The RoundHouse | 12/11/2018 3:40:00 PM

Shyia Smith ran her last sprint, part of the 800-meter relay at team at Idabel (Okla.) High School, handed her gold medal to her grandfather, as promised, and watched him hang it near his front door.
 
Then, she thought, her sprinting days ended after that Class 3A meet in June in Oklahoma City.
 
"I don't really like sprinting," she said. "My grandpa is a big sports person. I told him I was going to get him a gold medal. I was determined."
 
Smith's determination is starting to pay off at Wichita State (6-4) and, it turns out, she's not done sprinting. 
 
Smith, a 5-foot-11 forward, scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Tuesday's 70-61 win over Grambling State at Koch Arena, backing up her 17-point effort on Saturday in a loss to Creighton. She averaged 3.3 points in her first eight games.
 
"High school is, like, slow," she said. "Coming from high school to college, you have to sprint a lot. You have to do a lot of running and more defense. I'm finally getting the gist of it."
 
Like many freshman, Smith discovered that focusing on rebounding and defense helps her scoring. Wichita State coach Keitha Adams is ready to enlist the help of Robert Walker, Smith's grandfather, to get more speed out of his granddaughter.
 
"Sounds like she loves her grandpa and she really didn't like running track, but she did it for him," Adams said. "She looks like a thoroughbred when she's flying down the court. It looks so easy. So natural."
 
Adams sees that athletic ability turning into big things for Smith with the Shockers. 
 
"Shy's very serious and very focused," Adams said. "She's got a high level of maturity for being a freshman."
 
Adams envisions her as a versatile forward who can score in the lane and from three-point range. She is agile enough to defend smaller opponents.
 
"As athletic as she is, I see us one day utilizing her to guard guards that are athletic, because of her length," Adams said. "I think she can be a really good defender. I think she probably doesn't realize how good she can be."
 
Smith showed offensive versatility in the past two games. She made her second three-pointer of the season against Creighton, part of a 7-for-10 shooting afternoon. Against Grambling State (1-6), she made 9 of 11 foul shots and 3 of 6 shots.
 
"I had a lot of energy and I've got to keep doing the same thing I'm doing," she said. "I've got to keep pushing."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.