Bigger picture always the focus for Jeremy Smith

Featured image: Tia De Santis | @tia.desantis

Jeremy Smith might very well be on track for another Woollacott Medal but his focus is on whatever it takes for South Adelaide Panthers to win and they've won 10 straight now in NBL1 Central, and to help develop emerging stars like Rio Bruton and Lloyd McVeigh.

Smith is now playing a third season in the NBL1 Central with the Panthers to carry on what he started back when it was the ABL in 2015 with what was his first stop following his Nicholls State University career.

Smith is having an outstanding season right now to be instrumental in South Adelaide's current 10-game winning streak where he's producing 25.6 points, 6.7 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals on a scintillating 61 per cent field goal shooting.

However, he cares little about individual accolades or numbers right now and only agreed to return to the Panthers in 2026 if he felt like he could impact the team winning, and help the younger players of the squad play key roles and take the next step in achieving their dreams.

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That's why Smith is feeling good about how this season is going so far with the Panthers not only having a 10-2 record alongside fellow top teams the Forestville Eagles and Sturt Sabres, but most importantly for him is the roles young players like McVeigh, Bruton, Koby Moir, Daniel Smith and Jonty Smith have.

"I think that the team mantra and mood right now is feeling pretty good but it's more so also about their development than just the results," Smith said.

"It feels like they're getting better each and every game and I think that shows obviously in the results that we've been putting up.

"The guys are feeling good, they're pretty confident and at the same time they also realise what's at stake and they also realise what they have to do.

"So they don't get too high and they don’t get too low, they just basically are worrying about the progression of the group and the development. I think that's very critical as far as what we're doing and what we have been doing in the past few weeks."

Helping next generation reach potential

While Smith wanted to win like any players does on returning to South Adelaide in 2026, he also wanted to ensure the Panthers made their youth a focus and would be a big part of everything they did.

That’s where Smith takes such pride in helping the younger players reach their potential and will do anything he can to help them whether it's physically working out with them or providing advice wherever he can.

He's excited that Rio Bruton has now signed with the Brisbane Bullets for NBL27 to continue his family's remarkable legacy while he is looking forward to seeing what further opportunities Lloyd McVeigh gets after his taste of things in NBL26 at the Cairns Taipans.

It's not just about that pair either.

"Coming back that was a big piece of it and I would like to think that I've made an impact on Rio and he's Rio and he has been who he's been before me, but I would like to think that I have helped impact his game," Smith said.

"The same thing with Lloyd, I would like to think that I impact his game as well and there's other ones as well. Koby Moir and the Smith twins, these are guys who want to establish themselves in basketball in the future and that was my main goal coming here.

"I know a lot of people and especially import are all about their last game and last season, and what did you do, but I think it's more important for me at this point of my career to share the knowledge that I have and impact my teammates, and help them become the best basketball player that they can be – or at least help them get the tools to do that.

"Those guys all ask me questions all the time, they get in the gym all the time and I remember before I even signed here that people didn’t believe in those guys or this team.

"People told me they are too young or they are this or that, but currently we've won 10 in-a-row so I think everybody is on a different side of the fence now and I'm trying to teach them not to worry about what everyone else is saying, and just do what we know we can do.

"I hope they appreciate some of the stuff like the workouts and other stuff off the court I've helped them with, and the sky's the limit for a lot of those guys and I wish them well for sure."

That overtime win over Forestville

Prior to last week's break for the NBL1 Central competition over the King's Birthday long weekend, South Adelaide played in a stunning overtime battle against the Forestville Eagles.

That came the day after also beating the defending champion West Adelaide Bearcats on Saturday night and it also meant a hell of a battle for Smith with his 2022 championship teammate Alex Starling.

Smith enjoyed the battle and it's also the first overtime game in the NBL1 Central he can remember being part of. He was glad to come out victorious against a team he knows so well not only with Starling, but also Daniel Johnson, Greg Mays, Adam Doyle and Jordan Forbes.

"We've obviously had a bit of history with that team and some of those guys for myself personally so I know how that team in particular approach the game and that when we play against each other what to expect," Smith said.

"I guess you can say it's become a certain rivalry within itself at least since I've been here in the last couple of years. Every time we play them it's always fun for me at least, it's always fun, and at the end of the day if we had to play them tomorrow, it's just another game.

