Stephen Tsai: Alika Smith news disheartening to people who know him

The news hurt like a jellyfish sting.

Alika Smith arrested on suspicion of second-degree theft and check fraud over his handling of travel funds for a basketball trip ?

Not the two-sport Kalaheo High standout who gave up a girlfriend and a mainland scholarship to play basketball for the University of Hawaii ?

Not half of the best backcourt in UH basketball history ? In the mid-to-late 1990s, the school promoted future NBA veteran Anthony Carter and Smith as the “Dynamic Duo.” But Smith was no sidekick. Carter was a three-quarter-court blur who soared for alley-oop jams. Smith was the 3-point marksman, particularly when curling behind screens, who demanded to cover the best-shooting guards, such as Fresno State’s Chris Herren and SMU’s Jeryl Sasser.

In tribute to his skills, Smith earned the nickname “Freak ” from teammate Tes Whitlock. “Aleek the Freak, ” Whitlock would cheerfully yell. Smith’s mother was horrified until being assured it was a complimentary handle.

His father—and idol—was Pete Smith, a successful head coach who led Kalaheo High to three state titles and, in 1982, was on the Chaminade staff when the Silverswords stunned then-No. 1 Virginia.

As a high school coach, Alika Smith went 24-4 in one season at Punahou, then led Kalaheo to a Division II title in 2012 and state championships in 2013 and 2015.

As a player, coach and neighborhood guy from Kailua, Smith was always friendly and accommodating, offering a grin or knuckle bump, and genuinely caring about the answer when he asked about your family. He loved basketball, loved Hawaii even more. This reporter has known him for nearly three decades, and always found him to be a nice guy.

All of which makes last week’s arrest disheartening. In an announcement from the Hawaii Attorney General’s office, Smith used Sports Travel Hawaii to book hotel accommodations for a trip by the Waiakea High boys’ basketball team for $3, 788.75. Smith allegedly collected $3, 627 from team parents, but paid only $500 to the travel company and gave an invalid check for the remaining amount. After the check was returned, according to the charging document, Smith was accused of not paying the remaining balance.

While the balance pales to more high-profile money-mismanagement cases, it is not a manini amount. Not to parents, with their own financial burdens, who worked to raise the money. Not to travel companies that operate on slim profits and use their own funds to prepay costs.

Most of us, at some point in our lives, have money issues. Maybe Smith has issues that led to money issues. That wouldn’t be uncommon in this economy. But if the accusations are true, for whatever reason or motivation, the first step is to assure the money will be repaid, even incrementally.

We’re a society that can compartmentalize performances from personal lives, especially over time and atonement. Love the song, maybe not the singer.

Smith will be beloved for his playing days with the Rainbow Warriors. Many ate up his declaration that the’Bows’ upset of second-ranked Kansas in 1997 was “better than the invention of the plate lunch.” He’ll be appreciated as a successful high school coach.

But first, he must step up and do the right thing.