News Scrapbook 1972-1973

;t,r ju t Tanother Smith

T or~l'O star' S 5

San Diego, Wednesday, March 7, 1973 Pinky or Bob, Toreros' standout not just another Mr. Smith

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this year by his brother, fr ny Smith, who broke Pink ·s d100I scoring record at Jefferson High by 49 ·hman Ken- There 1s another Smith. Joe, on the Torcro sta1iing five. But he's no rela- "It's fun playmg with ]{ nny," 5a1d Smith. "He was a sophomore whC'n I was a ~rnior in high school and we only pl yed I\\O games together. , 1 worl.cd with him quite a bit last umm<>r bPfor<> he played in th<' state boo! all-star game. Thal was the mning of our unity, we shared what e ore that, we were two separate players." That is not to say. however, there isn't some rivalry between the Bros. tion. hi th B f nowledge we had toge er. "There• ,ire tertain drills we havl'," aid S1111th. ·'where you can take out µer onal grnd•,es against people, My brother and I arc always going at 11 !hall hi• brotilcr. who shares play111g 1 ~ith Pet!' Cosenza al the other fonrnrd . He weighs 207 lbs. The dimensions. obviously, are not that," said Pinky., u the pros want me 11wy ma) want me for the backcourt I · . 1 could pl y there ul nght now I 1 me tho e of a pro forward. " l realize it would he a draotic change " or o:iurse if basketball doesn_ t work points. Snulh . It's I.ind of a tun thing." Pink\'. at 6 fl. 6' in., is 2 1 2 in. taller don't ha enough c · encc becaui;c

By JACK WILLIAMS When Robert Smith wa~ a baby, not much bigger than a basketball hoop, his mother started calling him "Peeky," It was a nickname that last- ed about a, long as it took somebody to say "Pinky." Whatever you call him-and Robert longs for the day when folks will ad- dress him as just plain "Bob"- here is a guy you won't mistake for just anoth- er :'\Ir. Smith. Some ob ervers. in fact, have likened him to Sidney Wiclts, a basketball play- er of similar dimensions, style and fa. eta! characteristics. It's a comparison Pinky Smith - ''That' the way I sign my autographs" n r ally get into. dream of playing against Wicks," sa1 th, "of having him see me and think h looking in the mirror. It could be some day.·· Indeed, it could, and a pro basketball court would be as good a place as any. Wicks, at present, is a Portland Trail- blazer Smith is one of two genuine pro pros- pects cavorting for coach Bernie Bick- erstaff at the University of San Diego. He is one of the big reasons they are 18-8. bound for the l\' ational C.Ollegiate Athletic Assn. College Division playoffs Friday night in Bakersfield. It is there, at Bakersfield City Col- lege, that the Toreros will oppose Bak- ersfield State, also 18-8, at 9 p.m. It is a wonder, considering his one-<>n-one con- frontations with everything from pneu- monia to black widow spiders, that Smith will be there, too.

Two weeks ago, just when he was be- ginning to regain most of his strength from a case oi the flu and a broken foot that hounded him in the early season, Smith was bitten by the black widow. Then came a slight injury to his knee. Last year, as a sophomore, Smith battled pneumonia for part of the sea- son. As a freshman, all he had was a His left arm remains a trille weak from the spider bite, and he is about under what he considers hi · be: t ei ht, but Smith will be th ro Friday m.ght. H wii, be t111'ne i th an 18.4 scoring average, a 55 0 shoo mark and the kind of board work which has produced 10.6 rebounds per game. Despite the statistics, Smith's pn·s- ence at a school as small as USD would seem a handicap in terms of a pro lu- "It could be, I suppose.'· he admit- ted. "but being in the regionals helps. So do<>s bemg on a team as good as It is a tPa!l1 , in

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CT - Kenny, left, and Pinky Smith figure to be very much In evidence Friday nrght when the University of San Diego opens th college division • CM basketball playoffs again.rt Bakersfield tate in Bakersfield. P inky is a Toreo standout, scoring and rebounding, and a top pro pro ·pect.

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ith has been

(Continued op. pag C-8, col. 4)

Bic ersiaf f Cofn 1 e Bocl With Torer s (ContinuPd from Pagf' C-1) tallstics from that gam , o position's sty!r of o l~r r lnsi ts We couldn 't hit .l'l • o II against us in prc1 rn thing. Ptnky 1/:im1thl had" 1he ()11s year we have hern re- nu and Stan (Washingto w mrntlously prepar('d bv mething into the team."

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s Young USD' s in hot w t:nivcrsity of San Diego, a team of the future, will get its feet wet 111 postseason basket- ball competition tomorrow night. It is unlikely the To- reros w1 II drown. Despite an all-under- classmen lineup which in- cludes four juniors and a ~ophomore- when freshman forward Kenny Smith isn·t postseason honors t morrow night at 9 agamst Bakersfield State in the Bakersfield City College gym. UC-Riverside and Puget "3

Aztecs try different foe after defeat

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6-4 forward 0d Ward at 9.3 and 6-6 forward Ellis Porter at 7.3 All but Toney are se- rnors. USD is led in coring b Pinky Smith, who a " - aging 18.4 points per ga e, • including 5511(, accuracy fro111 the field . Washington hit- ting at a 16.9 clip and leads Jhe team in as ists, 157 As a team. the Toreros om- shot t_heir foes, 47 1 'o to 4'1%, in compiling an 18-8 §on record. They also averaged 47 rebound~ to their opgp- 41 and outscored them, USD's 18-8 season record is the same as Bakersfi Id State's. UC-Riverside• run- ner-up to the Roadrunners in the California C.Ollegiate Ath letic Assn., submits a 23 4 record Pu el Sound finished 18-10, WI g 13 of its last 16 games.

Sound collide in the 7 p.m. opener. Winners of tomorrow night's games play in the Dis- trict 8 championship game at 9 the following evening, fol- lowing a 7 p.m. consolation encounter between tomorrow night's losers. The District 8 champion ad- van~es to the NCAA College , D1v1s1on championships i Evansville, Ind., March 14-16. In Bakersfield State, the Toreros will be meeting a team they defeated once, 70- 69, at home and lost to, 73-56, on the road. In defeating the Toreros, the Roadrunners held Stan Washington to his poorest shooting night of the season. The 6 ft. 4 m. junior guard was two-for-14 from the field in scoring six points. Robert "Pinky" Smith, a flu victim, scored only eight p9ints. U~D turned the tables the next time as Washmgton and Sm!' : each scored 25 points. \I, ,, bington and Smith will be the Torero starting lineup IPmorrow night, joineci by junior center Ben Thomp- son 16-6l, junior guard Joe Smith (61 ) and sophomore fonvard Pete Cosenza (6-6), who shares playing time with Kenny Smith (6·4 ). Bakersfield State is led by senior guard Richard Ross, who averaged 13 points per game. Bob Rodriguez, another se- nior guard, is averaging 11.5. Carl Toney, a 6-8 sophomore center, hits at a 10.5 clip wi h

starting, that is-the Toreros are conceded a good chance of surviving the National Col- legiate Athletic Assn. College Division regional pl yoffs this weekend. They begin their quest for

Bickerstaff also feels USD has some unsung herops, hi~ second uni of Mike Bajo. 1ike Merriman. Steve Jones. Charlie Caruso and Ron Mod- e with Tommy Davis also serving in several com- binations. "Those guys have

M't2~i~!jrt1 i i Gospel

set tomorrow