I play.”

Smith said that she knew she had to prove herself all over again when she arrived in Newark.

“I’ve been that way all my life,” Smith said. “I’m from Salem and no one even knows where that is. I’ve played AAU and had to prove myself there that I belonged. I think it was perfect for me to come here and have to prove myself. I always want to be the best player I can be.”

Smith said that she got her athletic spirit and drive from older brothers Corey, who was a four-year football player at the University of Cincinnati, and Cameron, who also played competitive sports.

“I learned from them that I should always want to be the best,” Smith said.

Smith has averaged 5.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 25 games and has recently become a mainstay in the Scarlet Raiders’ starting lineup.

“It’s a beautiful thing that I’ve finally got myself together,” Smith said.

“Everything is clicking right now and I plan on it staying that way. If I never decided to come to Rutgers-Newark, I never would have gotten the chance to play college basketball. That’s the good news. Now, look where we are.”

“We’re playing 40 minutes for the right to be conference champs and the right to go to the NCAA Tournament,” Morris said. “Brittany has a lot to do with that. She’s been a key.”

Smith doesn’t know what the future holds. She has one year of eligibility remaining and would love to return for another season with the Scarlet Raiders. But she also will have enough credits to graduate in the fall.

“I don’t have it all figured out yet,” said Smith, who already works as an independent contractor for a financial service company. “I’m very passionate about what I do. I also may explore the work force, or I could go to grad school.”

It could another go-round with the Scarlet Raiders for the young lady who know one in Newark knew seven months ago, but they certainly know now.