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Louisville’s Russ Smith serves as homecoming escort for high school freshman

Louisville guard Russ Smith has a big heart.

The leading scorer from the defending national champion attended a high school basketball game Friday night in Louisville where a freshman member of the Manual High team approached him and asked him to serve as her escort during the homecoming ceremony between the girls and boys games.

Tonysha Curry's scheduled escort didn't make it and she was scrambling to find a last-minute replacement when some of her friends suggested she should ask Smith.

This is how the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the exchange between Curry and Smith.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do it. I’m scared,’” Curry said with a laugh. “I just walked over there and said, ‘Excuse me, can you please escort me for homecoming court.’ He was like, ‘Can I do it? Really? Really?’”

Smith said he was glad to help out Curry.

“It actually made my day more than hers,” Smith said. “It was really nice of her to ask me, so I got up and did it for her. … That never happens. It’s one-in-a-million. That made my day.”

Smith said he attended the game because he’s good friends with Dean Baumert, an assistant coach with the Eastern boys’ squad who is a former student manager at U of L.

Curry had scored four points in her team's victory over Eastern. Smith also put the ball in the basket when he made his second attempt during a halftime half-court shooting contest during the boys game.

Smith and the 12th-ranked Cardinals are off this weekend. They host No. 15 Cincinnati on Thursday.

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Kyle Ringo

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