Stevin Smith

Infobox NBA Player
name = Stevin Smith
nickname = "Hedake"
league =
team = Free agent
height_ft = 6
height_in = 1
weight_lbs = 195
position = Shooting guard
birth_date = birth date and age|1972|1|24
birth_place = Dallas, Texas, U.S.
former_teams = Somontano Huesca (1994-95)
Dallas Mavericks (1997)
Dynamo Moscow (2004-06)
Legea Scafati (2006-07)
college = Arizona State University
nationality = United States
draft_team =
draft_year =
career_start = 1994
career_end =
awards =

Stevin L. "Hedake" Smith (born January 24, 1972) is an American professional basketball player and former college star. Smith is perhaps best known for being a central figure in a point shaving scandal while playing for the Arizona State University basketball team in 1993-1994.

Early life

Smith was born in Dallas, Texas and was an outstanding high school basketball player. He was recruited to Arizona State by basketball head coach Bill Frieder.

Smith received his unique nickname "Hedake" (stemming from "headache") as a child for his precocious, and sometimes mischievous nature.

College career

Smith was an All-PAC-10 Conference point guard for Arizona State University from 1991 through 1994, twice leading the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament.

Point-shaving scandal

During his senior season at Arizona State, Smith and teammate Isaac Burton took part in a conspiracy with fellow ASU student and bookmaker Benny Silman to fix four games during the 1993-1994 season, originally saying it was because of a gambling debt. Following the end of his prison term he publicly confessed they both had agreed to fix the games and had lied to escape a longer prison term. Silman in turn received an extended 4 year sentence because of this (compared to Smith's 10 months).

The point shaving did not come to light for a few years after that season, and Smith began to pursue a career in professional basketball.

In 1997, the first rumors of the ASU point shaving scandal came to light. Smith later worked out a plea bargain with federal prosecutors, giving testimony against Silman in exchange for a one-year prison term. Smith was incarcerated from December 1999 until October 2000. Shortly before entering prison, he told his story in "Sports Illustrated" magazine and also in speeches to other college basketball players, encouraging them not to repeat his mistakes.

Professional basketball career

After failing to make an NBA team after leaving college in 1994, Smith took his game overseas, playing for the Spanish team Somontano Huesca during the 1994-95 season. Over the next four years, Smith played for teams in Turkey, France and in the CBA.

During the 1997 NBA season, Smith signed two consecutive 10-day contracts with the Dallas Mavericks, and received his only NBA playing time to date. He played 60 minutes over eight games, scoring 14 points for a 1.8 per-game average.

After his release from prison in 2000, Smith returned to Europe and his professional basketball career, playing for three different teams based in France from 2001-03, in the Israeli League in 2004 and for Dynamo Moscow in Russia for two seasons until 2006. In 2006-07, Smith joined Legea Scafati of the Italian Serie A league. [ [http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=ITA&Team=2123 EUROBASKET - Legea Scafati Basket basketball - team details, stats, news, roster ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smithst02.html NBA statistics] @ basketball-reference.com