USF widens search for SG

Orlando Antigua has a lot of pieces in place for next season, but there's one spot the Bulls need to reload for then and beyond. They're hard at work on finding the right guy.

Monday Bulls assistant coach Rod Strickland was in Texas to watch shooting guard Shawn Smith. But the recruitment of the junior college sophomore isn't likely to take shape for a few more months.

South Florida initially reached out to Smith early in fall semester. The Bulls then watched Smith in October at Jerry Mullen's annual Junior College Basketball Jamboree in Dallas, Texas.

Smith didn't take the typical route to a junior college. Originally committed to UCF in January 2011, Smith switched his commitment to Missouri in eight months later. He changed his mind again in Spring 2012, when he signed with Texas A&M.

In November 2012, Smith was ruled a partial qualifier and was ineligible to play that season at Texas A&M. He was, however, allowed to remain on scholarship and practice with the team.

The 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 5.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 2013-14 as a redshirt freshman at Texas A&M. Smith played in 27 games, starting 17 during his one season on the court for the Aggies. Following that season Smith decided to transferred to a junior college. At one point it appeared that he was headed to Northwest Florida State but Smith remained in Texas and enrolled at Lee College in Baytown.

Like all junior college players, Smith must graduate with at least a 2.5 grade point average. That is the minimum GPA required by the NCAA for a junior college transfer. As fall semester grades come in, NCAA coaches start getting better barometer of where their JuCo targets are academically then follow up during the spring semester to see where the player might be in the classroom and on the court before putting all their eggs in one basket.

With Smith is averaging 15.8 points on 42.1 percent shooting (40.3 percent 3FG), 5.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 3.7 turnovers and about 30 minutes per game; the Bulls decided it was time to make a school visit with Smith so coach Strickland left New Orleans following the Tulane loss and traveled to East Texas.

RTB spoke with Marcus King, associate head coach at Lee College, to get some insight on Smith's recruitment, his interest in USF and how the Bulls feel about the sophomore.

"They have very high interest in him and are going to continue to monitor him and recruit him," King said. "He (Smith) really enjoyed talking to coach Strickland and was aware of coach (Orlando) Antigua. Obviously he was at Kentucky so he did his homework and researched him a little bit."

What type of recruiting pitch did coach Strickland give?

"Rod was straightforward, told him what their needs were at the position, what their thoughts were about him and what they would need him to want to do if he became a part of their program. He thought he was very talented. He thought he had great size as far as being able to play the point and off the ball. He liked his leadership qualities on the floor and thought he competed every possession."

According to King, USF isn't the only school that covets Smith. Marquette is showing a "great deal of interest", USC, TCU, LSU, Alabama, Utah and Florida State are schools that are in steady contact and Louisville has called to inquire.

"Unlike high school recruiting, offers don't come out as quickly due to the graduation aspect," said King. "Coaches continue to take their time to make sure that the academics are in-line with the talent. When coaches have their bye week they tend to come out and watch but mostly it's calling and keeping up to date with the players. The biggest obstacle is making sure they graduate with at least a 2.5 GPA."

Coach King said that Smith currently doesn't have any favorites but his previous recruitment, out of high school, has allowed Smith to take a different approach this time around.

"Shawn has been recruited before," said King. "He's taking his time. I know it's a cliché but his situation is a little different. He's played at the highest level; he's been in the SEC. He wants to find a coaching dynamic that he feels is able to help him with his development as a player and also as a person."

If Smith isn't spending a lot of time thinking about his recruitment, what is he concentrating on?

"He's really focused on helping us win our region's tournament so that we qualify for the national tournament," King said.

To that end, on Wednesday night, Smith scored 19 points on 4-12 shooting (1-3 beyond the arc), made 10-12 free throws, grabbed four rebounds, had two assists, two steals, and three turnovers while playing all 40 minutes according to stats we saw on the NJCAA website.

With Smith apparently taking his recruitment in stride, RTB expects more schools to be added to show interest. Other than that, we do not expect much to change or for him to take any official visits until April or when his season is over. Whichever comes first.

Smith will have two years of eligibility beginning next fall.