Proving that he belongs

When Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball coach Kent Leiss was contemplating his starting lineup prior to the start of the season, he had senior Cody Smith in his top five.

Leiss had little evidence to support that decision, though. After all, Smith never completed his junior season. That ended halfway through when he broke a bone in his right leg just under his kneecap falling to the floor after making a left-handed tipin.

To that point, the 6-foot-3 Smith was logging about 10 minutes a game as a backup to senior post Jake Wolfe.

Smith had surgery, and the top of the bone below his kneecap required two screws. He was on crutches for two months and didn’t start playing again until early June.

He played in all 43 of the Vikings’ combined summer league/tournament games. After summer play concluded, he had the screws removed from the knee.

“It’s still sensitive to the touch,” Smith said, rolling up his pant leg to show an ugly 6-inch scar. “If I bang it against another player or something like that, it hurts.”

Smith has more than proven he belongs in CdA’s starting lineup. A candidate for comeback player of the year, he is averaging 10.4 points and seven rebounds per game.

His breakout game came Jan. 13 in the Fight for the Fish. He scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and had five rebounds as CdA knocked off Lake City 53-36. It was also a big win in the confidence department for the Vikings, considering LC swept the Inland Empire League home-and-home series.

“What was too bad about his injury last year is it came on probably the play of his career at that point,” Leiss said of the tipin. “He was just starting to play well. He was to a point where his minutes were going to increase in the second half of the season.”

Smith had an unimpressive season as a sophomore on CdA’s junior varsity. Still, he earned a spot on varsity his junior year.

“He exasperated his coaches in all his sports,” Leiss said. “He was kind of a cruiser. The difference now, I think, is he just matured. Sometimes that happens with seniors.”

Although Leiss had an idea what Smith could do this season, he wasn’t exactly sure.

“I’d be lying if I thought he would become as good as he is now,” Leiss said.

Smith is shooting 59 percent from the field (58 of 98) and 53 percent from behind the 3-point arc (8 of 15). Both lead the team.

While Smith hasn’t shot many 3-pointers, he has the green light.

“He probably should shoot more 3s,” Leiss said.

Smith’s biggest 3-pointer came in the first game against LC. Trailing 67-64 late in the second overtime, Smith buried a bomb from the corner to knot the score after the Vikings had missed five consecutive 3-point attempts.

What has made Smith difficult to defend is the fact that he spends as much time on the perimeter as he does inside. In CdA’s five-man out offense, Smith roams the perimeter along with his other teammates. That gives him the option to shoot a 3-pointer if the other team’s post isn’t guarding him tightly, or to drive to the basket if the defender is playing too close.

“He is smooth. He just glides up and down the court,” Leiss said. “He’s fun to watch.”

The Vikings’ post isn’t the object of opponents’ defenses – at least not yet. Junior Nate Bligh (15.9 ppg) and senior Matt Palmer (13.1 ppg) garner most of the attention.

Smith credits most of his improvement to working out with a personal trainer for two months this fall. He increased his vertical jump by 3 1/2 inches, and his speed and his agility improved. More important, though, his confidence grew by leaps and bounds.

“He’s way better now than he was this summer,” Leiss said. “(The potential) has always been there. Going through the workouts this fall has made him tougher. He’s still a work in progress.

“I think Cody gives the person guarding him a lot more problems than the person he’s guarding,” Leiss said.

The strange thing about Smith’s season-ending injury is it changed his athletic passion. Where baseball once was his first love, basketball has now far surpassed it.

“I finally wanted to show I could play basketball,” Smith said. “People said I always had the potential.”

Now Smith understands what they were talking about.