Andrew Smith

He received a bone marrow transplant in November 2015, but his condition worsened; his wife reported in a December 2015 post to their blog that the lymphoma had become an aggressive leukemia. He remained hospitalized until shortly before Christmas, when he was released to spend the holiday at home. Smith's condition worsened again in early January 2016 and he was readmitted to the hospital. Stevens, now the head coach of the Boston Celtics, missed a January 7 game against the Chicago Bulls to visit with Smith, who was reportedly scheduled to receive a second bone marrow transplant that day. Three days later, Smith's wife posted on their blog that he was near death, saying, "The doctors tell me death is imminent and that Andrew is going to die from this disease. There are no treatments, no clinical trials...there is nothing left to do." Smith died in his sleep on January 12, 2016 at the age of 25.

Following his death, the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) named him and his widow as recipients of the 2016 men's version of its Most Courageous Award. The USBWA specifically cited their public battle with cancer and advocacy for bone marrow registry; during his memorial service, the Smith family set up a table in the church lobby to sign up marrow donors.

Smith's basketball career prematurely ended in January 2014. After noticing a suspicious bump on his neck, he began having increasing difficulty breathing. Initially, it was determined that he did not have cancer, but a later MRI scan revealed a suspected cancerous tumor in one of his lungs, and he returned to the U.S. Doctors in Indianapolis initially determined he was suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and soon made a more specific diagnosis of T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. This type of cancer, normally found in children, has a 50-50 survival rate for that age group, but is less survivable for adults. He immediately went on a chemotherapy regimen that had to be specially calibrated for his unusually large frame. While undergoing treatment, he took a job with a leasing and financing company owned by family friends.

On July 31, 2014, on his third day on the job, Smith collapsed at his office in a building next to Indianapolis International Airport and went into cardiac arrest for more than 22 minutes before being revived and rushed to a nearby hospital. He was immediately placed into a medically induced coma, and awoke four days later. While doctors would not officially link the cardiac arrest with his cancer battle, both Smith's wife and father believe the two were related. By December of that year, he had completed his final chemotherapy treatment, and went under what is called "maintenance" treatment, in which he continued to take several medications. While he had yet to fully regain his strength, he had not suffered any apparent neurological damage from his prolonged cardiac arrest. In a 2015 article on Smith's struggles, CBS Sports journalist Matt Norlander said, "The fact Andrew Left the hospital with full control of his faculties barely a week later -- and has not suffered any setbacks -- is supernatural."

Following his health crisis in 2014, Smith's coach at Butler, Brad Stevens, said about Smith and his wife,

After his senior season, Smith was selected to participate in the Hoosier Basketball Top 60 Senior Boys Workout. He played in the North–South Indiana All-Star Classic and the Hoosiers' Reunion All-Star Classic.

During his sophomore year, Smith played in all 38 games, starting 32. After Butler got off to a mediocre 3–2 start, Smith was added to the starting lineup. Against Cleveland State, he scored a career-high 22 points and collected 10 rebounds to get his first collegiate double-double. In the final game of the regular season, he played a career-high 36 minutes and recorded 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks, all career highs. Thanks in large part to Smith's emergence as a starter, Butler returned to the NCAA Tournament. During the round of 32, Smith hit a go-ahead basket with less than 3 seconds on the clock to help Butler beat top seeded Pittsburgh. In Butler's sweet 16 match against Wisconsin, Smith hurt his ankle and left the game. However, he returned before the game's end, collecting eight points and six rebounds as Butler advanced to the regional final. Butler again advanced to the Championship game. Smith led the team in rebounding in the regional final against Florida and in the National Championship game against Connecticut. He finished the year as the team's second-leading rebounder (5.6 per game) and third-leading scorer (8.5). He made 59.3% of his field goal attempts and 67.3% of his free throws.

