NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Nebraska of last decade

9. Greg Smith – Colorado State

A 6’6 forward from Omaha, Smith found success during his college basketball career in the Mountain West. He arrived on campus at Colorado State in 2009, playing his entire four-year career with the Rams. A reserve initially, he was a solid piece in the rotation all four of his seasons at Colorado State, putting up some pretty solid numbers during a run of success for the program.

He showed moments of brilliance as a freshman before starting to get starts over the next few seasons. He helped lead the Rams to a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament and even scored 12 points in a first-round win over Missouri in 2013. Smith averaged 11.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in his senior season, his most productive year, and had a 28-point, 12-rebound performance in a win over Nevada.

Smith was nothing if not a steady and important piece on a Colorado State team having their best success of the decade. He finished among the conference leaders in rebounds and offensive rating during that final campaign. It’s now been nearly a decade and the Rams are back on the upswing, but Smith’s role was still important, even if he wasn’t necessarily a star or premiere performer for this program.