Jalen Smith Commits: Analysis

A post by Jordan

            When Intern Mason got home yesterday he shouted, “We got Sticks!!!”. “Sticks” refers to the composite 29th ranked player in the 2018 class, Jalen Smith. Depending the how the 2018 recruiting class shakes out (more on that later) Sticks could end up as a starter in the 2018-2019 basketball season. Projected starting center Michal Cekovsky will be a senior in 2017, the other big men on the roster (Rising Junior Ivan Bender, and Freshmen Bruno Fernando) are both better suited to play the 5 than Smith, he’s called Sticks for a reason.

Jalen Smith has long considered Maryland the front runner. Coach Turgeon took a gamble with Smith, offering him a full ride in October of 2015, when Smith was a sophomore in high school.  He was recruited by Bino Ransom, who also successfully landed Daryll Morsell. 24/7 sports had him as an 100% Maryland lean for over a year. In November Smith’s high school point guard Daryll Morsell committed to the Terps, it seemed to many observers that Morsell’s commitment all but locked up Jalen Smith. The Terps continued to push the Morsell advantage by having him host Sticks’ visit last week. A few days later Sticks committed to the Terps without taking his other scheduled visits to Villanova and Notre Dame.

Smith is exceptionally skinny for his size, towering at 6’10” but only weighing in at 205 pounds. Sticks had a sort of young Kevin Durant-like build. His wingspan is about average at 7 feek and a half inch (for comparison Durant’s wingspan at the same age 7’4”). Our own Wayne Viener saw Sticks play live in Baltimore last season, he says of Sticks: “He has good height and quick defensive mobility, he also has a pretty jump shot. But he needs to bulk up, he got pushed around in the post a bit”.

Jalen Smith is one of the most highly regarded players that Maryland has gotten since 2002. Since the 2003 class only Diamond Stone ranks higher in the 24/7 composite ranking. However, he is one of many that could rank higher in this upcoming class. The addition of Sticks, combined with the already good roster and fellow four-star 2018 commit Aaron Wiggins could bolster the already strong chances of landing one or a few bona-fide top recruits like Moses Brown, Immanuel Quickley, and Cameron Reddish. This in addition to Silvio De Sousa who is considered a 100% lean, who is ranked 29th in the composite rankings.

Overall Smith is a great get for the Terps and hopefully one of many great gets in the 2018 class.

2018 Recruits, Jordan Viener, Maryland Basketball
There Are No Responses to this Post

No comments have been posted yet, be the first!

Post a comment by filling out the form below.

Write a Comment!










Message


YoungTerps Tweets

Terp Talk Tweets


Bruce Posner Tweets


Sponsors

Viener Consulting

Saiontz and Kirk

Dr Jeffrey Gaber and Associates
Never Miss a Terp Beat!

Enter your email address: