Key matchup: Guard DJ Smith brings winning pedigree, scoring ability to Campbell

First-year coach John Andrzejek is trying to build a winning program at Campbell. At the midmajor level, especially in this day and age, that usually requires identifying Division I transfers who come from a winning pedigree.

To a certain extent, it explains how DJ Smith wound up in Buies Creek, North Carolina, signing with Andrzejek’s Campbell program one year after the senior guard and his new coach were both part of the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket.

Smith competed in March Madness as a 32-game starter for the Robert Morris team that won the Horizon League Tournament and gave second-seeded Alabama a serious scare in a first-round matchup, losing 91-80 in a game that saw the guard score 10 points with five assists and four rebounds.

Andrzejek was an assistant coach for the top-seeded Florida team that won six NCAA Tournament games over three weeks to capture the national title, capping the run with a thrilling comeback win over Houston.

So far it’s been a perfect match between a first-year coach trying to get Campbell’s program off the ground and a veteran guard hoping to go out with a bang in his fifth and final college season.

“He’s been great, he’s been great because he’s a proven winner,” Andrzejek said of Smith. “Won big at Robert Morris last year, went to the NCAA Tournament. Now he’s in kind of a different role here where he’s asked to score a little more, be more of a focal point, play point guard pretty much every possession and he can really shoot it.”

Smith, who previously played at Little Rock, Bowling Green State and Robert Morris, only averaged double figures once in his first four college seasons but is already delivering in a big way for the Fighting Camels. The 5-foot-11 guard enters Wednesday’s 6 p.m. (KHQ) matchup with No. 7 Gonzaga averaging 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He’s shooting 39% from the field and 35% from the 3-point line.

“He’s taking on the challenge of being kind of the number one perimeter player on the scouting report every game,” Andrzejek said. “When they’re keyed in on him, he’s still been able to do it efficiently. Where I’m proud of him is our last game we beat Ball State and he was great defensively.”

Andrzejek’s staff keeps tracks of individual points allowed by each player on his roster, something he picked up from former Washington State assistant Jim Shaw when the two worked under Kyle Smith in Pullman. Smith graded out exceptionally in Sunday’s 69-64 win over Ball State, giving up only three points when he was the primary defender.

“So that’s a big process,” Andrzejek said. “If we can turn him into a perimeter stopper, I think that’ll go a long way for this team.”

The player likely to match up with Smith on Wednesday is also someone Andrzejek’s uniquely familiar with. As someone with broad international recruiting experience, the first-year Campbell coach has spent years scouting and monitoring Gonzaga point guard Mario Saint-Supery at various European competitions.

While at Florida, Andrzejek actually inquired about the possibility of bringing Saint-Supery to Gainesville, but was under the impression the Malaga, Spain, native wasn’t considering the U.S. college route. That was true up until this past year, when Saint-Supery, who previously played for BAXI Manresa of the Spanish ACB, warmed to the idea of playing college hoops and committed to Gonzaga in the spring. He’s averaging 9.4 ppg, 4.6 apg and 3.4 rpg for the Zags.

“Saint-Supery’s great with the ball, making decisions, getting guys shots,” Andrzejek said. “Always knew about him, he was a guy we dabbled with at Florida. We kind of had bad intel, I guess that’s on me. We thought he would stay over there, but they got him to come over and that was a boon for (Gonzaga).”