The U.S. Basketball Writers Association announced today the selection of the late, former Butler player Andrew Smith and his widow, Samantha, as co-recipients of the USBWA’s Most Courageous Award for men’s basketball and Kent State coach and cancer survivor Danielle O’Banion as the winner of the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award for women’s basketball.
Andrew Smith died at the age of 25 this past January 12 after a two-year struggle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and later leukemia. The 6-11 Smith, who was an Academic All-American at Butler and a key player in the Bulldogs’ back-to-back national championship game appearances in 2010 and 2011, was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2014 after discovering a mass in his chest the year before while playing professionally in Lithuania.
He lost 40 pounds as a result of chemotherapy but began to make progress and started a job in financial services in July 2014. Just four days into his new job, Smith went into cardiac arrest for 22 minutes and spent three days in a coma. When he awoke, remarkably he did not display any signs of neurological damage. Smith had a bone marrow transplant in November, but in December the transplant failed and the lymphoma turned into leukemia.
Smith and Samantha went public with Andrew’s illness, hoping that by doing so would help others in similar situations. Samantha created a blog called “kickingcancerwiththesmiths.wordpress.com” that chronicled Andrew’s medical condition. They publicized the importance of a bone marrow registry. At the memorial service, there was a table in the lobby of the church for people in attendance to register.
“Andrew was special – the toughest person I knew,” former Butler coach and now Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens wrote in a text message to the Indianapolis Star. “He never once complained through all of his medical issues. He just never gave in.”
And right beside him, throughout Andrew’s entire ordeal, was Samantha. On the day of his passing, Samantha wrote on Twitter: “Andrew peacefully passed away in his sleep and in my arms as I told him I loved him this morning. Love you always, Smith.”
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