Five years in college gave Dylan Smith the chance to add a sociology minor to his general studies focus on human behavior, which suggests he knows a few things about how people are.
But in one sense, he didn’t need all that classwork to learn about human behavior.
He plays basketball for Arizona, after all, swimming in one of the West’s biggest college sports fishbowls.
Over three active seasons with the Wildcats, who will end their home schedule this weekend against Washington State and Washington, every one of Smith’s successes and struggles have been analyzed.
Just check Twitter, the message boards or the radio shows.
Smith is 8 for 13 from 3-point range over three Wooden Legacy games and makes the all-tournament team … he’s a combined 7 for 12 in two close games against Oregon and hits a clutch shot in the paint late in the second game … he’s (insert nice adjective here).
Smith is yanked in the second half against St. John’s … he’s 2 for 16 from the field in two games against UCLA … he’s (insert not-so-nice adjective here).
That’s how it goes. How it always has gone.
“I’ve been dealing with that before I even picked up” behavioral studies, Smith said, smiling. “It’s all good. I just go out there and play basketball. It’s not that big of a deal. People are going to say what they want to say.
“It’s part of the world we live in. People are always going to criticize you, even when you do good.”
Besides, Smith said, it can be entertaining.
“Most of the people who say all the crazy stuff can’t play basketball,” he said. “That’s what makes it hilarious. So I don’t get that much into it, but if somebody shows me something, I’ll read it and laugh it off.”
While that might be the sort of thing a person might say to hide a thin skin, the evidence shows Smith really can take it. After three of UA’s toughest losses this season — both Oregon games and at ASU — an Arizona spokesman went into the locker room to ask players if any of them would be willing to meet with the media.
Smith volunteered every time. And he never ducked the tough questions, either, whether about his game or the Wildcats.
“It’s hard winning on the road, and we’ve got a young team,” Smith said after the UA lost in Tempe on Jan. 31, falling to 0-4 in true road games. “But we have some experienced players like myself and I’ve gotta do a better job leading. That’s just all there is to it.”
It couldn’t have been fun to talk about. But maybe — if we’re going to analyze Smith’s behavior — his willingness to take it on comes from the laid-back personality Smith brought from Mobile, Alabama, four years of experience at Arizona under constantly changing conditions and an underlying resiliency that has meshed well with tough-minded UA coach Sean Miller.
“He’s just a fighter,” Miller said. “He’s been here at a unique time in our program, and he shows up every day. I know that that doesn’t seem like that’s a big compliment. But that could be the biggest compliment a coach can pay a player.
“What I mean is he works at it. He doesn’t miss. He practices if he doesn’t play well. He practices if it doesn’t go well for our team. He shows up in the spring and the summer. And he’s stayed with it academically; I think he’s grown as a student, which is really what this is about in so many ways.
“As a person he’s grown, and as a basketball player. He has had his struggles at times, but so has our team. And the one thing that you always want to have for peace of mind as a coach is that the player is giving his 100%, that he cares a lot about our program, team and his performance. I would say that Dylan checks the box in all of those ways.”
Smith has shown up no matter what has been going on around him. Lightly recruited out of high school, Smith quickly proved himself a high-major player while leading UNC Asheville into the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
He transferred to Arizona that summer. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind:
2016-17: Smith redshirted as a sophomore after transferring from Asheville, facing a handful of talented guards in practice: Allonzo Trier, Rawle Alkins, Kobi Simmons, Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Kadeem Allen. The Wildcats rode the surprising freshman success of Lauri Markkanen to a tie for first place in the Pac-12 and a 32-5 overall record.
Yet it is Allen who may have left the strongest impression.
“He’s actually one of the best defenders I’ve ever seen,” Smith said. “You’ve just got to kind of admire him. A lot of people can’t do what he did on the ball and off the ball. He was a great steals guy, he can go get blocks, he can guard one through four. I’m a little bit taller than him but he was so strong and more physical.
“We’re two totally different people so I try not to take everything from him. But it was stuff like how he hustled and making hard plays. He didn’t always get a steal, but he took charges. He would always rally his team. He was a true leader.”
2017-18: Smith was eligible as a redshirt sophomore, but minutes weren’t a guarantee. Not with Trier and Alkins back, and well-regarded freshman wing Brandon Randolph joining them on the roster.
