In the 1988 comedy Coming to America starring Eddie Murphy, there is a particular scene in the movie where his character is at a basketball game at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. During this scene, the game is played between St. John’s University and Marist, and number 45 for the Red Foxes dunked the ball.
That number 45 is Rik Smits.
This 7-foot-4 giant also “came to America” as a native of the Netherlands, and became the face of Marist basketball.
Nicknamed “The Dunking Dutchman” based on his basketball ability and Dutch heritage, Smits wowed the McCann crowd every game with his impressive height and talent.
Smits spent four years at Marist College from 1984-1988, leading the Red Foxes to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1986 and 1987. In the 1988 NBA Draft, he was drafted second overall by the Indiana Pacers and spent the next 12 years in the league.
Smits keeps up with the basketball program on social media. He has not been able to see them play in person but is keeping tabs.
The men’s team was at the top of the MAAC standings this year and had a legit chance to make the NCAA March Madness Tournament, something that has not been done since Smits’ time as a Red Fox.
“I’d love to see Marist in the tournament again and if I got a chance, I’d probably go watch them in person,” said Smits. “All these years playing in the NBA, teammates are always getting excited around tournament time, and a lot of guys’ teams make it. Marist was unfortunately never one of them so for them to hopefully finally make it again would be awesome.”
This rendition of the Marist program created tons of buzz in Poughkeepsie and decided to create an alternate uniform this season. A throwback uniform named the “Marist 87s”, honors the Smits Era and is one of the first Marist alternates ever.
The simple, white uniform with a retro ‘M’ signified the direction the program was heading and the potential of the team repeating Smits’ accomplishments decades later. The Red Foxes debuted the uniform on February 8 versus Iona for the only time this season.
Marist ultimately fell to Mount St. Mary’s in the quarterfinal round of the MAAC tournament, unable to break the drought. Marist completed their fifth 20-win season in program history and won the most games in a season in 18 years.
The Smits tenure continues to be the golden age of Marist men’s basketball, for now.
Rik Before America
Before all the success in Poughkeepsie, Smits was a shy kid in the Netherlands.
Growing up in the Netherlands, Smits did not pick up a basketball until the age of 14, and other sports like soccer garnered his attention.
“Started out playing soccer like most kids did my age. Back then basketball wasn’t popular at all. I did some track and field. I played rugby, I did judo,” said Smits.
Smits’ mother played basketball at the club level in his native country and during a club party, he was introduced to the coach of a junior team. Being 7-foot-4, he was invited to practice, and the rest was history.
“I kind of enjoyed it right from the get-go cause it was a good way to use my height. In some of the other sports it was maybe not ideal being tall but in basketball helped,” said Smits.
During his time on the junior national team in the Netherlands, Smits realized his passion and talent on the basketball court and recalls a game against Hofstra University that made him realize his potential, opening a new door to his life.
Smits reached out to different schools but only received a few callbacks, none of which came from Division I schools. Luckily, a friend of Smits introduced him to the Marist coach and got offered a scholarship without ever seeing him play.
Moving away to college across the world nearly 5,000 miles away from home is challenging for anyone, but for Rik, he loved the United States from the second he arrived.
“I was made fun of because I was so tall and when I came to the United States people said ‘Man I wish I was that tall.’ I’ve never heard that but my first 17, 18 years of life,” said Smits. “So that’s why I never missed the Netherlands. I was never homesick for one second. I missed my family, my friends there but I knew that the United States was going to be my forever home pretty much as soon as I got there.”
A Golden Age Began
At Marist, Smits anchored a dominant Red Fox squad. Alongside Smits, point guard Drafton Davis and Miroslav Pecarski led Marist to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years in 1986 and 1987. The 1985-86 season also featured a miraculous 14-game winning streak.
“I think the only thing we lacked was experience. Everybody was afraid to play us later on in those years but they knew what we were capable of doing,” said Smits. “They were great teams but wish we could’ve gone farther with them.”
In the 1986 NCAA Tournament, Marist was the No. 15 seed and lost to No. 2 Georgia Tech 68-53 in the first round. Next year, Marist was the No. 14 seed and lost to No. 3 Pittsburgh 93-68 in the first round yet again.
