| Friday, August 31, 2007 9:57 PM CDT |
ISU basketball gets oral commitment from Simeon point guard
NORMAL — Kenyon Smith, a 6-foot senior point guard from Chicago Simeon High School, announced Friday he will sign a national letter of intent with Illinois State’s basketball team.
Smith became the second high school recruit for new ISU coach Tim Jankovich. Earlier, 6-8 forward Jeremy Robinson of Decatur Eisenhower said he will sign with the Redbirds during the early signing period in November.
Smith and his Simeon coach, Robert Smith, were unavailable for comment Friday night. NCAA rules prohibit Jankovich from commenting about recruits until they sign.
It has been a good week for the Redbirds. Swingman Chamberlain Oguchi, who has played three years at Oregon, started classes at ISU this week. Oguchi will sit out this season as a transfer and have one year of eligibility for the 2008-09 season.
Smith was the back-up point guard behind Derrick Rose, rated as the nation’s top player by many recruiting services, last season as Simeon won its second straight Class AA state championship. Smith averaged 4.3 points and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 46 percent from 3-point range (22 of 48).
Chicagohoops.com, an Internet recruiting service, said that Smith is “a dazzling combination of strength, quickness and skill on the basketball court. He is a superb penetrator offensively and quite possibly the best on-the-ball defender defensively.” Smith reportedly enjoyed a productive summer play for the AAU Chicago Express where he showcased his play-making and defensive abilities.
ISU assistant coach Paris Parham played a large role in Smith’s recruitment.
Parham joined Jankovich’s staff after serving as head coach at Morgan Park High School in Chicago.
Senior Boo Richardson is expected to be ISU’s starting point guard this season. Smith is expected to compete with freshman Alex Rubin and junior Emmanuel Holloway in the 2008-09 season.
Lincoln College forward Bobby Hill, who played as a freshman for ISU last season, said he also will re-sign with the Redbirds during the one-week fall signing period. Jankovich and his staff have one scholarship left and are expected to go after a front-court player.
Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports.
|
|
|
|
Customer Service 
Calendar 
Comments (4) | 
E-mail this page | 
Print this page | 
Enlarge type | 
Reduce type | 
Search archives | 
RSS feeds | 
Add to My Yahoo!
Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323
Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.
to: re I second that wrote on Sep 7, 2007 12:52 PM:
re: To I second that wrote on Sep 4, 2007 8:37 AM:
I Second That! wrote on Sep 1, 2007 1:32 PM:
Jank Fan wrote on Sep 1, 2007 10:14 AM:
Please read the rules before posting comments.
You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.