When Brittany Smart first picked up a basketball at three years of age, she knew that was what she wanted to do. Maybe not straightaway, but she would soon develop a love for the sport. An illustrious 17-year professional career has followed, with Smart having played the last regular season game of her professional career on Saturday night at the Sabre dome.
Smart’s journey started on a farm outside of New Carlisle, a small town of a bit over 1,000 people in the state of Indiana. Her mother was a cheerleader and her dad played basketball, natural leading her in the latter direction. She distinctly remembers going to basketball practice while her dad was coaching when she was very young, which kickstarted everything.
“I really enjoyed going and watching my dad coach, so I was always at his practices dribbling the ball at three years old,” she said.
“Since it was his passion and I started to enjoy it, it was easy to follow my dad at first, and so my mum started driving me around everywhere. Both of them (parents) are pretty disciplined, so they showed me what it takes to be good at something if I wanted to do it.”
In her teenage years she attended three different high schools, making it challenging to fit in, but the character she developed from those experiences would prove to be pivotal to her future on-court success.
“I went to three different high schools, so I really had to learn to become versatile on the court to make an impact, but also versatile in your character and personality,” she said.
“Learning to get along with different types of people, how to make new friends, how to be kind to people, being brave when people don’t know you or you don’t know them. Being a small-town person, all eyes were probably on me from the beginning.”
By the end of her high school career, Smart had made the 1st Team All-Conference four times, and was the leading scorer in the entire Ohio region, averaging 32.5 points and totalling over 2000 points in her senior year.
A flurry of Division 1 college scholarships were offered as early as her junior year, but she would go on to commit to play at Cedarville University, the same school her grandparents and parents had also attended.
Smart admits that staying local was probably due to struggling to get out of her comfort zone, but she wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I didn’t think too much about the D1 offers, I didn’t even go and visit (the colleges). I think now I probably wish I would’ve just to see what was out there,” she said.
“I actually committed to the university my junior year, so my senior year where I averaged 30 points, got National player of the year, it didn’t even matter because I had already committed.”
“Being a small-town girl, I was a little bit nervous to go to a big school, so I think I probably chose a little bit in my comfort zone.”
Despite the potential to play NCAA Division 1 basketball, being the main player on her team that was relied upon heavily game in, game out helped exponentially grow Smart’s game.
“When you go to a small school you might have two or three D1 level players, you have to be anything and everything all the time for your team which really made me versatile,” she said.
So, any team I’ve played for in any country or any city, I’ve been able to be what I’ve needed to be. I’ve always had a scoring type mindset but if I had to be a main scorer I could, if I had to be more of a facilitator or focus a little bit more on defence, I could do all of those things with confidence.”
Smart came relatively close to playing WNBA, winning the MVP at a camp in Massachusetts against ex WNBA and European players, but by taking a different journey she simply wasn’t on the radar of WNBA teams.
“My goal was never to play WNBA, if the opportunity came, I would take it and do the best I could. I’d gotten close to a try out but then they just picked the top (players) to have a WNBA tryout and I didn’t get chosen; I was on the list but didn’t make the final cut,” she said.
“I had to pay my way to go to a pro try out in Massachusetts, I had to pay 300 bucks, I ended up getting MVP of all that, so I knew I had it, but I just wasn’t on people’s radar because I didn’t take the popular route.
If I had of waited for that D1 offer or different things would’ve come up, I’m sure I would’ve loved life then as well, maybe been WNBA or whatever, but I just relish in the fact that whatever opportunity I’ve gotten, I’ve squeezed everything out of this body and mind.”
Life as a professional wasn’t easy early on for Smart with several challenges from her time in Belgium and Sweden when she moved over to Europe after college. Language barriers and experiencing a completely new way of life posed difficulties and unique experiences.
“My first two years I played were in Belgium, what I remember from that is French. How well do I know the game just by seeing and reading the game without understanding a lot of the timeouts,” she said.
“That was just a culture shock going from a small mid-west town and then all of a sudden going to Europe not knowing a single person. It’s pretty daunting.”
“I think I made my team run a few suicide sprints because the translation got messed up and I think I messed up a couple of times just with language barrier things.”
After multiple eye-opening but successful years in Belgium, Smart headed over the Sweden to play basketball. In what she describes as her “best years”, that all changed quickly after an ACL knee injury.
“I went to Sweden; the English was great there. I became a strength and conditioning coach there, so I had life outside of basketball,” she said.
“I became guard of the year; I had my best years there. I won a championship there, but I also tore my ACL, so I had highs and lows, but it ultimately led me here.”
After recovering from her knee injury, she took her talents abroad to Australia in 2015, where she has been ever since. Smart signed for the Sandringham Sabres in the SEABL and the Melbourne Boomers in the WNBL. She was awarded with multiple MVPs for the Boomers and has featured in league MVP conversations over the years in the NBL1 for the Sabres.
Smart also had a stint in Sydney, Canberra, and Hobart, playing for Sydney Uni Flames, Canberra Capitals and Hobart Chargers respectively in the backend of her career. While she loves every team she has played for, the Sandringham Sabres hold a special place in her heart, having spent the best part of 10 years there, coaching and playing.
“Sandy and I have always been in a collaboration or partnership, whether that’s me playing for them, me coaching for their club. I’ve been able to help coach a lot of their juniors and rep players,” she said.
“They’ve welcomed me on and off throughout the last 10 years, going back and forth in between WNBL seasons, always smiling when I get there so I felt really comfortable there, I feel at home.”
“I think it is pretty cool and pretty fitting that this is where I’ll be playing my last game professionally.”
When asked why it was time to hang up the boots, Smart said a wavering commitment for basketball, while also having a young family and being able to spend more time with them, was among the reasons.
“For me I just want to be all in on what I’m doing, and some people can balance that, I found out it’s too hard, it’s too hard to balance and I don’t want to miss things with my family and my son anymore, I just want to be all in with them,” she said.
“It’s time to start real life I guess with family, kids and all that too so it’ll be exciting, and I think I’ve done all I could in my time.”
Outside of playing, Smart runs her own basketball academy and coaching with BSmart Basketball, while she has also coached many domestic and representative teams along the way. She also hosts a podcast called The Smart Athlete, and most importantly spends time with her partner and now young child at home.
She put on a clinic in Saturday night’s game, scoring 17 points and collecting three steals in only 17 minutes on the floor. The Sabres now enter the finals race where they will face the Waverley Falcons next Saturday night at the Sabre dome. Congratulations on a wonderful career Brittany, all the best in next week’s game and retirement to follow.
