Hometown Heroes: The Smithville High Grads Who Went Out and Conquered the World

There's something about growing up in a small town that either makes you want to stay forever or lights a fire under you to go out and prove something. For a handful of Smithville High School graduates, it turned out to be a little of both. They left — but Smithville never really left them.

We tracked down five former students who've gone on to do some pretty remarkable things. From the Broadway stage to the professional sports arena, these are the folks who once sat in the same bleachers as your kids, competed in the same gyms, and performed in the same auditorium that still smells faintly of old wood and stage paint. Here's where life took them — and what they still carry from home.

Marcus Webb — From the Varsity Court to the NBA G League

If you were watching Smithville High basketball in the early 2010s, you already know the name Marcus Webb. The 6'4" shooting guard led the Bulldogs to back-to-back regional championships and was practically a local legend before he ever graduated.

These days, Marcus suits up for a professional development team in the South and is widely regarded as one of the more tenacious perimeter defenders in his league. We caught up with him during the offseason.

"Smithville taught me how to compete when the stakes feel personal," he said. "In a small town, everybody knows you. When you mess up, it's not anonymous. That accountability — I carry it into every game."

He still makes it back for Thanksgiving most years and says the first thing he does is drive past the old gymnasium. "Just to remember."

Della Fontaine — Singing Her Way to the Broadway Stage

Della Fontaine was the kind of student who could stop a room cold with a single note. Her performance as Eliza Doolittle in the school's production of My Fair Lady — which many longtime Smithville residents still talk about — apparently caught the attention of a regional theater scout who happened to be in the audience.

Fast forward a decade, and Della has appeared in three Off-Broadway productions and made her Broadway debut two seasons ago as a featured performer in a well-reviewed musical revival. She credits Smithville's arts program — and one teacher in particular — with giving her the foundation she needed.

"Mrs. Calloway used to say, 'The audience can smell fear, but they can also smell truth,"' Della recalled with a laugh. "I think about that literally every time I walk out onto a stage. She was a force."

Della returns to Smithville every summer and has twice volunteered as a guest coach for the high school drama department. "These kids are talented," she said. "They just need someone to tell them it's possible."

Raj Patel — The Illustrator Who Landed a Marvel Contract

Not all paths to recognition run through stadiums or spotlights. Raj Patel spent most of his high school years in the back corner of the art room, filling sketchbooks with comic-style characters and elaborate fantasy worlds. His teachers encouraged him; most of his classmates thought it was a quirky hobby.

He's having the last laugh. Raj is now a freelance illustrator based in Brooklyn who recently completed a multi-issue contract with Marvel Comics, contributing artwork to a popular series that's currently being adapted for streaming.

"Smithville was actually a great place to develop a creative interior life," he said, only half-joking. "There wasn't that much to do, so I drew. Constantly. Looking back, that was the gift."

His childhood bedroom, his mom tells us, still has a few of his early sketches taped to the wall. She hasn't taken them down.

Carla Jennings — Olympic Trials Swimmer and Advocate

Carla Jennings started swimming competitively at the Smithville Community Aquatic Center when she was nine years old. By the time she was a senior at Smithville High, she held three state records in freestyle events. Her path led her through a Division I college program and, eventually, to the Olympic Trials — twice.

She didn't make the Olympic team, and she's remarkably candid about that.

"People expect that story to be tragic, but honestly? It made me who I am," she said. "I learned more from those near-misses than from any win." Today, Carla runs a nonprofit that funds swim lessons and competitive training for low-income youth in rural communities — a mission she says was directly inspired by what the Smithville Aquatic Center gave her growing up.

"Not every kid has access to a pool, a coach, a community that shows up to your meets. I did. I want to give that to other kids."

Devon Mack — Country Music's Rising Voice

Devon Mack played guitar at every school talent show from seventh grade onward and spent his weekends performing at the old Rusty Nail bar on Route 9 — which, yes, probably wasn't entirely above board for a sixteen-year-old, but nobody seemed to mind much.

He moved to Nashville at twenty-two with a duffel bag and a guitar case. Within three years, he'd co-written a song that hit the top twenty on the country charts. His debut EP dropped earlier this year to solid reviews and a growing fanbase.

"Smithville is in every song I write, even when I'm not writing about it directly," Devon said. "The people, the way things feel in a small town — that emotional texture is just baked into me."

He played a surprise acoustic set at last summer's Smithville Fourth of July celebration, and by all accounts, half the crowd was in tears by the second song.

What They All Have in Common

Five different careers, five different definitions of success — but talk to any of them long enough and the same themes keep surfacing. Community. Accountability. The particular kind of confidence that comes from being known.

"In a small town, people invest in you," Marcus Webb put it simply. "Teachers, coaches, neighbors. You feel that. And then you spend the rest of your life trying to be worth it."

For current Smithville High students scrolling through this on their phones right now: these folks sat where you're sitting. They had the same doubts. They just kept going.

And they still know the way home.