During the off-season, head coach Brad Stevens asked Smith to take on a new role – vocal leader. The role did not fit Smith's natural personality, but he embraced it nonetheless. Entering the 2012–13 season, Smith was the only active college player who had played in two Final Fours. He started 35 games during the year, sitting out one game with an injury. Facing reigning Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the year, St. Joseph's C. J. Aiken, Smith scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He also recorded double-doubles at Northwestern and at Massachusetts. For the week of January 14, he was named as the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for his part in back-to-back road victories. At Massachusetts on March 7, Smith became the 11th player in Butler history to surpass 1,000 points and 600 rebounds. In the lone game he missed, Butler was upset at home by Charlotte, underscoring Smith's importance to the team. Butler returned to the NCAA tournament, and Smith recorded 14 points and 16 rebounds against Bucknell in the round of 64. The 16 rebounds represented both a career-high for Smith and a Butler tournament record. In the round of 32, he scored 17 and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. With Butler trailing by two in the final seconds, Smith got the ball to attempt a game winning three but stumbled and did not get off a good shot.

Smith finished his Butler career 5th all-time on the schools list of games played (134), 12th in rebounding (648), and 25th in points scored (1,147). He played in 11 NCAA tournament games, tied for 6th on Butler's all-time list. He scored 73 points in those games, good enough for fifth place all-time, and grabbed 65 rebounds, the second most ever. Smith is just one of three Butler players, along with Howard and Joel Cornette, to amass more than 100 wins and more than 1,000 points in his career. Smith called his Butler experience "as good as it gets" and remarked "I know that I've received a great education to help me in the future and obviously I've had a great basketball career with the success that we've had. It's kind of been a win-win for me and I really have a lot of great opportunities coming out of school." He added that the experience prepared him well for a pro career: "we played just about every single good team you can in my four years there. We contended with just about all of them. [So, ] I know I can play".

Smith had finished his Butler classes by February 2013. In between finishing classes and graduation in May, he interned at the Butler Business Accelerator, consulting with pharmaceutical and financial service businesses. Previously, he interned with a venture capital firm during the summer of 2012. Smith graduated in May with a degree in finance.

Smith worked out for six NBA teams, including the Indiana Pacers twice. He was not expected to be drafted, but received offers to play for the Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder teams. When he was not drafted, he took the Thunder's offer, playing on their 2013 Summer team.

On September 1, 2013, the Lithuanian club Neptūnas announced that they had signed Smith for the 2013–14 season.

On May 18, 2013, Smith married his longtime girlfriend Samantha (née Stage). Stage met Smith through her best friend and Smith's sister, Kimberly. Like Smith, she has a competitive personality and is involved in sports. She played volleyball and tennis in high school. Stage is just 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 m) tall, leading to numerous funny photo opportunities. For example, at prom, Smith danced with Stage on his knees. While Smith was at Butler, Stage worked as a nanny and took online classes in psychology.

Smith attended Butler for college. During the 2009–10 season, his freshman year, he was a reserve, playing in 24 games. In an Elite Eight match against Kansas State, Smith was inserted into the lineup when Matt Howard got into early foul trouble. He played five minutes in the first half, helping Butler build an 18–10 lead. Smith also played in the second half, finishing with a season-high 12 minutes. Over the previous month, he had played just three minutes in total. With Smith's help, Butler advanced to the school's first ever Final Four, which happened to be in Indianapolis. At the end of his Butler career, Smith said the Kansas State game was his favorite memory of Butler. Butler ended up making it the NCAA Championship Game.

Andrew Smith (September 9, 1990 – January 12, 2016) was an American basketball player. He played in two NCAA Final Fours during his career at Butler, as well as professionally for Neptūnas.

Andrew Smith was born September 9, 1990 in Washington, D.C. Even at birth, Smith was big, measuring 24.25 inches (61.6 cm) long, about 4 inches (10 cm) above average. Smith's father, Curt, worked for Senator Dan Coats at the time before returning to his native Indiana when Andrew was a young boy. Curt was a high school basketball player for Pike High School, and was involved with basketball throughout Andrew's youth.