American basketball player (b. 1972)
Stevin L. "Hedake" Smith
(born January 24, 1972) is an American former professional
basketball
player, who is also known for his involvement in the 1994 Arizona State
point-shaving
scandal.
[1]
Early life
[
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]
Smith was born in
Dallas
, Texas, the only son of Eunice Smith. He was an outstanding
high school basketball
player. He played at Arizona State University under
head coach
Bill Frieder
. His "Hedake" nickname originally came from his mother, who called her rambunctious child "Headache", but had to shorten the spelling for a personalized license plate.
[2]
College career
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]
Stevin “Hedake” Smith played
point guard
for
Arizona State University
from 1991 through 1994, and was a two-time
All-Pac-10
selection. However, he also became involved in the 1994 Arizona State point-shaving scandal along with ASU teammate Isaac Burton. Smith would bet on his own games that he was fixing and received $20,000 for shaving points in the game against
Oregon State
on January 28, 1994.
[3]
He was arrested in the summer of 1997, and in December 1997, Smith and Burton pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, admitting taking bribes to fix four games in 1994
[4]
Smith was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
[3]
Smith holds the Arizona State career records for most three-point shots attempted and most three-point shots made. He shares the career record for most steals with
Fat Lever
.
[5]
Professional basketball career
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]
After failing to make an
NBA
team after leaving college in 1994, Smith took his game overseas, playing for the
Spanish
team Somontano Huesca during the 1994?95 season. Over the next four years, Smith played for teams in the Philippines,
Turkey
,
France
and in the
CBA
.
During the
1997 NBA season
, Smith signed two consecutive 10-day contracts with the
Dallas Mavericks
, and received his only NBA playing time. He played 60 minutes over eight games, scoring 14 points for a 1.8 per-game average.
After his release from prison in 2000, Smith returned to Europe and his professional basketball career, playing for three different teams based in
France
from 2001 to 2003, in the
Israeli League
in 2004 and for
Dynamo Moscow
in
Russia
for two seasons until 2006. In 2006?07, Smith joined
Legea Scafati
of the Italian
Serie A
league.
[6]
Post-playing career
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]
Stevin Smith later became the Vice President of the N.O.W. Program, a mentoring program for young people in the Dallas area.
[7]
[3]
In popular culture
[
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]
Smith is the subject of an episode of the 2021
Netflix
documentary series
Bad Sport
.
[8]
References
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]
External links
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]