New Name To Watch: Mark Smith

On3 imageby:Drew Franklin03/28/17

DrewFranklinKSR

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1600"]Photo: Scout.com Photo: Scout.com[/caption] There is a new name on Kentucky's basketball recruiting board for the Class of 2017. Mark Smith, a guard out of Edwardsville, Illinois, heard from the UK coaching staff Monday night. The staff is looking to add another guard to next year's roster, and Smith is in the mix. Here's more about him...     He was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Illinois. He led his high school team to 30-2 record while averaging 21.9 points, 8.4 assists and 8.2 rebounds per game. Other recent Illinois Mr. Basketball winners include Jabari Parker (twice), Jahlil Okafor, Jaylen Brunson and Derrick Rose. He has several schools fighting for him. Smith reportedly holds offers from Illinois, Butler, Indiana, Ohio State, Texas, California, Northern Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas State and Missouri, among a few others. Cuonzo Martin and Brad Underwood are all over him. Martin is the new coach at Missouri; Underwood the new coach at Illinois. He plans to visit Butler sometime this week. An Illinois radio host says Smith will take a couple of official visits before making his decision. https://twitter.com/ESPN1050_Ryan/status/846404056503504897 He was committed to play baseball for Missouri. Smith was all set to be a pitcher for the Mizzou baseball program after committing in December of his junior year, but an elbow injury and the resignation of Mizzou's baseball coach made him reconsider his future in the sport. He pulled out of the commitment to the Tigers and directed his focus toward basketball in his senior season of high school, which appears to have been the right move. He is a four-star prospect in Scout.com and Rivals.com rankings. Scout.com ranks him the No. 35 shooting guard in the class, while Rivals.com has him at No. 78 overall. He is the No. 22 point guard and the No. 102 overall player in the 247 Composite Rankings. Watch him play: https://youtu.be/gcV-wEGtiu0   Smith is definitely one to keep an eye on this spring...

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2024-03-28