North Dakota duo with many suitors

North Dakota State College of Science men's coach Craig Irwin doesn't understate what losing center Jamil Lott and power forward Andre Smith will mean to his basketball team next season.

"Those guys will be missed," Irwin said. "I guess I have to go out and find some new basketball players."

Lott and Smith, along with graduating swingman Mark Kruse, helped the Wildcats mount a run to nationals and compile their best season on record at 28-7, including the school's first tournament win since 1970. The Wildcats lost their NJCAA Tournament opener, but went on to win three straight and finish in seventh place.

"I'm really proud of what we accomplished," Lott said. "This season started rough for us, but we pulled together as a team and got it done."

Lott, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound center for NDSCS, is being recruited at forward by most schools. Over the course of the season, Lott compiled 16.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He also finished with 48 blocks and 20 steals en route to being named Mon-Dak First-Team All-Conference and Most Valuable Player.

"Jamil is a strong athletic player for us and a good student," Irwin said. "He just plays extremely hard and is a great defender for us at a position that certainly isn't his natural college position."

USF has shown interest in recent weeks and assistant coach Greg Gary took a pre-tournament trip to visit Lott at NDSCS. But then the tourney happened and Lott's stock soared. He finished second in total scoring at 17 points per game during the NJCAA Tournament and, in the process, attracted a laundry list of big-name suitors. Marquette, USC, Georgia, Texas and Arizona are all actively recruiting him.

"Right now, I have to put Arizona right at the top," Lott said. "I should be finalizing a visit this Thursday and I just don't know how you can't like Arizona. After that, I'd probably put Georgia and USC near the top. I'm looking forward to taking my visits and learning more about each school and program."

Lott confirmed that South Florida has dropped down the list of favorites. His teammate, Smith, a 6-8 225-pound power forward still remains a USF target and his tournament play has also peaked the interest of several mid-major programs. Smith is quick to point out his strengths at the four.

"Being my size, with my quickness, I'm a match-up problem for a lot of fours. I'm usually quicker and have a great handle to get around the defender. I played a lot of guard growing up so I have those guard skills that allows me to play out from the basket as well as underneath. I didn't get to show it much this year, but it's there," he said.

He is finalizing a visit to St. Bonaventure, and favors them due to the Atlantic 10 conference affiliation. He also is fielding consistent interest from Arkansas State, South Florida, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Smith, for the season, was just shy of averaging a double-double with 13.9 points and 9.86 rebounds per game.

Interestingly, both Smith and Lott hail from the same high school, Como Park in St. Paul Minn., but their next step isn't likely to be the package deal that brought them to NDSCS.

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