B.C.’s Star Has a Sweet Tooth

Make that another double-double for Craig Smith, and add a Sweet 16 for relish.

The Boston College forward, too pudgy and too lax in the classroom for virtually every school in Southern California five years ago when he played at Fairfax High, bulled his way to 22 points and 16 rebounds in a 69-56 second-round victory over Montana on Saturday in Huntsman Center.

“I’ve been playing all four years with a chip on my shoulder,” Smith said. “I just want to prove everybody wrong.”

Next stop, the Minneapolis Regional, where fourth-seeded Boston College will play the winner of today’s Villanova-Arizona game for a spot in the Elite Eight.

“We survived this week, but we’ve got more ahead of us,” said Smith, who polished off a double-double in the first half with 16 points and 11 rebounds, then watched his teammates break open what had been a close game with open three-pointers as 12th-seeded Montana worried about Smith inside.

“Let’s face it, he was a beast in there,” Boston College Coach Al Skinner said. “He was carrying two, three guys on his back, getting offensive rebounds and putting them back up. Even though his shooting percentage [11 for 23] wasn’t good, what he did opened it up outside. That’s what a senior does, he puts the team on his back.”

Back in high school, Smith was even more of a load -- at 6 feet 7, 270 pounds with a questionable work ethic. The only Southern California school to offer him a scholarship was Cal State Fullerton, then coached by Donny Daniels, now a UCLA assistant.

“Cal State L.A. was interested, but that was Division II,” Smith said.

Grant this to coaches such as Steve Lavin and Henry Bibby who passed on Smith: He wasn’t academically eligible out of high school, and he weighed 25 pounds more than the 245 he weighs now.

“He was clearly interested in playing in the Pac-10,” Skinner said. “Nobody in the Pac-10 was interested in him.”

Skinner -- known for recruiting overlooked players such as Troy Bell at Boston College and Cuttino Mobley at Rhode Island first saw Smith at a summer tournament in Georgia.

“I don’t know about other coaches,” Skinner said. “I just know what we saw.”

Smith committed to Boston College and spent a year at Worcester Academy near Boston to help become academically eligible

His freshman season, he was down to 260 pounds and averaged almost 20 points and eight rebounds. He honed his body more as his career went on, and he’ll leave as the leading rebounder in B.C. history, and the third-leading scorer. This season, he averages close to 18 points and nine rebounds for a 28-7 team that has won more games than any other in school history. Plus, he said, he has a 3.2 grade-point average and will graduate on time.

Montana (24-7) didn’t go easily in the first half, beating Boston College on a variety of back-door cuts and making four of eight three-point shots. The Grizzlies led by five at one point, and trailed by only two at halftime, 32-30.

It wasn’t a blowout until freshman Tyrese Rice made consecutive three-pointers -- both off assists from Smith -- for a 54-40 lead with 10 1/2 minutes left.

Smith has come a long way since Fairfax, but there’s a little less of him.

“I liked Taco Bell, that was one of my favorites,” he said. “Tommy’s, I love Tommy’s. Oki Dog, above Melrose on Fairfax. And yeah, In-N-Out Burger, late nights after playing ball at UCLA.”

These days, he’ll take his double-doubles on the court.

The other day, Smith ran into San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher, who was among the many coaches who were once more interested in Fairfax teammate Evan Burns than in Smith.

Burns signed with UCLA but didn’t qualify academically, then went to San Diego State and was eventually dismissed from the program for academic reasons.

“It was fun seeing the San Diego State coach,” Smith said. “He said he made a bad decision. I just chuckled. I said, ‘You might have done the best thing for me.

“ ‘Obviously, you created a monster.’ ”