Blog with Bryan Smithson

Things are getting hectic.  The last couple of weeks things in school have been slow and now all of a sudden the management department wants to have a test, project, or paper due everyday.  I have several tests coming up next week as well as a presentation.  I have started studying already but sometimes there are not enough hours in the day to complete the things I wish to.  Practice has been good but because of the way our classes our scheduled our practice times are horrible.  Tuesday morning at 7am, Wed @ 8:00pm, Thursday at 8:30, and Friday @2:45.  Along with weight lifting sessions wherever we can fit them in.  Practicing that late at night makes it hard to get up in the morning, but obviously I don't have a choice-- Which is good because I need to get things done. 

It has been one year exactly since I begin my first season here at UNCA.  I want to take this opportunity to thank the coaching staff here for a variety of reasons.  When I left Middle Tennessee State I had several offers to go big and small.  Obviously. teams aren't usually excited when it comes to enrolling a transfer because the player is usually stereotyped as being "disruptive." This was definitely the case when I left because several teams did not want to give me a scholarship for my redshirt transfer year because they wanted me to prove myself first.  I can understand that, but it was disappointing that so many rumors were spread about me for leaving MTSU, and disgruntled fans who "Loved" me, were now "hating" me and trying to make it difficult for me to leave.   With that said, I also understand that this is a part of college basketball and when I decided to leave the team I asked for everything that came with it.  There were several people that could understand my situation, but one that stands out in my mind is the head coach here at UNCA Eddie Biedenbach.  He knew i wasn't a bad person or a disruption but that I was a kid who had plenty of potential to be a great basketball player and an even better person.  It was a tough adjustment for me to come into UNCA after being in a totally different environment at MTSU, but the coaching staff and players helped me make the adjustment and treated me like an adult.  They put the ball in my hand from the beginning and let me run the show without a doubt that it would be a great move for the team and myself.  I have made bad decisions in my life but i have learned, from being at UNCA,  that it is much more fulfilling to make a good decision because you want to make your coaching staff and those around you proud, than to make a good decision because you don't want to be embarrassed by your coaching staff for making a bad one.  Because in the end when the coach isn't there to embarrass you anymore, you revert back to making bad decisions instead of developing a professional way of life.   So thank you to the staff here at UNCA --- Tripp Cogburn, Nick McDevitt, Thomas Nash, and Eddie Biedenbach for taking me in and staying loyal to me as a basketball player and as a person.  All of you helped me rekindle my love for the game, which has ultimately given me an opportunity to soon play at the highest level.  Also, all my teammates who made it an easy transition for me and didn't frown upon my arrival here, but instead embraced it--thanks

I am looking forward to kicking the season off tonight with jammin at the justice and coming home with this dunk title again..  Shot out B Greezy