Get To Know Liz Smith
9/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sept. 2, 2011
By Andrea Lewis, Media Relations Student Assistant
While Liz Smith may seem like a typical college student- she listens to R&B music and watches Law & Order: Special Victims Unit marathons on Tuesdays-she is much more than that. Smith is a collegiate athlete who takes her sport very seriously.
Smith did not start playing basketball until eighth grade but right when she began playing she knew it was the sport for her.
"When I started it was [as if] this is what I've been doing my whole life," she said. "I think it was my sophomore year I wanted to start playing AAU basketball and not in school programs."
Even when she made that decision, her father told her that she needed to show her commitment to the sport. She proved it to herself and everyone else.
"I started going to practices and everything. That's when I kind of started to figure stuff out and by my junior and senior year I was like, `Okay, I want to play. I want to get a scholarship and play,'" Smith said.
In order to fulfill her wishes, Smith needed to get recruited by coaches. It was, as Smith puts it, "luck" that got her noticed and recruited by Coach Conrad of Johnson County Community College. She played at Johnson County for two years until the University of Missouri discovered her prior to becoming a junior in college.
Teammates have been dedicated to showing Smith the ropes around the town and the campus.
"It's been a quick transition, from the summer to here, and it already feels like we're all already a really close team, so that's really nice," she said.
Despite the quick transition, it appears Smith is ready for the challenges ahead. She realizes there will be differences between playing at a Junior College and a Division One school; however, she's excited to be a part of the tradition.
"I feel like with this new coach, Coach Pingeton, and everything it's really just about building a strong foundation for her, her ideas for her team, and what she wants to have, ultimately, so I think just being able to be a part of that is a great opportunity," said Smith.
Smith trained under a mentally demanding program while playing basketball at Johnson County. It is an experience that she has taken away so much from and it has made her into the person she is today. It has helped prepare her to take the stage in front of a bigger audience.
"New seasons are always different," she said. "I'm kind of looking forward to that - just the competition level and really getting to travel with the girls. Playing in front of a lot of people I'll be nervous for that, but it will be exciting."
Outside hobbies do not get much precedence in Smith's life since she acts so maturely towards her basketball career and uses the responsibility and time management that she's learned from playing to stay at the top of her game. "When I have a day off or something I'm practicing because basketball is my job basically," Smith admits.
So what can we expect from this ex-marching band (she played clarinet) member who enjoys eating Indian food (her mother is from the Philippines)? We can expect a strong, capable player who is more than dedicated to making her time at Mizzou count.