"It's not like I'm trying to do something extra or less or more of against them, but it's always fun to play them and to battle. I think that was also my first overtime in NBL1 at least that I can remember so that was pretty cool too, but credit to my teammates.

"They pulled through and obviously playing against an experienced squad like that with our youth, they proved that they are here to play and to prove themselves.

"It's more credit to them than anything and everything else doesn't really matter so it was good to see them show how they are developing and getting better every week. If we played a game like that at the beginning of the year, we probably wouldn’t win that game."

Locking horns with Alex Starling

While that was a remarkable game all-round featuring the top two NBL1 Central teams right now that went to overtime, the one-on-one battle between 2022 championship teammates Smith and Starling was simply remarkable.

For the entire 38:38 of court time that Starling had, his job was to make life as difficult as possible as he could for Smith. He did that to a degree limiting him to 8/26 field goal shooting and six turnovers.

But Smith did still finish with 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in his 43:17 and South Adelaide were +5 with him out there.

For him, it was the win at the end of the day that mattered.

"It's always good facing him and we're still obviously pretty close off the court, and we made history together and we had great chemistry going when we was teammates," Smith said.

"But like I said, it's no different to playing anybody else once the game starts and I think Forestville as a team they have principles, they have their coverages and especially regarding me.

"I just knew the game was going to be tough regardless in a double header and we were coming off a tough game against West who have just added Nick Marshall and were trying to re-establish themselves.

"So that wasn’t an easy game and then coming back the next day and having to play this Forestville team who have pride about themselves and are experienced, I knew it was going to be a tough game.

"It wasn’t anything necessarily crazy to what I was expecting, but I just tried to will myself through and be the best for my teammates.

"We've played twice against each other now and it's always good to have a good battle, and we're 1-1 now and if we meet somewhere down the line hopefully we can still be victorious and win that battle again, and again and again and again."

Finding a home with South Adelaide

Now that Smith is in a fourth season overall at South Adelaide, he'd like to think he can call it a basketball home because it's now the club he's played the longest with for his entire career all over the world.

While Smith would like to think he's created a lasting legacy with South Adelaide, that’s not what it's about for him. His focus is on helping his club thrive, and more importantly basketball in South Australia continue to be on the rise at all levels.

"I would like to think that, but I don’t know, and I just think the city of Adelaide has a lot to give as far as the basketball scene goes," Smith said.

"You have a lot of hidden gems here and I could have easily stayed in Victoria where it's a bigger market and it's a bigger basketball hub, but I myself also want to help push the younger talent and the basketball scene of Adelaide.

"I've been all around the world playing basketball so I have friends all around the world who tune into follow me, but they also see other people as well and I have friends who play in the NBA or coach on a Division 1 level, and they take interest to the talent that's around me.

"For me that's what it was about in coming to play here and I had college teammates from Australia so I wanted to spend as much time as I could here, and I do admit I never imagined playing basketball this long.

"I just wanted to travel the world and then I saw that I was good at it and I liked it, so I've just kept going."

Playing all over the world year-round

When Smith finished his time in college at Nicholls State, he had no idea what awaited him. He certainly didn’t expect to be still playing on the other side of the world 12 years later.

It all started at South Adelaide in 2015 before two years in the Big V and ever since then, it's been a global journey for the now 35-year-old with stints in Iceland, Cyprus, Qatar, Vietnam and more recently, Austria.

His first return to South Adelaide was the MVP and championship 2022 season with Scott Ninnis as coach before he was back again in 2024, and now again in 2026.

But in terms of life as a globe trekking professional basketballer, he sure can't complain.

"It's an awesome life and basketball has done absolutely everything that it could possibly do for me on and off the court," Smith said.

"I'm very blessed to even still be playing and I've been playing 11 years and 15 seasons since college and it's very repeatable in all leagues so it's not like I changed who I was, my roles or anything.

"I've been able to stay the same and I've been able to play in beautiful countries and beautiful cities, and I've experienced the cultures of those places too away from the basketball.

"It's a beautiful thing and not only off the court, but then on the court just to see that the work that I put in it translates to play all over the world.

"A lot of people could sit there and expect everything will be easy until they have to do it so to be able to say that I've done it at a high level, and done it in different markets and gone down different avenues, I can't complain.

"I'm blissful, I'm happy and it's a lovely thing so I'm grateful that's for sure."