Catching up with ... Ryne Smith
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Ryne Smith came to Purdue from a basketball family as his dad Bruce coached him as Toledo,'s Whitmer H.S. and his sister Nikki was a standout for Indiana women's hoops team. His Purdue career spanned from 2009-12 as Smith made 57 career starts, was part of a Big Ten regular season and tournament championship tams. Smith made 89 three-point field goals to rank third on Purdue's single-season chart (as of 2011-12), while shooting .432 from the arc for the season . He finished his career ranked fifth in program history in three-point field goal percentage (.408) and eighth in three-pointers made (169).
After finishing his Purdue career, Smith spent a year on Matt Painter's staff while finishing up his degree. Smith spent four years teaching and coaching in high school before working three years with Jack Owens at Miami as director of basketball operations. He is in his second year as Carson Cunningham's assistant and Incarnate Word, a team scheduled to appear in Mackey during the 2020-21 season.
We caught up with Smith in early May and here is what he had to say:
GoldandBlack.com: What’s been going on with you? How is your family?
Smith: We actually drove up to West Lafayette (during the COVID-19 crisis), but we're currently stationed in in San Antonio, Texas.
I got a two and-a-half year old (Harper) and a 11-month old (Olivia, both girls. My wife's (a Purdue grad who also played college volleyball at Northern Michigan before transferring to Purdue) a superhero taking care of them and we're on the road and things li)ke that.
Working for Carson has been a great experience and obviously again that goes right into tying together that Purdue family. I think he called Coach (Matt) Painter when he had an opening on his staff and I was the first name that that Coach Paint thought of when he described what he needed.
We're certainly enjoying Texas though this spring has been a little bit different. My first spring on the recruiting trail got canceled, but I'm really enjoying the coaching aspect of it.
GoldandBlack.com: Incarnate Word is scheduled to come to West Lafayette in December.
Smith: That's right. December 21, 2020. I’ll have all my family here, my wife is actually from West Lafayette so all her family will be here and we'll just be able to stick around for Christmas and then fly back when our break is over. So really looking forward to that.
GoldandBlack.com: What’s your main takeaway from all your years of playing at Purdue?
Smith: It's a special fraternity to be involved in. When I was a player, guys like Kenny Lowe and David Teague would come back and play open gym and obviously looked up to them being professional basketball players.
I actually jogged around the Purdue campus this morning and it brought back a lot of memories. So special place, special memories for sure. I was super, super fortunate and lucky to be behind one of the best classes in Purdue basketball history with the Baby Boilers. So I was fortunate with that as well.
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GoldandBlack.com: What were your top moments at Purdue as a player?
Smith: When we won the Big Ten Tournament when I was a freshman, that was an unbelievable experience. I kind of had an outside view of it obviously not playing being on end of the bench as a freshman. Being in Indianapolis with everyone around, that really stands out in my mind and that celebration afterwards.
Anytime that you get an opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament is incredibly special. I think we're seeing that now, missing it this year. So each and every time we would go and get to travel as a team, get to have all the alumni with us, had the band with us and cheerleaders all traveling as one unit, that stands out.
Then actually as a fan, the games that really stand out were the games in Milwaukee against Vermont and then Iowa State. I was there as a fan and just incredible experience. Then again in Tennessee when Ryan Cline went nuts. Those are recent, but as a fan and as an alumni, that's what makes you proud.
GoldandBlack.com: Since your eligibility finished, you had a couple of players that were similar to you in Dakota Mathias and Ryan Cline. Is that like looking in the mirror?
Smith: A little bit. I think seeing Ryan Cline go bananas against Tennesee was really special to me just because in my personal opinion he’s a much better player than I ever thought about being. But yes, the similarities there of being a shooter and just going nuts and being in that type of zone was amazing to watch.
I was finishing up my degree at Purdue and I actually hosted Dakota Mathias on his official visit when he was coming out of high school so there's definitely a bond there and both of those guys had incredible careers..
GoldandBlack.com: What was it like for you as a coach and a player watching Carsen Edwards ?
Smith: Amazing. He's a very, very special player. I was obviously the one guy standing in the long line of people wanting him to come back (for the 2019-20 season), but I knew it was astretch for that to happen.
Having the opportunity to be at those two games in Louisville and watching him go nuts was awesome. He's a type of player where he takes a shot from 30-35 feet. You're like what? And then it goes in there like 'yeah, I knew it was good to right when I left his hand,' lying to everybody. But he’s very, very special player and we'll definitely look forward to seeing some success with him in the NBA.
GoldandBlack.com: Take me through that half-court shot that almost went in against Kansas (the last shot of Smith's career) and what you think about to the lens of today on that.
Smith: I don't think a time when I’m on a basketball court goes by where I don’t think about it. It's just like one of those things where if it's an inch to the right, it goes in or an inch to the left that goes in.
Unfortunately, it is a sad memory because I'm thinking to myself, all through my career if you ever get an opportunity at a last second shot, just take your normal jump shot, no matter how far it is. Now looking back on it, I didn't do it. I shot off one foot and fade away and it eats at me.
But if you ask me I don't think we ever should have been in that position. I think we had the game handled and had a few things bounce. Kansas’ way,
It's definitely something I think about frequently and it sucks. There’s no better way to put it.
GoldandBlack.com: Are you going heading back to San Antonio soon or are you going to be up here for a bit?
Smith: I'm thinking we're going to be up here for a bit. Our campus has no plans in place for even us to return to campus. I think they're going to do a slow, gradual build up to bring people back on. But it's going to be the fall sports.
So as soon as they open up recruiting, I want to be in this area just to get out and see kids, whenever that may open up. My wife is a school teacher, so they're on summer break currently. Like everybody else, we’re up in the air right now.
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