Valpo graduate transfer Derrik Smits raves over Tempe visit
Dragged from area to area, meeting to meeting, Derrik Smits tried to stay quiet. He met a lot of people, a lot whom he didn’t know. And they all had their proverbial spiel. Best to hear them all out and interject a question or two at the end, the 7-foot-1 Valporasio transfer thought.
That never came to fruition. One of two things happened. Either the Sun Devil coaches and personnel, whom he met with on his two-day official visit, would jokingly give him a hard time about his exiguous questions -- after all, this could be the place he finishes his college career at.
Or, his dad, former NBA All-Star Rik Smits would jump in -- then jump in again.
“He asks all the questions,” Derrik said. “He gets all the tough questions out of the way and I get to hear the answers and they all have been giving me a hard time. He asks some good questions so I let him do it.
“Every other day it seems like he has a favorite. He tells me all the time, he doesn’t envy me making this decision.”
Most wouldn’t. After announcing his plans to transfer away from Valpo just over a month ago, Derrik narrowed down his list of potential destinations to three: N.C. State, Butler, and ASU. He’s made official visits to both ASU and N.C. State but only felt the need to make a few unofficial visits to Butler, given his familiarity with the school growing up just 10 miles away.
And for a few reasons other than there has to be a date, Derrik Smits has circled Sunday, April 28 as his end all, be all, decision date.
He took deeps breaths talking from Sky Harbor Airport, the arduous nature of the recruiting process had arrived. No more time to stall with visits, the make-shift pros-and-cons lists are looming. With it, too, is a better situation.
In his three seasons at Valpo, tacking on a redshirt year his freshman year, he averaged 17.4 minutes, 7.6 points and 3.8 rebounds a game. Along with just wanting to play in a power conference, the Smits had some gripes with the Crusaders.
After his redshirt freshman year, head coach Bryce Drew left for Vanderbilt, only to be replaced with assistant Matt Lottich, who split Derrik’s playing time with Valpo’s other 7-footer, Jaume Sorolla and often limited his shots from outside the paint. For a 7-shooter with a stroke, like Derrik, who his dad likes to compare to Indiana Pacers’ big man Domantas Sabonis, that wasn’t ideal.
“We know Derrik can shoot a little bit,” Rik Smits said. “I know coach (Bobby) Hurley said that too. Maybe not necessarily 3-pointers right away but 15- to 17-footers, I know he can make that. That’s something for sure, wherever he goes, he’s going to be working into his game.”
In his four years in Tempe, Hurley has been touted as a player’s coach, affording his guys the ultimate freedom to make things happen on the court. He made sure Derrik Smits walked away knowing that.
“I definitely did,” Derrik said when asked if Hurley talked about giving players freedom. “From him and other people. It helps with my confidence in him and obviously, that’s something you want to hear.”
After the departures of assistant coaches Anthony Coleman and Drazen Zlovaric, it was a two-man show from the Sun Devils’ coaching brass of Hurley and assistant coach Rashon Burno pitching the grad transfer.
The big man said it obviously made it more difficult “just not knowing,” especially not having an idea of who his position coach, so to speak, will be. He made it clear, however, he wouldn’t hold that against ASU in his selection process.
With the absence of two assistants on the visit, Hurley phoned in the big guns. In addition to meetings with the training staff, managers and academic advisors, Derrik Smits met with Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson and ASU President Dr. Michael Crow.
“Relationships mean more to me than facilities. And I let them know that prior,” Derrik said. “(Anderson and Crow talked about) the university as a whole, the support, the people around the university as well as the fans.”
Right there next to relationships on his laundry list of expectations is playing time, or at least the opportunity to compete for playing time. Things have opened up in that sector as of late for ASU. Within the last week and a half, junior forward Vitaliy Shibel and redshirt freshman center Uros Plavis, who sat last season, added their names to the transfer portal.
The graduations of forwards Zylan Cheatham and De’Quon Lake only heighten the pressure on ASU to land another frontcourt player. As of now, Romello White is the Sun Devils’ lone post threat, and also their only man over 6-foot-7. Derrik could be the second.
“It’s nice to be needed,” Derrik said. “But it does kind of put more pressure on me, which is a good thing. The playing time is there. Obviously, I have to earn that but that makes (ASU) that much more intriguing as a potential player.”
Added Rik: “It opens up an opportunity for him. It’s definitely a good fit for him. But there’s a couple of other schools out there who have the same thing.”
Some around Tempe galvanized after it became known that Rik owns a house in Arizona. That’s true. He also has one in Zionsville, Indiana, 10 miles from Butler. Though it's up for sale right now, he said he’d pull it from the market should Derrik commit there. As for N.C. State, Rik said he would rent a place in North Carolina for the year to watch his son in his senior year.
In short, Rik wanted to make it clear that his residence won’t be a factor in Derrik’s decision.
“Makes my decision a little harder because I can’t narrow out a school,” Derrik joked.
As for what the biggest factor will be in his April 28th decision, Derrik paused for the first time.
“That’s a tough one,” he said. “Just relationships with people along with the opportunity to play, and play at a high level. Just connections made.
“It’ll be tough.”