{"id":86022,"date":"2025-06-09T03:15:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/86022\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T03:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:15:11","slug":"ex-louisville-star-russ-smith-arrested-on-suspicion-of-dui-and-reckless-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/86022\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Louisville star Russ Smith arrested on suspicion of DUI and reckless driving"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ALEX RASKIN<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 20:32 EDT, 8 June 2025 | Updated: 20:46 EDT, 8 June 2025 <\/p>\n

A former college and high school basketball star at two national powerhouses is now facing a DUI charge in Louisville.<\/p>\n

Russ Smith, a 34-year-old guard playing in Italy’s second division, was picked up in the early hours of Sunday morning. He has since been booked on charges of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol<\/a>, reckless driving and one count for an expired registration tag, according to online records.<\/p>\n

As reported by the Louisville Courier Journal<\/a>, police claim to have observed Smith making an illegal U-turn across several lanes in the city’s Original Highlands neighborhood \u2013 a historic area with century-old Victorian homes and shotgun houses.<\/p>\n

An officer reported a ‘strong odor of alcoholic beverages’ emanating from Smith, who admitted to consuming ‘two bourbon pours neat’ before getting behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

The former Louisville Cardinals star and NCAA champion then failed a field sobriety test before his blood-alcohol level of 0.073 was recorded, according to the arrest citation.<\/p>\n

That is technically below Kentucky<\/a>‘s 0.08 blood-alcohol limit, but state law permits charges for drivers with any level above 0.04 if there is ‘other competent evidence’ to consider, according to the Courier Journal.<\/p>\n

\"Ex-Louisville <\/p>\n

Ex-Louisville guard Russ Smith, 34, was picked up in the early hours of Sunday morning<\/p>\n

\"Russ <\/p>\n

Russ Smith is seen with then-Louisville coach Rick Pitino after a 2014 win over Connecticut\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith has since been released on bond and will be due for an arraignment hearing on Wednesday at 9am.<\/p>\n

The New York native is best known to hoops fanatics as the scrappy 6-foot Louisville guard who, along with Peyton Siva, led coach Rick Pitino’s Cardinals to a national championship in 2013 \u2013 a title the school has since vacated.<\/p>\n

In 2015, it was revealed that Louisville recruits were provided strippers and escorts between 2010 and 2014. One woman later claimed she was paid $100 to have sex with Smith, then a top recruit from Queens, New York’s Archbishop Molloy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith would later deny that claim to the Courier Journal in 2016<\/a>. He\u00a0was never charged for any wrongdoing in the NCAA case against Louisville, which vacated the 2013 title and other achievements as part of its punishment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He would go on to be taken by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft but never really found a home in the league.<\/p>\n

After NBA and G League stints in New Orleans, Memphis, Fort Wayne, Delaware and Iowa, Smith went on to play in China, Israel and Italy. He’s currently in his second go with Italian second-division club Pallacanestro Nard\u00f2.<\/p>\n

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