Downey’s Smith Is a Tall Order for Opponents

Whenever she ventures out of her house, Rhonda Smith knows she will hear the same question.

“They always want to know if I play basketball,” Smith said. “Most of the time, I just look at them with a weird expression and tell them that I’m a cheerleader and not a basketball player. That always takes them by surprise.”

Smith, 18, is a senior at Downey High and regarded as one of the area’s top girls’ basketball players. And at 6 feet 7, it’s easy to understand why everyone assumes she prefers basketballs to pompons.

All she ever wanted was to be a cheerleader, and while her height has provided her with a distinct advantage on the basketball court, it has also caused her much anguish.

The tallest in a family of nine children, Smith had her biggest growth spurt in junior high school. When she enrolled at Downey as a ninth grader, she was 6-4, much taller than other girls, and they didn’t let her forget it.

“When Rhonda first came to Downey, she was one of the shyest girls I’d ever worked with,” said girls’ basketball Coach Andy Craig. “I don’t think she looked at her height as a positive thing.”

She had hardly touched a basketball, her play in junior high having been limited. Craig said she showed up in the gym one day and said she wouldn’t be back the next.

But Smith went out for the team as a freshman and played sparingly on the junior varsity. She was big, but her skills didn’t match those of many of the more experienced girls, so she spent most of her time on the bench.

Craig realized working with a player Smith’s size was a once-in-a-career opportunity, so he devised a plan to sharpen her skills. He consulted with other top coaches and got her involved in spring and summer leagues. And he hoped she wouldn’t transfer.

By her sophomore season, Smith was the starting varsity center. Everywhere she played, heads turned up.

“I remember walking into the gym during a holiday tournament at Charter Oak, and it was as if everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me,” she said. “I’ve never been comfortable with that kind of attention.”

Although Downey had never been a girls’ basketball power, Smith has helped bring success. She averaged 10 points as a sophomore, and the Vikings finished 13-13 and qualified for the playoffs. The team set a school record for victories last season with 22, and Smith averaged 13 points.

Downey appears headed for its third playoff berth in a row, and Smith, who has accepted a scholarship offer to Long Beach State, is having an all-star season. She’s averaging 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. In a game against Lakewood earlier this season, she finished with 25 points, 31 rebounds and 18 blocked shots.

“A girl that is 6-7 is like a guy being 7-1 or 7-2,” Craig said. “It’s that big of an advantage.”

Art Jackson, assistant basketball coach at Cerritos Gahr, said his team has faced Smith twice a season for the past three years and always comes prepared.

“We know that we always have to have two girls on her and let others be the hero,” Jackson said. “She’ll kill you if you don’t.”

Linda Holt, Smith’s mother, said basketball has allowed her to travel and make new friends.

“My daughter has never been ashamed of her height, but basketball has allowed her to excel as a person,” said Holt, who’s 6-1. “She’s really grown up.”