But Miller let him know how he could do it.
Defense “wasn’t always the thing for me,” Smith said. “He kind of gave me a defensive edge. He made it well known to me I wasn’t gonna play unless I played defense.
“I wasn’t always physically athletic. I got stronger while I was here but it was just about me. He was telling me he needed somebody on every team that’s been good (defensively). He’s always had one or two great perimeter defenders, like Kadeem Allen, T.J. McConnell, Kyle Fogg, players like that. He said I could be that type of player if I just locked in on it.”
Trier sharpened Smith’s defensive focus, too.
“Guarding Allonzo was the biggest help to me, just having that challenge every day,” Smith said. “He’s one of the toughest covers you’ll ever guard, no matter what level.
“He’s the ultimate gym rat. I took that from his game, just trying to get into the gym as much as I can and he just took it to another level obviously when he got to the NBA. He showed what he could do, and they paid him. But I think once he gets an opportunity to play more, he’ll get paid even more.”
Smith averaged 14.6 minutes a game as a redshirt sophomore, starting eight of the 34 games he played in while averaging 4.3 points and shooting 33% from 3-point range.
The UA was rocked by the FBI’s investigation of college basketball, leading to the dismissal of assistant coach Book Richardson and the near-destruction of its 2018 recruiting efforts. The Wildcats went 0-3 in a Bahamas postseason tournament, recovered to win the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles and then lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
2018-19: Smith played a significant role on a thinly talented team that lost Alkins, Trier and Jackson-Cartwright from the backcourt, relying heavily on grad transfer Justin Coleman at point guard and freshman Brandon Williams as a combo guard. Smith started 15 of 32 games, averaging 24.4 minutes and 7.2 points per game and hitting 35.1% of his 3-point attempts.
The Wildcats went just 17-15 in a season when forward Emmanuel Akot quit the team in midseason and Williams missed a month of Pac-12 play when his ongoing knee issue flared up. After the season, Alex Barcello — another guard — transferred to BYU.
“You gotta think about it,” Smith said. “We had two guys leaving for a transfer and Justin Coleman, our starting point guard, was playing hurt pretty much the whole year. He had a shoulder injury (that flared up in late December) and he played through it. It was his last year, so why not? Brandon Williams, talented guy, went out with a knee injury and he didn’t even play this year because of his surgery.
“And then Emmanuel Akot transferred. That’s what people don’t get — we were 4-0 in the Pac-12 before Emmanuel transferred. One player leaving can affect the whole team chemistry because new guys had to step up and guys have bigger roles. I had to slide over to play more four. So it was just a weird year for us. We battled through it, even got some wins on the road. We gave it all, we came in, we practiced hard every day. … It was just a different year. It’s hard to explain.”
2019-20: The influx of freshmen Nico Mannion, Josh Green, Zeke Nnaji and Christian Koloko immediately and significantly upgraded Arizona’s talent level, but not its experience level. Inconsistency has been an issue ever since Smith and the Wildcats won that Wooden Legacy title over Thanksgiving weekend.
The Wildcats are just 10-10 since that night. Smith has started all 29 games, averaging 8.3 points per game, hitting 35.6% of his 3s — and taking on the opponent’s top perimeter scoring threat.
There are signs of progress, on the road at least. After the ASU loss, the Wildcats won their next four road games before getting swept in Los Angeles last weekend. Still, they led for most of Saturday’s game at UCLA before losing 69-64.
Little steps, ones that might get bigger this month.
No matter what anyone else thinks.
“I feel like it can happen as long as we stay focused,” Smith said. “We’re a good team and the people that hate on us, I feel we will prove them wrong. And to those that support us, no matter whether we win or lose, we’re thankful.
“The guys all know we’re a great team and we’re one or two plays away from being one of those elite teams in the country.”
So go ahead and tell Smith he can’t do it, or that the Wildcats can’t do it. Then he’ll laugh, dig in and try to do his best to prove you wrong.
Just like he did to those who watched him growing up in Alabama.
“The coaches that knew me even say, ‘Man, if you would have told me in eighth or ninth grade that you would have been at Arizona playing basketball, we probably would have laughed,’” Smith said.
“It’s funny how things work out. It’s a testament to my hard work. I never let anybody tell me what I could or couldn’t do, and I went as far as my ability took me.”