Nick Smith Jr. unsure on decision date, changes top 8 schools

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Nick Smith Jr. was initially expected to announce where he will play basketball out of high school on Nov. 20, but now his decision timeline is up in the air.

According to Joe Tipton of On3, Smith Jr., who is ranked as a four-star prospect from the class of 2022, is unsure of when he will make his final decision. He is scheduled to take visits to Kentucky on Sept. 2, Arkansas on Sept. 12, and Oklahoma on Oct. 8. Already this summer, Smith Jr. has taken official visits to see Alabama, Auburn, and Kansas.

But just as noteworthy from Tipton’s article are the programs Smith Jr. is now considering. Tipton reports that Smith Jr. has dropped both professional options, the NBL and Overtime Elite league, from his options. In place of them, he’s added Memphis (who successfully recruited five-stars Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates in recent weeks) and Arkansas Pine-Bluff, the latter of which he took a visit to on Aug. 22.

To summarize, Smith Jr.’s new top eight goes as follows, in no particular order: Kentucky, Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Memphis, and Arkansas Pine-Bluff. He plans on finishing out his official visits before making a final call.

As of right now, Nick Smith is unsure as to when he will announce his college commitment.

He will still take his remaining college visits before making his decision.

More here 👇🏼 https://t.co/Q3FfVZsBkR
— Joseph Tipton (@TiptonEdits) August 30, 2021

Nick Smith Jr. is a 6-foot-4 combo guard out of North Little Rock, AR, who received his offer from head coach John Calipari and the Kentucky program back in July following a successful run at the Nike Peach Jam tournament. However, he downplayed the offer a bit, comparing it to that of any other school.

“Honestly, I thought I’d feel some type of way about it, but it just felt like it was any other school,” Smith told On3’s Joe Tipton about the Kentucky offer. “It’s always a blessing to be recruited by any school. It was just cool to get another offer on the table and have another option.”

As of right now, Kentucky has just one commitment from the class of 2022, five-star point guard Skyy Clark. However, the wheels are beginning to turn for the coaching staff in this cycle, and more commitments are expected sooner rather than later.