‘Seeing old friends’

PARKER COTTON

Chronicle Sports Editor

Strong bonds with coaches lead Smith twins to MSU out of transfer portal

During the summer of 2023, twin sisters Heidi and Courtney Smith made a difficult phone call. They told Montana State associate head coach Sunny Smallwood they would not be coming to Bozeman.

“Montana State was definitely up there,” Heidi said. “That was a hard conversation, for sure.”

The sisters instead committed that July to the University of Toledo in Ohio, which was closer to their home near London, Ontario, Canada — though they were born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

By the time they reached Toledo, though, in the fall of 2024, the coach they had committed to — Tricia Cullop — had taken another job. They redshirted this past season with the Rockets, keeping all four years of their eligibility while learning how the program would function under new head coach Ginny Boggess.

After the season, in which Toledo went 24-9 and reached the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, the Smiths decided to leave the school and enter the transfer portal.

“I kid you not, at probably the exact time that it was open,” Courtney said, “we get a text from Coach Sunny.”

Even after the Bobcats lost out on recruiting the twins, MSU’s coaches still saw them and caught up at AAU events.

“Seeing them in the stands was always very comforting for us,” Heidi said. “It was a familiar face and like seeing old friends.”

The strength of that connection paid off for Montana State this offseason. The Smiths only took two visits when looking for a new school: to the University of Colorado and to Bozeman. The sisters never really considered splitting up. They have played together their entire lives, and they have the shared mindset of, “We joined together, we quit together,” Courtney said. They announced their commitment to Montana State on April 23.

“Having already established relationships we knew exactly what they’d bring to the program,” MSU head coach Tricia Binford said in a news release announcing their signing. “They fit us in every category.”

The Smiths’ experience visiting MSU helped seal the deal. They met the team’s returning players and found them “very positive and uplifting,” Heidi said.

“Coach Sunny always mentioned, ‘You want to be with people that you like in January and February because that’s when the season gets hard,’” Heidi added. “And, truly, you felt that on the floor and off the floor.” The Smiths practiced with their future teammates and were impressed by the intensity.

“It was a spring practice, and everyone’s diving on the floor and competing, and this is just coming off of 30 wins,” Heidi said. “And that was the thing, when Coach Bin said, ‘Oh, it could be more (than 30).’ That type of mindset really, really motivates us because that’s the way that we think as well — never being satisfied.”

When they take the court for the Bobcats, fans (and teammates) will be able to tell the Smiths apart by their hairstyles. Courtney will usually wear her hair in a low bun on the court, while Heidi’s is in a high bun. Her alliterative nickname of “High Bun Heidi” is the work of former Toledo teammate Hannah Noveroske.

Heidi is the older of the two by about a minute, and she is also a little bit taller. She stands 6-foot-2 while Courtney is closer to 6-1. Despite their height, they are listed as guards. They were quite short growing up, Courtney said, so Heidi was usually a point guard and Courtney was more of a slashing or scoring guard. As they got taller, they retained their guard skills, making them versatile perimeter players.

“Having already established relationships we knew exactly what they’d bring to the program. They fit us in every category.”

— Tricia Binford, MSU head coach

“I’m very attack-minded when it comes to the offensive side,” Courtney said. “I love using a dribble setup to kind of give me a little bit of space. I’m quite quick, I’m long, so once I get into a little bit of a first step, I’m usually gone from there. I also love the midrange game.”

Heidi said, of the two of them, Courtney is more of a 3-point shooter. Heidi also considers herself strong in the midrange and a talented driver.

“I really like to get to the rim and finish,” Heidi said, “but I also like to (distribute) because I have been a (point guard) my whole life,” Heidi said.

Defensively, they are ready to play with the fervor Binford expects.

“I love getting in people’s faces. It’s probably my favorite thing,” Courtney said. “I love outworking other teams, making it hard for other teams.”

The sisters played other sports growing up, including soccer, but they gravitated most toward basketball because it offered a chance to do a little bit of everything. They didn’t like being limited to certain roles or sections on a soccer field. The Smiths embraced basketball’s challenge of needing to be everywhere.

“It’s a game of passion,” Courtney said. “You can really play basketball any way that you want.”

Binford and Montana State want to play an unrelenting style of basketball. The Smiths believe they can meet that high standard.

“(The program has) the determination to say, ‘Most teams are dreaming of making it to the tournament,’” Heidi said, “so they’re making that shift to say, ‘No, we’re going to win.’”

Parker Cotton can be reached at pcotton@ dailychronicle.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @ByParkerCotton.