Top-75 Forward Colin Smith has Sun Devils in Top-4 Following Official Visit
Last weekend ASU hosted not one but two top-75 2022 prospects. Point guard Austin Nunez ultimately pledged to Arizona State during the visit and the first visit ever for forward Colin Smith was an impactful experience when we caught up with the forward to discuss his time in Tempe.
“It was a good visit,” Smith said. “This was my first time on campus. I liked the campus, the coaching staff, and the players, and they were really down to earth. What stood to me talking to the coaches was the way the team plays, just get it out and go. You really have the freedom to just play basketball, do whatever you got to do to get into the flow of the game, and I like that.
“We talked about the academics because I want to be a business major, and they also talked about the connections you will have outside of basketball and stuff like that. It was pretty cool to hear that. I liked the and how everything was pretty close to each other and not too far spread out. You walk somewhere, and you get there pretty quickly. So I liked that a lot. Tempe is a nice place.”
On film, the forward who originally hails from Dallas showcases himself as a classic stretch-four type of player who is a skillful shooter with formidable form, all traits that have made him a very attractive prospect to the Sun Devil staff.
"The coaches like how I play like a big guard," Smith described, "how I can handle the ball, get mismatches and shoot from anywhere. They said that the way I shoot the ball is such a big threat. before I get to college I work on affecting the game in a lot of different ways. I feel like I'm a three-level-threat, shoot threes, I have a mid-range game and I can finish at the rim. I want to be a better playmaker, get my teammates open. I feel that I already bog down on the defensive end well. I want to keep on working on ball handling being a big guard.”
Smith arrived in the valley a month ago from St. Mark's High School in Dallas to play at Chandler Compass Prep to increase his national recruiting exposure and increase the competition level he will face all season, as well as condition him to the college experience, which will have him live away from home.
While his move to a prep school located some 15 minutes from its campus can only help ASU’s chances when recruiting him, the forward said that the Sun Devils have been pursuing him for a while, offering him a scholarship nearly three months ago.
“Coach Jermaine Kimbrough has been recruiting me,” Smith commented. “He's pretty chill and doesn't try to call you every single day because he knows sometimes you can get annoyed with calls every day. So he checks in occasionally just to make sure you are still doing good, and that's pretty cool.”
Smith, who also officially visited Vanderbilt, in June, said that school, along with ASU, Michigan, Stanford, Texas, Oregon are the schools he sees recruiting him harder than others these days.
“I’d say that Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Michigan, and Stanford are my top-4,” Smith stated. “Right now the only official visit I have left is Michigan (on September 24th). I have visited Stanford unofficially multiple times, and I plan to take an unofficial visit to Vanderbilt.
“I’m not planning to make my decision until after that Michigan visit. I’m going to a school where I feel that I can really fit into the program and see how they can use me. Academics are important too because I want to find a major that interests me there too. I’m also going to look at the city where the school is at and just the vibe I get from the school.”
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