JERSEY CITY, N.J. — As an uncommitted, unsigned point guard in the Class of 2014, Tarin Smith’s stock has grown drastically in the last few months.
After considering Patriot and Ivy League schools in the fall, the 6-foot-2, 183-pound Smith is now being courted by Big East and A-10 programs, among others.
“He’s a late developer,” Hall of Fame St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley told SNY.tv. of his point guard after Smith went for 11 points Tuesday in St. Anthony’s 56-41 victory over Camden.
“I think he would be intriguing for coaches because I think of the unsigned kids, he’s probably someone that people should look at.”
Smith is being recruited by Providence, Creighton, Rhode Island, Lehigh, Delaware, Boston University, Boston College, Fordham and Florida International.
“Hopefully, I’m trying to decide pretty soon in the next couple weeks,” Smith said.
Smith expects Providence head coach Ed Cooley and assistant Bob Simon to watch him Monday when St. Anthony plays in the Hoophall Classic at the Hall of Fame.
St. Anthony will also compete in the SNY Invitational Jan. 24-25 at City College of New York.
“If Providence offers, that’s something I might definitely look at,” Smith said.
“They definitely need a point guard, especially with [Kris] Dunn getting hurt and Brandon [Austin] transferring [to Oregon], they’ve said they need a point guard. Coach Simon has come to see me a couple of times, so hopefully it works out.”
Asked if he believes he can play at the Big East level, Smith said, “Oh, yeah, for sure. I think I’m considered a late-bloomer as far as my growth and how my game has come along. I think now I’m definitely ready to play at the next level, Big East.”
When Hurley was asked the same question, he said, “If there’s more development coming.”
After attending a workout at St. Anthony in eighth grade and seeing “a whole section of [college] coaches lined up,” Smith decided that he wanted to play for the legendary Hurley and has made a sacrifice to do so. He lives in Ocean, N.J., and travels more than an hour each morning by bus to reach St. Anthony.
“I wake up at 5, I catch a 6:30 bus to come up here,” he said. “But it’s worth it because you can’t really get that competition down there. I don’t regret coming up here at all. This is the right decision.”
He has played behind some big-name point guards during his time at St. Anthony. Myles Mack is now at Rutgers, Kyle Anderson plays for UCLA and Josh Brown competes for Temple.
“One of the best things about coming to St. Anthony was just practice,” Smith said. “Playing with Kyle and Josh, they taught me so much, so many little tricks of the trade, how to play hard, how to really win, so that really helped.”
On the AAU circuit, Smith played with Sports U alongside 2014 commits Karl Towns (Kentucky), Jared Nickens (Maryland), Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt) and Quadri Moore (Cincinnati).
Sports U coach Brian Coleman calls Smith “the most improved player he’s ever coached.”
“We felt like he could play at a high level,” Coleman said. “I just think with the AAU team, he had so many other high-major kids on the team people didn’t get a chance to see how good he really was.
“Now watching him playing with St Anthony, they’re getting to see how talented he is.”
Photo: SNY
