Blue Bell’s Blake Smith is set to take the court for the first time in a NCAA Tournament game when Northwestern University faces Florida Atlantic University on Friday, March 22nd at 12:15 p.m. Smith is a graduate of Germantown Academy.

The Philadelphia Inquirer published an article about Smith on March 21st, which tells his story of how he went from receiving no Division I offers to now playing in the NCAA Tournament. Smith, a guard, walked on at Northwestern and his role during his freshman season was to practice with the team and mimic the style of an upcoming opponent. He played just three minutes in a game that season.

As this season approached, he first considered red-shirting so he would be able to play as a fifth year player. However, an injury led to an opening for him to play on a regular basis. He started his first game on February 28th against Maryland.

You can read the full article here.

Interesting fact. There are three members of the Northwestern men’s basketball team named Blake.

Photo – Headshot from Northwestern University