The two tournament appearances by the men’s basketball is a feat that still has not been done since, marking this the most successful era of Red Fox basketball, and a testament of how dominant those teams during Smits’ time were.
However, during this time, Marist basketball and coach Mike Perry were investigated for violations while recruiting foreign players, costing Smits and the team another chance in the tournament during his senior season.
Nonetheless, after four stellar years, Smits was honored with his number being retired along with Davis and the banners hang in the McCann Arena rafters.
Smits averaged 18.2 points per game and averaged 24.7 ppg in his senior season. Smits protected the rim averaging 3.2 blocks and finished as the program’s leader in blocks with 345, 78 more than the second. He also had 105 blocks in his senior year, which is second for a Red Fox in a single season.
Smits is also top-10 in 14 career categories, with 11 in the top-five, and nine in the top-three. He is the second-leading scorer with 1,945 career points.
Smits earned numerous awards, including ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Metro Conference Rookie of the Year in 1985, First Team All-Conference and Tournament MVP in 1986, Player of the Year and All-Tournament Team in 1987 and Player of the Year in 1988.
In his final game in a Marist uniform, he scored a then school-record 45 points – to match his uniform number- against St. Francis (Pa.).
Around two years into college with his dominant play on the court, Smits started to think about his future and a potential professional career in the NBA. After playing in the tournament against a big school in Georgia Tech which had multiple players move to the NBA, Smits started to believe he could make it to the league.
Smits loved his time as a Red Fox and was proud and grateful for his time at Marist. He never thought about potentially leaving, either to the NBA or transferring, and stayed all four years.
“Graduating was my most memorable moment there. Cause I wanted something to fall back on, a degree to fall back on in case basketball wasn’t gonna work out,” said Smits.
Fortunately for Smits, basketball did work out.
Getting to the League
To Smits’ surprise, the Indiana Pacers selected him 2nd overall in the 1988 NBA Draft, making him the first drafted Red Fox ever and the highest-drafted Dutch player in league history.
“That was a nerve-racking process. I did not expect to go that high. Even though people told me that that I was, I still was that insecure shy little Dutch guy inside that didn’t believe them,” Smits.
Smits spent all 12 years of his NBA career with the Indiana Pacers. He made multiple conference finals appearances, one Finals appearance in 2000 and an All-Star Game in 1998. In 2000, the Pacers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games against a team that featured Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
However, his most memorable moment in the NBA was his last-second shot against the Orlando Magic in Game 4 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals.
“I loved Indiana. I had opportunities to get traded and stuff, but I wanted to stay in Indiana. It’s my kind of town. Just low-key, small-town atmosphere, even though it’s a city, I always liked it,” said Smits.
Smits played alongside Pacers legend and NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, and their teams often faced off against prime Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls Dynasty in the 1990s. Smits’ Pacers were also the only team to beat the Bulls twice in their historic 1996 season where they went 72-10.
Post-Career Fun
After his playing days, Smits moved from the hardwood to the trails for dirt bike racing. Biking has always been a hobby of Rik’s and has continued to race to this day.
“Even before I started playing basketball as a kid I got my first little motorbike when I was seven years old from my grandpa. So that’s always been something that I enjoyed,” said Smits. “Keeps me young I guess.”
Today, Smits lives in Arizona, just north of Phoenix with his longtime girlfriend, where he spends his winters and on the trails almost every day.
Smits has two kids, Jasmine and Derek. His daughter Jasmine lives in Indiana and works for the Pacers in an office role.
In the summertime, he resides upstate in Walton, in the Catskill Mountains. With his summer home in New York, Smits tries to stop by his alma mater every summer when he gets the chance, and usually stops by the president’s office and meets up with Tim Murray. Smits has not been able to visit Marist in two years but still keeps up with the school.
“It’s just amazing to see how far the school has come with all the developments and how different it looks from when I was there,” said Smits.
Marist has meant a lot to Smits back then and today, and the impact he had on the school and basketball program was immense, and cherishes his four years spent at Marist College as a Red Fox.
Edited by Marley Pope
Graphic by Quinn DiFiore; Photos from Marist Athletics
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