Since departing from N.C . State in 2011, former men’s basketball player Tracy Smith has taken his game to the Asian and Central American basketball scenes.
Smith enjoyed a career with the Wolfpack from 2007 to 2011, during which he racked up individual honors, such as being named an All-ACC second team and honorable mention performer.
Despite his success coming out of college, Smith had to adjust to life overseas both on and off the court. When he first arrived in Europe, he experienced difficulties during his first two stops in Israel and Mexico until he found a permanent spot with MIA Tbilisi , a club in Georgia.
“Well since I’ve graduated from N.C . State my first stop overseas was in Hapoel Tel-Aviv in Israel,” Smith said. “When I first got overseas I didn’t like it. I was ready to come home every day and it was hard for me to adjust to the culture, so my agent terminated my contract with the team because I wanted to come back to Raleigh. My second stop was in Mexico with Soles. I actually liked Mexico because it was like I was close to the States. I was only 3 hours from Los Angeles.”
However, Smith’s stay at Mexico proved to be short-lived as well.
“I left that team because the coaches didn’t play me but 10 minutes a game and I didn’t like that,” Smith said. “I wanted to play more, so my agent Jamie Knox then found me another team, which I’m still currently playing for now: MIA in Tbilisi , Georgia.”
Even though Israel didn’t provide the experience he expected on the court, according to Smith, Tel-Aviv is still one of his favorite cities to travel to and play in.
“My favorite city by far has to be Tel-Aviv,” Smith said. “I actually enjoyed Israel for the time I was there. I stayed like 15 minutes from Javi and an hour from Courtney Fells and within an hour in distance I knew people I played high school basketball with there and also more players signed with the same agency. I actually went out with Courtney Fells in Israel a couple of times before I departed. Israel is a place that wouldn’t mind going back to play again.”
On the court, Smith found differences in the playing styles of his opponents, which lead to him adjusting his game to fulfill his role on the team.
“The difference from playing American basketball and playing overseas is that I have to step out and guard big men on the wing because in Europe big men can shoot threes,” Smith said. “That’s something I had to get used to, because in college my job was to protect the paint.”
Despite residing halfway across the world, Smith still follows the men’s program and, according to Smith, he would have enjoyed playing under first year head coach Mark Gottfried if he could play for the Pack.
“I try to stay up and watch the games whenever they play, but sometimes it’s a little difficult because we are nine hours ahead of Raleigh. So sometimes I set my alarm to get up and watch my boys play,” Smith said. “I think they are doing a very good job this year. I think coach Gottfried did a great job with the guys in the off-season to get them prepared for the season. As far as the coaching style that’s the only thing I would say would be different but I would have liked to experience the Gottfried coaching style but I also loved and enjoyed playing for coach Lowe.”
According to Smith, despite the rocky start to his professional basketball career, he is enjoying his current situation in Georgia. He is averaging 15.5 points and eight rebounds per game with MIA Tbilisi .
“Playing for the team I am playing for now is most memorable for me because I’m happy to be doing what I love to do, which is play basketball,” Smith said. “With the other teams I wasn’t too happy, so I had to get in a situation where I’m happy.”
