Wanisha Smith is known to her teammates as a strong leader, an easygoing friend and a fiery competitor.
She's also known as Scrooge.
Smith apparently doesn't wake up chiming "God bless us, every one," so her teammates like to poke fun at her morning grumpiness with the Dickensian nickname.
"We have to be at breakfast at a certain time and if people aren't there on time, she's the first one to be like, 'Where are grrr...'" said junior Chante Black, devolving into an imitation of Smith's grumbling.
"I'm really not a morning person," Smith responded. "I just like to keep to myself, and my teammates, being so giddy and happy, are like, 'Nish, you're a Scrooge,' and I'm like, 'I just don't want to be up this early in the morning.'"
But Smith has been positive when it counts, particularly in a senior season that has thrown plenty of obstacles her way. First, there was the coaching change, then an injured hand that kept her out of five games early in the season and slowed her for several more. Now, it's trying to put a strong closing on a year that featured the most regular-season losses since 1997.
Smith, though, says if she has learned anything during her time at Duke, it's how to deal with adversity. The Upper Marlboro, Md. product came into Duke as an All-American shooting guard. Her plan was to run the wing as a scorer, benefitting from the presence of talented point guard Lindsey Harding.
All that changed, however, when Harding was suspended for the 2004-2005 season for violating team rules. Suddenly a green Smith was expected to step in and play a new position for the defending ACC champions. She responded by dishing out more than four assists per game and leading the Blue Devils to a 31-5 record.
"She already started developing those captain qualities [her first year], and being able to play with those other great leaders really makes her one of a kind," Black said.
That freshman season not only forced her to be a leader from the day she got to campus, but also taught her to anticipate the unexpected-something that has come in handy this past year.
"As a senior, you just have to expect things to happen," Smith said. "The hand injury was probably the worst thing, since in previous seasons I've never had to sit out a game because of injury. But I had to figure out how to turn it into a positive."
Smith tried to watch the game as a coach during her time on the bench, and she was able to mentor freshman Jasmine Thomas, who is in a similar position as Smith her rookie year-a natural two-guard trying to replace Harding at the point.
This season has also had a great number of highlights as well. Smith's final home game-a 78-70 victory over Virginia-featured a special fan in the stands for the first time-Wanisha's mother.
"That's the first time she's seen me in person and that was pretty exciting, and having it be senior day made it even more emotional," Smith said. "It was really good for her to come."
That win gave Smith 114 in her career. She also is one of 22 Duke players to hit the 1,000-point mark and ranks fourth in all-time assists. She says, however, she wants her legacy to go beyond the numbers.
"To know that when I left I was a team player, and I did everything I could to help my team, whether it was distributing the ball or scoring when I needed to score," Smith said. "And that I was a fun-loving person, not all just basketball stuff. Off the court, I want people to think that I was very relatable."
According to her teammates, she has already achieved that legacy-at least after noon.
"Friendly, grouchy and funny-there you go, that's Nish," Black said. "But only grouchy in the morning."
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