Adrianna Smith is taking her basketball talent Down Under.
The former University of Maine two-time America East Player of the Year has signed with the Dandenong Rangers of the NBL1, Australia’s top pro league.
She is joining the Melbourne-based team immediately as it is already five games into its season. The Rangers were 1-4 and tied for 14th place in the league’s 20-team South Division.
There are five divisions and a total of 72 teams, and each team is allowed to have two imports, which refers to players from other countries.
The redshirt senior from Reston, Virginia, won her second league Player of the Year honor this past season for UMaine after leading America East in points (22.8 per game), rebounds (10.7), defensive rebounds (7.9), assists (4.7), double-doubles (20) and minutes played (34.9).
The relentless and tireless Smith, who could score with both hands, closed out her season and career with 11 consecutive double-doubles.
Nationally, she finished eighth in points among players at 359 Division I schools, tied for ninth in double-doubles; 14th in defensive rebounds; 15th in total rebounds; 43rd in minutes played and 49th in assists.
Her 4.7 assists per game were the most in the country among forwards. The top 46 were all listed as guards.
She was named one of five finalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. It was won by South Dakota State senior forward Brooklyn Meyer.
In addition to being named America East Player of the Year, an all-league first team selection and an All-Defensive Team selection, she was also selected the ECAC Player of the Year and an All-ECAC first team pick.
She scored in double figures in 31 of UMaine’s 32 games and had 23 games with at least 20 points and five with 30 or more.
She shot 45.1 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent beyond the 3-point arc and 77.5 percent from the free throw line.
Smith had 15 games with five or more assists and 12 with 13 or more rebounds.
She also led the team in steals with 57 and was second in blocked shots with 24.
She became only the eighth player in Division I basketball since 1982 to average 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 4-plus assists in a season.
She was the fourth player in history to register 700-plus points (728), 300-plus rebounds (341) and 140-plus assists (151) in a season.
The 6-foot Smith is the only player in America East history, male or female, to record at least 1,000 points (1,887), 1,000-plus rebounds (1,052) and 400-plus assists (431) in a career.
She concluded her remarkable career as the school’s No. 3 rebounder, fifth in assists and seventh in scoring.
