Know Your Wildcat: Za'Darius Smith

DrewFranklinKSR

During the slow and insipid summer of 2008, former KSR wordsmith Evan Hilbert profiled each and every member of the University of Kentucky football team. Though his knowledge was sparse and his research was far from thorough, Evan’s short and insufficient player profiles were an integral part of Kentucky’s success that season. UK finished with seven wins, including the opener at Louisville and a 25-19 victory in the Liberty Bowl. Kentucky hasn’t won a bowl game since. Let’s bring back that magic… #94 ZA'DARIUS SMITH Vitals -- Height: 6'6” -- Weight: 254 lbs. -- Class: Junior -- Experience: JC -- Position: Defensive End -- Hometown: Greenville, Ala. -- High School: Greenville -- Junior College: East Mississippi CC 2013 JUCO Ranking -- Rivals.com: NR,

-- Scout.com: NR -- 247Sports.com: #2 WDE,

-- ESPN Recruiting: #2 DE,

How He Got Here When Mark Stoops hired Jimmy Brumbaugh from East Mississippi Community College to coach his defensive line, the decision for Za'Darius Smith became very easy. Brumbaugh coached Smith for two seasons at EMCC, so the two know each other very well. Not to mention, Stoops recruited Smith out of high school at Florida State. Za'Darius chose Kentucky over Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and Texas. Before He Got Here Smith recorded 19 tackles and five sacks as a freshman at East Mississippi C.C. He followed that up with 46 tackles, 6.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and an interception in 2012. Something You Didn't Know About Him He never played a snap of football until 2010, his senior year of high school. He played basketball his whole life and had dreams of playing at the D-1 level. But after being pressured to try his hand at football all through high school, he walked into Greenville High's head football coach's office and asked to join the team, just weeks before the season opener. Something We Made Up About Him Za'Darius saved 73 elementary school students when their bus blew out a tire while crossing a bridge, sending the vehicle and its passengers over the edge and spiraling down toward a river below. Za'Darius, then just a 3-year-old boy, was passing by in the other lane and jumped out to save the day. Witnesses say Za'Darius caught the school bus with his right hand, holding it by its rear axel, and pulled it back up to the bridge to safety. When all the students were evacuated and the bus was completely empty, he picked it up again and ripped out 20 bicep curls for fun. Most Recent Tweet