Kennedy Smith Brings the 'Dog' to USC's Defense, and She's Finding Her Voice

USC junior wing Kennedy Smith is one of the players who best exemplifies the “dog” mentality that associate head coach Beth Burns preaches, according to The Next. Burns put it simply at USC’s preseason media day on Oct. 15: “You got to be hungry.”

Smith’s intensity, especially on defense, shows up in practice as much as in games. She pushes JuJu Watkins every day, and Watkins noticed. “I think Ken doesn’t get the recognition she deserves on the defensive end,” Watkins told reporters, adding that Smith’s competitiveness “brings the best out of me and brings the best out of everybody.”

The edge started early. Smith grew up playing basketball against boys, where everything turned into a competition. “I think I hate to lose more than I love to win,” she said.

The quiet one who had to talk

Off the court, The Next reported, Smith is mild-mannered and soft-spoken. Last season she was asked to take on more of a leadership role as a sophomore, with fellow 2024 recruits Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel entering the transfer portal and Kiki Iriafen, Rayah Marshall and Talia von Oelhoffen graduating.

“Using my voice is something that I wasn’t exactly used to,” Smith said. She is still adjusting, admitting, “Sometimes I have days where I don’t feel like I have to talk, but that’s a little selfish.”

More than a stopper

Smith made the Big Ten All-Defensive team last season and averaged a career-best 11.5 points per game on career highs of 11.3 shot attempts and 7.4 2-point attempts per game. Her efficiency dipped, from 41.2% overall and 30.3% from three as a freshman to 40.1% and 22.6% as a sophomore. The midrange is where she wants to live: per Synergy Sports, she took 60 midrange shots last season and made them at a 40% clip.

Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb is on board. “I want her touching that thing as much as possible because she’s a shot creator for other people and obviously can score,” Gottlieb said after an exhibition win against Cal. “I don’t think she’s only a defensive player. She’s both.”

USC is No. 3 in the preseason AP poll and opens Monday in Las Vegas against UNLV, with one-off games against South Carolina and Baylor on the nonconference slate.

Her take

On a roster with three No. 1 overall recruits in Watkins, Davidson and Saniyah Hall, Smith is easy to overlook. We think that is exactly why she matters. Every title team needs the player who takes the other team’s best scorer and still gives the offense a real option. If that midrange pull-up gets steadier, “I want people to feel us” stops being a slogan and becomes a scouting report.