Donta Smith

Who is Donta Smith?

Donta Lamont Smith is an American-Venezuelan professional basketball player who currently plays for Maccabi Haifa B.C. of the Israeli Basketball Super League.

Smith played his high school ball at Oldham County High School, where he was a standout forward on the high school team and record-setting wide receiver on the football team. He also played on the Kentucky All-Stars in their annual two-game series against the Indiana All-Stars. After two years of junior college basketball at Southeastern Illinois College, Smith was rated as one of the top JUCO prospects and committed to play ball for Rick Pitino at the University of Louisville. But he backed out of the commitment and entered the 2004 NBA Draft instead.

Smith was taken by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 2004 NBA Draft after playing college basketball at Southeastern Illinois College and averaged 3.3 points per game for the Hawks during his two-season stint. On December 2, 2005, the Hawks assigned Smith to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Arkansas RimRockers.

In January 2007, Smith signed a one-month contract with Bulgarian champions Academic Sofia, which could possibly be extended to five months. On December 24, 2008, Smith signed with the South Dragons of the Australian National Basketball League. He had previously been with the Chinese Basketball Association's Shanxi Zhongyu but was waived to make roster space available for Bonzi Wells.