US import Lafonzo Smith “a crucial signing” for the club

US import Lafonzo Smith, from Waynesboro, Mississippi, has re-signed to the Northern Star Resources Goldfields Giants for the 2023 NBL1 West season. 

Smith said his decision to re-sign was based on being familiar with his team mates and enjoying the “family-oriented feel” of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. 

Standing at 206cm, the centre averaged 10.55 ppg, 1.20 apg, and 7.40 rpg in the 2022 NBL1 West season, playing 20 games with the Giants. 

Smith’s basketball career started at Benedict College, a division two school in South Carolina, US, in which he helped the Tigers’ win the 2016 SIAC Championship in his senior year. 

In 2017, Smith signed with Club Basquet Cantaires Tortosa in Tortosa, Spain, competing in the EBA league. 

He then played in the Super League in Argentina before making his way home to the United States to play for the Seattle Mountaineers in the American Basketball Association men’s league. 

Keeping his momentum up between NBL1 seasons, Smith is currently playing for D1 team Darwin Eagles in the Northern Territory. 

“Since I’ve been in Darwin, I’ve been working on my game, staying in shape and working on weaknesses – like getting stronger, being more aggressive – things that I noticed I could improve on from last season,” he said. 

"The competition up here is pretty competitive – they usually have one or two NBL1 players on each team so it’s been competitive”. 

Smith said his time in Darwin is “definitely” preparing him for the next season. 

“That was one of the things I was thinking of going into this, you know, even though it's a lower league, I was preparing myself in this league to play like I would play in the NBL1,” he said. 

On the season ahead, he said “it's the same goal as last year - it was always, you know, actually winning but even though we came up short, it’s still the same goal, always is, to win the championship”. 

Head coach Scott Manton said Smith was “a crucial signing” for the club. 

“He attracted a lot of interest from other clubs,” he said. 

“He was one of the best centres in the league last year, he is athletic, a good rebounder and a great team member. We are looking forward to Zo joining the group once again”. 

Giants' chairman Russell Duncan said it is great to see Smith back. 

“He showed us how good a player he is as the season progressed – he adjusted to the Giants playing style and just got better and better,” he said. 

Smith will arrive back in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in mid-March to prepare for the 2023 NBL1 West season.