Smile like you mean it

Sitting on the sidelines for most of an 18-month period can change a person's views on life.

Sophomore guard Sean Smiley has made a successful return to the court this season after missing 46 out of 63 games the previous two seasons due to injuries to both his knee and thumb. Smiley appeared in only two games during the 2006-07 season. He admits that he was nervous he might never play basketball again after injuring his knee midway through his freshman campaign.

"That was a long year and a half. Before I hurt my knee freshman year, I had never missed a game or a practice with an injury. It was definitely real difficult just sitting on the sideline," Smiley said. "It crossed my mind (that my career may be over), especially when I hurt my knee the first time. I heard 'ACL,' and you kind of wonder. After talking to doctors, and talking to the strength coaches, I understood that as long as I put the work in during rehab and everything, I'd be able to come back stronger than before."

The road to recovery was tough for Smiley. After he recuperated from his knee injury, he injured his thumb, which prevented him from shooting a basketball for several months.

"I was just trying to do anything, really. When I hurt my knee, I could still get some shots up - not jump shots or anything," Smiley said. "But I was still shooting to try to keep my form consistent, things like that, watch as much basketball, as much practice as I could to try to keep my mind fresh.

"When I hurt my thumb, I couldn't shoot at all the whole time I was injured. That was much more difficult, trying to keep my body in shape, keep my body ready to go; so when I came back, I'd be in shape."

After shaking off the rust from nearly 18 inactive months, Smiley has become a large factor in Buffalo's offense this season. Smiley started the season 2 of 14 from the field, yet found his groove in Buffalo's first home game of the season. He scored 16 points and shooting 4 of 9 from three-point land, in Buffalo's victory over South Florida. For the season, Smiley has averaged just less than 10 points per game, and his 28 three-pointers are the most on the squad.

Smiley has embraced his role as the sixth man, giving the Bulls a shock of energy and a second wave of offensive fire power when the starters head to the bench.

"It's definitely a lot different. You have to make sure that you try to get into your rhythm during warm ups. You can't really get that chance during games; you have to come in, give that energy, and be ready to go right off the bat," Smiley said. "I just come in, play hard, kind of give that energy off the bench so when the starters come out there's no let down."

Being a role player is something Smiley was not used to in high school where he starred at McDowell High School in Erie, Pa., breaking the school's all-time scoring record with 1,426 points. Smiley also graduated with the school's record for most three-pointers in a career. But perhaps what Smiley was most known for in his high school career was the monster dunk during his junior year that landed him a photo spread in Sports Illustrated.

"The guy who took my picture, I've known him my whole life...he gave me a call a few days before and said 'I sent your picture in and unless something really important happens in sports before the end of the week, it's going to be in Sports Illustrated.' I had a little bit of a heads-up but still it was unbelievable until I actually saw it in there," Smiley said.

The picture immediately made Smiley a star in his hometown.

"The whole rest of that year, that whole summer, and my whole senior year, I'd be walking around town and people would recognize me in the mall, things like that," Smiley said. "It was crazy, but it was a fun time."

Though it caused him to miss nearly two years of action, Smiley was able to take something positive away from his stretch of injuries: don't take the game for granted.

"Right now, this season has been the most fun I've ever had playing basketball," Smiley said. "Coming back from the year and a half off...you don't really know what you're missing until it's taken away from you."