Adrian ‘Odie’ Smith, an Olympic Gold Medalist and a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, died on April 28, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Smith was 89 years old.
The Farmington native was one of the first junior college players to ever receive a scholarship to play at the University of Kentucky, eventually playing a key role in the Wildcats’ ‘Fiddlin’ Five’ national championship team in 1958.
Smith was drafted in the 15th round of the 1958 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals, but elected to join the Army, playing for two Army All-Star teams before winning a Gold Medal with the U.S. Olympic basketball team in 1960.
He would then join the Royals, where he would spend the next eight years of his career, earning a trip to the 1966 All-Star Game. In a game that featured Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell and Jerry West, it would be Smith winning MVP honors in that game, scoring a game-high 24 points. He would average a career-best 18.4 points per game in that season.
Smith closed out his NBA career with the San Francisco Warriors, where he played two seasons before joining the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association for a season. He retired from basketball following the 1971-72 season.