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All-state player in football, basketball heads this month’s list of N.Ky. Sports Hall of Fame inductees


By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Derek Smith, an all-state player in both football and basketball at Highlands High School, is one of six former athletes who will be inducted into the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday at Villa Hills Civic Club. The induction ceremony that begins at 1 p.m. is free and open to the public.

Derek Smith

Smith was runner-up in both the Mr. Kentucky Football and Mr. Kentucky Basketball balloting during his senior year at Highlands.

As a tight end in football, he had 2,304 yards in pass receptions in his varsity career. In basketball, he scored 2,229 points, snagged 974 rebounds and was named most valuable player in the 9th Region tournament three consecutive years.

Smith went on to play football at the University of Kentucky and declared for the NFL draft after his sophomore season. He was a member of the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad in 2002 and 2003. He returned to basketball and averaged 10 points per game for the Northern Kentucky University team in 2004-05.

Three former girls high school basketball players — Christy Greis of Silver Grove, Michelle Stowers of LaSallette and Sharon Stowers-Bass of LaSallette — will also be inducted Wednesday. Michelle Stowers was one of the area’s leading scorers in 1974-75 and 1975-76, the first two years that girls basketball was reinstated as a state sanctioned sport.

Kent Marcum of Ludlow and Lisa Luthy-Nessler of Bellevue round out this month’s induction group. They both earned varsity letters in three sports during their high school careers.


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