Andrew Smith a onetime player with Butler basketball died on Tuesday morning at a tender age of 25. Smith was named the Academic All-American star in between 2010 and 2013. He would later be included in the Bulldog’s line up for the championship in 2010 and 2011. He made 38 appearances during the 2010/2011 season with 32 starts. It was during a game against University of Connecticut that Smith pulled down nine boards. After graduating in Butler, Smith made an appearance in oversee clubs.
Both Butler President James Danko and Butler Vice President/Director of Athletics Barry Collier remembered him not for his skills but for the kind person Andrew was. In a statement, the two claimed that more often than not Smith would care more to those around him more than he cared about a game. He had a human heart that portrayed the inside part of him and for that reason he will always be a Bulldog. The two were on the front line in praising Andrew for his courageous battle with cancer just like he fought hard to achieve his objectives at the court.
Others such as his former head coach at Butler Brad Stevens who is the current head coach at Boston Celtics paid Smith a visit last Thursday and he claimed in a statement that he has never seen the tough, kind and special person Andrew was.
His family claimed that Smith would be later be diagnosed with a non-Hodgkin lymphoma two years ago. He immediately initiated chemotherapy in 2014 which proved beneficial as he was able to regain his fitness and returned to work. However, in the summer of 2014, Smith collapsed forcing his heart to stop for almost 20 minutes with paramedics fighting for his life until a pulse was detected. He fell into an induced coma shortly after.
Despite having minimum traces of cancer in September 2014, the full borne disease would resurrect again in 2015 and prompted him to undertake an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant in November 2015.
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Tags: basketball
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