RANKING THE REBELS: 32 – Tony Smith
July 15, 2010 - 11:00 pm
TONY SMITH
Years: 1976 to 1979
Career highlights:
■ Averaged 9.0 points in 1976-77, UNLV's first NCAA Final Four season.
■ Ranks 20th on UNLV's career scoring list with 1,204 points in 86 games.
■ Averaged a career-high 17.1 points in 1978-79, and led the team in steals in each of his last two seasons.
Quotable: "Tony was a great shooter, a streak shooter. In 1978 we played at Kentucky on their Senior Night, and Tony had about 25 points and we led at halftime. But we lost, and I remember after the game he was really down. Tony's a super guy." -- Jerry Tarkanian, former UNLV coach
After UNLV: Worked in the casino industry in Las Vegas. Twice drafted in the NBA, as a seventh-round pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1978 and sixth-round pick by the New Jersey Nets in 1979.
The Review-Journal counts down the top 100 players in UNLV basketball history, 20 years after the Rebels' NCAA championship season in 1989-90. ON THE WEB: lvrj.com/100_rebels