Smith Bolsters Thinning Backcourt in Storrs
April 2, 2009
by Doug Ferguson
The city of Chicago is flooded with top notch Division 1-A talent and one of the most eye-catching stars of the city has found a home outside of the Midwest. Talented combo guard Darius Smith from Chicago's Marshall HS has agreed to try and fill the hole that will be left in UConn's guard corps by the departures of A.J. Price and Craig Austrie next season.
The job of starting point guard will likely be passed through its logical progression to Kemba Walker who has shined on the big stage in this year's NCAA tournament. Smith will likely battle for the backup job with Donnell Beverly. It just happens that Smith and Beverly have many of the same qualities. It was clear by this recruitment that Jim Calhoun thinks his lineup at guard needed more tending to than his frontline, despite the almost certain loss of Hasheem Thabeet to the NBA. It shows Calhoun's faith in incoming freshman Alex Oriakhi who is he invisions as his future Thabeet/Emeka Okafor type defensive difference maker at the center position.
Smith is a better point guard than a two-guard. Make no mistake though, he can definitely score. He has the athleticism and ability to drive the basketball to succeed at the high D-1 level. His ability to knock down shots off the dribble both in the mid-range game and from 3-point line make his penetration that much more lethal. He plays superb man defense with excellent ball pressure. He spearheaded Marshall's full court defense this season which was downright smothering when at its best.
UConn has shown that they are not going to be shy about recruiting despite recent reports of possible NCAA violations, afterall, it is recruiting that is the lifeblood of a program and the cornerstone of a programs college basketball odds of competing for a title. Calhoun has also shown that they can multi-task as they found time to seal the deal with Smith while preparing to try and win his third national title in a decade. It would put him on an elite list of coaching that has only two names on it: John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski. He will face off with another coach who is building toward legend status in Tom Izzo. By the way they're recruiting it seems that despite the success that the program has had in the recent past, they will not choose to live there in the future.
by Doug Ferguson
The city of Chicago is flooded with top notch Division 1-A talent and one of the most eye-catching stars of the city has found a home outside of the Midwest. Talented combo guard Darius Smith from Chicago's Marshall HS has agreed to try and fill the hole that will be left in UConn's guard corps by the departures of A.J. Price and Craig Austrie next season.
The job of starting point guard will likely be passed through its logical progression to Kemba Walker who has shined on the big stage in this year's NCAA tournament. Smith will likely battle for the backup job with Donnell Beverly. It just happens that Smith and Beverly have many of the same qualities. It was clear by this recruitment that Jim Calhoun thinks his lineup at guard needed more tending to than his frontline, despite the almost certain loss of Hasheem Thabeet to the NBA. It shows Calhoun's faith in incoming freshman Alex Oriakhi who is he invisions as his future Thabeet/Emeka Okafor type defensive difference maker at the center position.
Smith is a better point guard than a two-guard. Make no mistake though, he can definitely score. He has the athleticism and ability to drive the basketball to succeed at the high D-1 level. His ability to knock down shots off the dribble both in the mid-range game and from 3-point line make his penetration that much more lethal. He plays superb man defense with excellent ball pressure. He spearheaded Marshall's full court defense this season which was downright smothering when at its best.
UConn has shown that they are not going to be shy about recruiting despite recent reports of possible NCAA violations, afterall, it is recruiting that is the lifeblood of a program and the cornerstone of a programs college basketball odds of competing for a title. Calhoun has also shown that they can multi-task as they found time to seal the deal with Smith while preparing to try and win his third national title in a decade. It would put him on an elite list of coaching that has only two names on it: John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski. He will face off with another coach who is building toward legend status in Tom Izzo. By the way they're recruiting it seems that despite the success that the program has had in the recent past, they will not choose to live there in the future.
Labels: Connecticut Recruiting
posted by NBE Blogger @ 10:02 AM
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