By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Derek Smith has been gone for nearly 15 years, but when Mae Bell Morgan watches Duke’s basketball team play, she sees him.

Derek Smith, the Hogansville native who led Louisville to the NCAA promised land in 1980, died unexpectedly during a cruise in 1996, the victim of a faulty heart.

Smith left a lasting legacy that extended well beyond the basketball court where he was so successful.

From his days as a prep star, to his time at Louisville, and then to his career as a basketball coach, Smith was by all accounts a warm, caring man who was devoted to his family and never let his stardom changed the decent person he was.

Smith also left behind a son named Nolan, who 30 years after his dad won a national title in Indianapolis, will try to duplicate that feat this weekend in the same city.

Smith is a star guard for the Duke Blue Devils, who will take on West Virginia tonight in the Final Four in Indianapolis.

One of the people who will be pulling the hardest for the Blue Devils is Morgan, Derek’s mother, and Nolan’s grandmother.

Watching Nolan now, she says, is in many ways like watching her son.

There is a portrait of Derek that rests above the television in the living room. The similarities, she said, are striking.

“He’s grown up to look exactly like his dad,” Morgan said from her home in Hogansville. “It’s like looking at him all over again.

“When he’s at the free-throw line, I can look at them together, and they look so much alike.”

Nolan Smith is the star of the family.

A few decades ago, the spotlight was Derek’s.

He was the toast of the town in basketball-crazed Hogansville, and after heading off to college at the tender age of 16, he helped Louisville knock off the mighty UCLA Bruins in the 1980 title game.

Smith then enjoyed an NBA career that, while successful, was slowed by injuries.

Still, he stayed in the league for nine seasons, and five different teams gave him roster spots because of his value, even if he wasn’t always at his physical best.

When he was healthy, he was a force.

He once averaged 22 points per game with the Clippers, and in 1986, he became the first NBA player to sign an NBA contract.

Through it all, friend and former teammate Ricky Thrash said Smith was always the same person, regardless of the money or the fame.

“He never changed,” said Thrash, himself a standout at Hogansville High in the 70s, and now an assistant principal at Troup High. “He was just a phenomenal individual. He really was

“A lot of people that make it big from here, they say they’re from Atlanta. He always said he was from Hogansville.”

He was, Thrash said, kind to everyone, whether he knew them or not.

“He never met a stranger,” Thrash said.

He was the kind of person, his mom says, who you just enjoyed being around, whatever the setting.

“He was really special in all the things he did, in basketball and outside of basketball,” Morgan said. “I just miss him, especially when all the kids get together.”

She smiles when she remembers Derek.

In 1996 after the tragedy, smiles were hard to come by for a grieving mother.

Smith was on an August cruise with his wife Monica, Nolan and daughter Sydney when he collapsed and died.

The news was unbearable for Morgan, who even now calls Derek “my baby.”

“I was angry. My faith wasn’t as strong as it is now,” she said. “I was questioning God. I was mad at everything.”

Faith, family and time have healed the wounds, and Morgan is able to look back and realize that although her son was lost too soon, his time here was well-spent.

“He made the most of every day,” she said.

The memory of the father isn’t lost on the son.

He made it clear this week that he isn’t just playing for himself and his team.

He is playing for his father.

“Now I have a chance to follow in his footsteps and do the same thing he did,” said Nolan Smith, who grew up in Maryland and went to Oak Hill Academy after his mother Monica re-married. “It means a lot to me. It really gives me a lot of extra motivation to go out and leave it all out on the court.”

How much his father meant to him is easy to see.

On his right arm, Nolan has a tattoo with the image of his father and an inscription that reads “Forever Watching.”

“I wanted something that I could always look down to, thinking about him,” Nolan said. “I look down at my tattoo and see him on my side. I think, how would he play, how would he carry himself in this game?”

His grandmother sees plenty of Derek in him, and not just the physical attributes.

She said that like Derek, Nolan is a warm-hearted young man who cares about others.

Father and son, she said, both have “sweetness” in their character.

Last summer, Nolan came to Hogansville for a family reunion.

He was the star.

“When he came to the family reunion, all of those kids would just gather around him,” Morgan said. “He came to me and told me, ‘grand mamma, I didn’t know all the kids look up to me like that.’ It was such a joy for all the nieces and nephews to be there. He came out there and played ball with them. They talked about it for months.”

Nolan Smith has spent a lot of time talking about his father the past few weeks.

The story tie-in is irresistible, and newspapers and television stations have jumped on it.

Making the story even more intriguing, Smith has the chance to win a national title in the same city his father won his in.

Derek Smith’s Cardinals won the title at Market Square Arena, which has since been demolished.

Three decades later, Smith has an opportunity to give the family another championship.

“I’ve had a chance to watch some games and talk to his teammates, hearing about how he played,” Smith said. “Now I have a chance to follow in his footsteps and do the same thing he did. It means a lot to me. It really gives me a lot o extra motivation to go out there and leave it all on the court.”

Smith is a key reason the Devils are two games from the title.

The junior has had a superb tournament, and in the regional final against Baylor, he scored 29 points in a 78-71 win.

Earlier in the day, Smith watched a television special on his dad.

“I didn’t let it over-emotionalize me, but I used it to my advantage, and I’ll do the same thing (today),” Smith said.

Two more wins.

That’s all that stands between Smith and a championship ring of his own.

As much as his father’s memory means to him, he knows that when tip-off time comes around, he has to devote all of his mental energy to the game.

“All the emotions that we have, all the excitement, we’re balling it up an are just going to use that when we take the court,” he said