His cancer back, Andrew Smith to have bone marrow transplant

Andrew Smith, the former Butler basketball center, has had a recurrence of cancer and is scheduled to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

Smith’s wife, Samantha, posted the news Friday on a blog devoted to her husband’s cancer fight.

Andrew, who will be 25 on Sept. 9, was an academic All-American who played in two NCAA Final Fours for the Bulldogs. He signed to play for the Lithuanian club Neptunas but left in January 2014 for Indianapolis, where he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His life was endangered by cardiac arrest on July 31, 2014.

Samantha Smith wrote that Andrew’s cancer returned four months ago but that only family and close friends were told. The couple was in a “state of shock and depression” for a while, Samantha wrote.

“Truth is, we’ve enjoyed normalcy,” she wrote. “We’ve enjoyed having conversations with friends and strangers that didn’t center around cancer. We’ve enjoyed our leap of faith in buying our first home together, truly believing in the core of our hearts that we had beaten this disease and were free to move on with our lives.”

Samantha wrote that the bone marrow transplant has great risk but could potentially cure her husband. Andrew has a donor, who was not identified. Some “very tough days” are ahead, Samantha wrote.

“But who is ready to fearlessly face this thing head on? Andrew, of course,” she wrote. “Sure, we both went through sadness and confusion for a while, but Andrew has handled the idea of this next phase like he always does — like a warrior. Cancer really picked the wrong guy to latch onto. We are about to kick its butt to kingdom come. For good.”

The couple has a strong Christian faith, and Samantha asked for prayer. She wrote that she was thankful for the “miracle” of modern medicine.

“It’s terrifying to think of ‘what if,’ but we pray for valor and boldness to be triumphant over this,” Samantha wrote.

Call Star reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.