45 Nick Smith Class: RS Senior Hometown: Valrico, Fla. High School: Bloomingdale H.S. Height / Weight: 7-2 / 250 Position: Center Birthdate: 09/25/1982

AT ILLINOIS
2004-2005 Senior: The winningest player in school history, he played in 110 Illini wins during his career, breaking the previous school record of 99 wins by Sean Harrington (2000-03) and Doug Altenberger (1983-87) ... Academic All-Big Ten selection ...Came off the bench to play in 38 games during his senior season, averaging 10.9 minutes per game ... Averaged 3.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game ... Scored a season-high nine points vs. Longwood (Dec. 27) ... Grabbed a season-high six rebounds vs. Florida A&M (Nov. 21) ... Will graduate in May with a master's degree in finance.

2003-2004 Junior: Academic All-Big Ten selection ...First big man off the bench for much of the season ... Sixth on the team in scoring with 6.8 points and fifth in rebounds with 3.2 boards ... Scored in double figures in 10 games, with a career-high 22 points in win over Ohio State on Jan. 7 ... Against the Buckeyes, had a perfect shooting day, hitting all six of his field goal attempts, including a 3-pointer, and nine-of-nine shooting from the free-throw line ... Also grabbed a career-high tying nine rebounds against Ohio State ... Scored 18 points, handed out four assists and made all 10 free-throw attempts vs. Iowa (Jan. 17)... Showed up in the clutch several times during the season by scoring 12 of his 14 points in final eight minutes and overtime of come-from-behind win vs. Illinois State; scored two go-ahead buckets in the final 3:28 of the win at Indiana and blocked the potential game-winner by Bracey Wright with six seconds remaining; and scored eight points, including two 3-point buckets in overtime, in win at Purdue on March 3 to clinch a share of the Big Ten title.

2002-2003 Sophomore: Academic All-Big Ten selection...Shot 66.7 percent (34-of-51) from the field over his last 16 games of the season ... Made 67.3 percent of his shots (33-of-49) during Big Ten play ... Led the Illini in free throw shooting at 86.4 percent (38-of-44) ...Also a threat from 3-point land, he shot 45.5 percent from beyond the arc (5-11) ... Led the team and ranked seventh in the Big Ten in blocked shots with 38 (1.23 bpg) ...Scored in double figures four times during the season ... Scored a season-high 13 points at Indiana (1/18) ... Scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting at Penn State, while also dishing out a season-high four assists ... Hit 4-of-5 shots including a 3-pointer in the win over Michigan State (2/18) ...Had a career-high five blocks vs. Minnesota (3/9), tying the most by an Illini player on the season ... Hit all five of his shots while blocking three shots in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal win over Northwestern.

2001-2002 Freshman: Academic All-Big Ten selection ... Played in 33 of 35 games, starting four times ... Averaged 3.8 points on 54 percent shooting from the field (49-of-91) ... Earned his first career start against Loyola-Chicago, responding with season highs of 17 points and nine rebounds against the Ramblers ... Scored in double figures three times ...Led Illinois in rebounding three times, against Western Illinois, Loyola and Minnesota (3/8) ...Third on the team with 19 blocked shots ... Scored seven points and had four rebounds in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals vs. Minnesota ... Traveled to England and Ireland as part of the Big Ten Tour Team, helping the Big Ten squad to a perfect 6-0 record.

2000-2001 Redshirt: Sat out the season as a redshirt. Retained four years of eligibility.

HIGH SCHOOL
Florida Gatorade Player of the Year in 2000 ... Second-Team All-State selection as a senior after being named honorable mention All-State as a junior ...First-Team All-Conference and All-Hillsborough County performer as a senior ... Averaged 25 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks as a senior ... Averaged 17 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks as a junior ... High school coach was Jack Sutter ... Lettered four years in basketball ...Member of the 1999 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival South Team that earned a 5-0 record en route to the gold medal, ranked as the the Festival's eighth leading rebounder (6.0 rpg) ...Posted tournament bests of 14 points vs. the West in the gold medal game and 10 rebounds to go with his 10 points vs. the West in the preliminary round.

PERSONAL
Born Sept. 25, 1982, in Louisville, Ky. ... Son of Nick and Donna Smith ... Earned his bachelor's degree in finance in December of 2003, graduating from Illinois' acclaimed College of Business in three-and-a-half years ...Was an academic letterman twice in high school ... Played in the Hillsborough County All-Star Game ... Favorite athlete is Shaquille O'Neal "because I've never seen a single player totally dominate a game like he does, not even Jordan" ... The first 7-footer to sign with Illinois since Jens Kujawa in 1985 ... Grandparents, Odell and Edith Moseley, live in the Southern Illinois town of Alto Pass, Ill. ... Odell is a former school administrator in Champaign ... Has traveled to Europe as part of a high school All-Star team ... The tallest player in University of Illinois basketball history, he is just the fourth 7-footer to play for Illinois following Bill Rucks (7-0, lettered 1973-76), Olaf Blab (7-0, never lettered) and Jens Kujawa (7-0, lettered 1986-88).

Smith's Career Statistics:

Year    G-GS      MIN-Avg     FGM-A/%        3PM-A/%      FTM-A/%        OR-DR--TOT/Avg     PF-DQ   A     TO    B     S     PTS/Avg
01-02   33-4      334-10.1    49-91/.538     0-3/.000     29-44/.659     26-48--74/2.2      51-1    20    28    19    5     127/3.8
02-03   31-5      539-17.4    60-121/.496    5-11/.455    38-44/.864     23-69--92/3.0      64-2    26    42    38    11    163/5.3
03-04   33-6      552-16.7    81-178/.455    8-26/.308    53-66/.803     38-69--107/3.2     65-1    38    49    24    8     223/6.8
04-05   38-0      413-10.9    54-133/.406    4-11/.364    15-23/.652     20-58--78/2.1      50-0    24    21    18    11    127/3.3
Totals  135-15    1838-13.6   244-523/.467   17-51/.333   135-177/.763   107-244--351/2.6   230-4   108   140   99    35    640/4.7