Collin Smith

After one year at Butler, Russel Smith has signed with Sam Houston State University and will be a member of the Bearkats basketball team next season. Smith played in all 30 games for the Grizzlies. Smith lead the team in rebounding with 7.5 boards per game, and was second in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game.

The Kansas City native spent one year with the Oral Roberts University basketball program before transferring to Butler Community College.

Sam Houston State is a NCAA Division 1 University located in Huntsville, Texas and is a member of the Southland Conference. In the last decade, the Bearkats have been the winningest program in the conference.

“He was great for us. He’s an unbelievable kid, a hard worker, and was really the foundation of our team.” said Butler men’s basketball coach Bryan Miller.

“From a basketball standpoint, he’s got all the tools. He’s really long and athletic. He’s also tough. There’s no back-down in him at all. He’s a very versatile kid that can score in the post, he can face up from the perimeter, and he can knock down threes, so he has a lot of versatility to his game and he’ll continue to get better and better as they develop him with three years left to play.”