Former Butler standout Andrew Smith dies at age 25

Andrew Smith, a three-year starter at Butler and a member of the Bulldogs' 2010 and 2011 Final Four teams, died Tuesday after a two-year battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and later leukemia. He was 25.

As Smith battled cancer the past two years, his wife Samantha made his struggles public through her blog, "Kicking Cancer with the Smiths." She wrote about everything from the horror of learning that her husband's cancer had returned, to the challenge of enduring chemotherapy and other treatments, to the joy of rare moments of normalcy watching Butler games together over pizza.

The hopeful tone of most of Samantha's posts was absent from her most recent one published on Sunday morning. She acknowledged doctors had told her there was "nothing left to do" and admitted the prospect of life without her husband of two-plus years was terrifying to her.

"I spend my nights crying and moaning in pain as I think about losing the one I hold most dear and close to my heart — my husband," Samantha wrote. "He is afraid of death and I am afraid of life. I’m afraid of life without Andrew Smith by my side as my spouse, my protector, my best friend, my everything. My heart breaks into a million pieces thinking of all who would lose so much if he goes — a friend, a son, a brother, a teammate, and an inspiration to us all."

The impact Andrew had on those around him was obvious from the outpouring of support he has received throughout his struggle. Former Butler coach Brad Stevens missed a Boston Celtics game last week to visit Smith in the hospital and frequently took time to call or write in the months before that.

Numerous ex-Butler teammates also expressed their sadness Tuesday.

A lightly recruited prospect from Covenant Christian School in Indianapolis, Smith played sparingly as a freshman at Butler until starting center Matt Howard encountered foul trouble in the West Regional Final against Kansas State. Smith's 12 minutes off the bench were critical in helping the Bulldogs eke out a 63-56 upset and in earning the confidence of Stevens for years to come.

By his sophomore season, Smith was starting at center for Butler so that Howard could move to his more natural power forward spot. Smith averaged 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds and shot 59 percent from the field, helping Butler reach its second consecutive Final Four.

Smith's best individual season came as a senior when he averaged 11.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game as Butler's top interior scoring threat. He was at his best in the NCAA tournament, contributing 14 points and 16 rebounds in an opening-round victory over Bucknell and chipping in 17 points and eight rebounds in a two-point round of 32 loss to Marquette.

“The Butler community is profoundly sad today with the news of Andrew’s passing," Butler president James Danko and athletic director Barry Collier said in a joint statement released by the school. "We saw the way Andrew fought on the basketball court and we saw the way he fought for his health. In both cases, we saw the best of Andrew Smith. But that’s what we always saw from Andrew. He gave his all, all the time.

"As an Academic All-American, he represented the best of Butler in the classroom and on the court. Above all else, what made Andrew special was the way that he genuinely cared for others. Within his large frame was an even larger heart."

After graduating from Butler, Smith signed to play professionally in Lithuania. It was there that he discovered a mass in his chest that was eventually diagnosed to be non-Hodgkin lymphoma in January 2014.

Smith underwent chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, but the transplant failed and his condition grew more and more dire. He spent most of his time in the hospital in recent weeks, but he was allowed to come home for Christmas and to attend Butler's Dec. 19 victory over Purdue in the Crossroads Classic.

In a December blog post, Samantha revealed the disease had morphed from lymphoma to an aggressive form of leukemia.

"It is no longer a targeted mass that we can treat, it is now running through the veins of his entire body in his blood," Samantha wrote. "I won’t mince words; this is very, very bad news. We are worried. We are scared. We are devastated."

In the weeks that followed, Samantha posted again several times asking for prayers and pleading for a miracle. Prayers came from all corners of the basketball community. Tragically the miracle did not.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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