Smith, the former Madison West High School all-state basketball player, has had three surgeries stemming from an Aug. 28 car accident, which left her needing reconstructive procedures on her severed nose and upper lip.

Smith, named "Miss Basketball" by the Wisconsin Coaches Association after her senior season, was the passenger in a car that struck a light pole at 11:39 p.m. Aug. 28 in the 2000 block of Northport Drive, according to police.

"I think about it every day," she said Tuesday night. "For it just to be my nose and lip. ... Nothing in my face was broken and no limbs were broken. I thank God it was only those two things. A lot of people are not that lucky."

The UW women's basketball team begins practice Saturday, but Smith won't be able to participate. Badgers coach Jane Albright said Tuesday that Smith hasn't been cleared by doctors to practice and likely is sidelined until at least early December.

Albright said she was disappointed because "I thought she would make an immediate impact on our team's success, but (I am) optimistic we will have her. I don't know the time line."

Albright said it still was possible that Smith will be redshirted, but not a probability in Albright's opinion.

Smith, a backup to point guard Dee Dee Pate, said she will work on her conditioning with hopes of returning for the Dec. 5 game against Tennessee at the Kohl Center. The Badgers play two exhibitions and five regular-season games before meeting Tennessee.

Smith, 18, said she had the second process of her reconstructive and cosmetic surgery Monday at University Hospital. That procedure was to reshape her nose, she said. The first part of the three-part process was Sept. 21 and involved a forehead-to-nose skin graft.

The third part could be in December -- which would sideline Smith for the season -- or after the season. She said she is leaning toward putting off surgery until after the season.

"I'm anxious about playing," she said. "I can't wait."

Initial surgery for Smith came after the accident -- early on Sunday, Aug. 29, at University Hospital. The tip of her nose was found on the dashboard of the car, in which Smith was in the passenger seat, and part of her lip near her seat, she said. Published reports about the accident indicated her head went through the windshield.

She had attended a cousin's wedding in Madison and left the reception with Eboni Dodd, 22, a friend of a family member, who, according to police, was charged at the time with causing injury by drunken driving.

Smith said Tuesday she didn't know before entering the car if Dodd had been drinking and declined comment whether she had been drinking. Neither woman wore a seat belt, police said.

"I learned a very valuable lesson from this -- that you should always wear a seat belt and you should not take things for granted," said Smith, who had no further recollection of the accident.

Smith, who was in the hospital for a week after the accident, said she at first was worried about how she would look. Afterward, she said, "I'm still the same Candas," who likes going to class and shopping.

"At first I thought it would be hard," Smith said. "I got used to it. If people look, people will look. I know people will be curious about it. It's part of my life I have to go through."

She is pleased with her doctors and appreciates the support she's received from her UW teammates.

"We feel bad for her," senior guard Kelley Paulus said. "It's one of those things that happens. It was tragic. She's been part of our team while she's still recovering. She's still really involved." Schedule update Parana of Brazil will be the Badgers' opponent in UW's second exhibition game Nov. 15 at the UW Field House.