SWAC Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

7. Ivy Smith Jr.

A 6’0 point guard from Tacoma, Washington, Smith headed down south to Grambling State in Louisiana, spending all four of his collegiate seasons with the Tigers. On campus starting in 2016, he was a reserve who saw limited time on the court early in his career, but really blossomed into a major backcourt weapon later in his career.

Grambling would actually finish above .500 in the WAC in each of his four seasons with the program, marking a major step forward for the program. As a sophomore, he averaged 16.7 points and 5.0 assists per game, having by far his best offensive season with the Tigers. He had a career-high 32 points in one of the final games of the season at Alabama A&M and was still a valuable weapon as an upperclassman. He had solid scoring and assist numbers in his final two seasons, helping the Tigers to a SWAC regular season title in his final season.

Smith was named First Team All-SWAC as both as a sophomore and senior and got Second Team honors in between. He endeared himself to the Tigers and was truly their leader. Not only did he lead the SWAC in assists in his final two seasons, but he was an above average scorer and was over 80% from the free throw line in his career. He did plenty of good for this Grambling State program across those four seasons from the point.