After spending his entire collegiate career with Michigan State basketball as a walk-on, Davis Smith, the son of Spartan legend Steve Smith, didn't exactly have pro hoops prospects.
Smith scored a total of 15 points over his four-year career with Michigan State, appearing in 43 games and playing 82 total minutes. He was just 4-for-18 from the floor so it was pretty obvious that he wasn't going to be following his dad's footsteps and playing in the NBA.
However, he has made it to the league after all.
On Wednesday, the New Orleans Pelicans announced some additions to the organization and Smith happened to be one of them. No, he's not playing for New Orleans, but he's on the staff as a basketball operations manager under former Pistons GM Troy Weaver.
It's cool to see Smith earn an opportunity with an NBA organization and I would assume that it's easy to sell a resume when you have four years of college hoops experience and your dad played in the league for a while.
Smith is the latest former Michigan State basketball player to join the coaching staff ranks in either the NBA or college, following guys like Joey Hauser, Matt McQuaid, Tum Tum Nairn, Austin Thornton, Thomas Kithier, and Foster Loyer, among others. He's going to have to work his way through the ranks, starting in New Orleans, if he wants to be a coach one day.
I have no idea what his ultimate goal is, but it seems like he wants to get into coaching with this initial role and it's a great place to begin.
Tom Izzo has himself quite the player coaching tree.