Smith adjusts to life in college
• The former Trinity Christian player has enrolled early at N.C. State.
By Bret Strelow FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Staff writer
RALEIGH — Tuesday and Thursday mornings are Dennis Smith Jr.’s reality check.
Smith, who was ranked as the top high school point guard in the country heading into his senior year at Trinity Christian School, had surgery in early August to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. Going through extensive rehab instead of playing his final prep season, he decided to graduate in December and enroll at N.C. State in January.
Spending this semester with the Wolfpack (11-8, 1-5 ACC) has obvious perks, as Smith is able to rehab daily with N.C. State’s doctors, attend practices, sit on the bench during games and acclimate to college life. He said he’s currently taking five classes.
Trinity Christian is a one-story, K-12 private school with approximately 215 students, and almost that many people are in his conservation and natural resources course that meets in the morning twice a week.
“I have to walk all the way across campus for an 8:30,” Smith said Thursday in his first media availability since joining the Wolfpack. “I’ll be used to it by next week.
“There’s like 200 people in there, and it’s a long walk. It’s a lot bigger than Trinity.”
Won’t play this season
N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried has been adamant in saying he won’t even consider playing Smith until next season, even though he is eligible to compete immediately and could be healthy enough to contribute before this season is over.
Junior standout Cat Barber is the only scholarship point guard on the Wolfpack’s roster, and he’s likely to explore his professional opportunities once this season ends. Until then, the 6-foot-2, 189-pound Smith is focusing on getting completely healthy and supporting his teammates. An explosive leaper as a healthy high school star, he has added 10 pounds of muscle since entering college.
Smith guessed that his surgically repaired knee is at about 80 percent.
“I’ve got most of my dunks back,” he said with a smile.
Smith volunteered that he can execute windmill dunks again. When told of the chatter that he’s performing 360-degree slams, he laughed.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” Smith said.
Smith, who plans to walk with Trinity Christian’s other seniors during a graduation ceremony in May, wore a black N.C. State sweatshirt and pants when he made his first Wolfpack appearance in an ACC opener at Virginia Tech on Jan. 2. He often shoots standstill jumpers during pregame warmups before taking a seat with teammates Terry Henderson (injured) and Torin Dorn (redshirting as a Charlotte transfer) on the bench. Smith can be seen offering advice to current N.C. State starters during timeouts. He also has been known to shoot free throws at the Wolfpack’s practice gym in the evenings and place calls urging teammates such as BeeJay Anya to join him. “I have to come in and lead the guys next year, so that’s what I will be looking forward to doing,” Smith said.
“I’ve got a winner’s mentality. I want to come in and win. I want everybody to play to their fullest potential. If I see something wrong, I tell them, and I want them to say the same thing to me.”
Smith also has a fun-loving side that comes out frequently. Just ask Barber, one of his suitemates.
Barber goes by his nickname rather than his first name — Anthony. Smith likes to call him Tony.
“He plays too much,” a half-joking Barber said. “He started that trend, so I don’t talk to him when he calls me that. If he says ‘Tony,’ I don’t say nothin’ to him.”
Staying patient is one of the toughest challenges for Smith.
He had surgery at Duke and rehabbed there before enrolling at N.C. State, but now he’s working solely with the Wolfpack’s medical staff. Duke, which recruited Smith before turning its attention to current freshman Derryck Thornton, who re- classified to play point guard for the Blue Devils this season, is scheduled to face N.C. State on Saturday in Raleigh.
For the time being, Smith is a high-profile observer.
Moving in at N.C. State with the help of three aunts, his grandmother and his father, Smith made sure to bring jerseys from the Adidas Nations event in California, where he hurt his knee, and his Team Loaded travel club. He wants to add a Trinity Christian jersey to the collection.
His hometown loyalty was obvious as he conducted interviews Thursday in a black, hooded “Dreamville” sweatshirt that acknowledges the label founded by Fayetteville rapper J. Cole.
“It was kind of bittersweet,” Smith said of the moving-day scene with his grandmother and aunts. “They’re glad about where I’m getting, but it was sad that I’m going to be out of Fayetteville.”
• The former Trinity Christian player has enrolled early at N.C. State.
By Bret Strelow FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Staff writer
RALEIGH — Tuesday and Thursday mornings are Dennis Smith Jr.’s reality check.
Smith, who was ranked as the top high school point guard in the country heading into his senior year at Trinity Christian School, had surgery in early August to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. Going through extensive rehab instead of playing his final prep season, he decided to graduate in December and enroll at N.C. State in January.
Spending this semester with the Wolfpack (11-8, 1-5 ACC) has obvious perks, as Smith is able to rehab daily with N.C. State’s doctors, attend practices, sit on the bench during games and acclimate to college life. He said he’s currently taking five classes.
Trinity Christian is a one-story, K-12 private school with approximately 215 students, and almost that many people are in his conservation and natural resources course that meets in the morning twice a week.
“I have to walk all the way across campus for an 8:30,” Smith said Thursday in his first media availability since joining the Wolfpack. “I’ll be used to it by next week.
“There’s like 200 people in there, and it’s a long walk. It’s a lot bigger than Trinity.”
Won’t play this season
N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried has been adamant in saying he won’t even consider playing Smith until next season, even though he is eligible to compete immediately and could be healthy enough to contribute before this season is over.
Junior standout Cat Barber is the only scholarship point guard on the Wolfpack’s roster, and he’s likely to explore his professional opportunities once this season ends. Until then, the 6-foot-2, 189-pound Smith is focusing on getting completely healthy and supporting his teammates. An explosive leaper as a healthy high school star, he has added 10 pounds of muscle since entering college.
Smith guessed that his surgically repaired knee is at about 80 percent.
“I’ve got most of my dunks back,” he said with a smile.
Smith volunteered that he can execute windmill dunks again. When told of the chatter that he’s performing 360-degree slams, he laughed.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” Smith said.
Smith, who plans to walk with Trinity Christian’s other seniors during a graduation ceremony in May, wore a black N.C. State sweatshirt and pants when he made his first Wolfpack appearance in an ACC opener at Virginia Tech on Jan. 2. He often shoots standstill jumpers during pregame warmups before taking a seat with teammates Terry Henderson (injured) and Torin Dorn (redshirting as a Charlotte transfer) on the bench. Smith can be seen offering advice to current N.C. State starters during timeouts. He also has been known to shoot free throws at the Wolfpack’s practice gym in the evenings and place calls urging teammates such as BeeJay Anya to join him. “I have to come in and lead the guys next year, so that’s what I will be looking forward to doing,” Smith said.
“I’ve got a winner’s mentality. I want to come in and win. I want everybody to play to their fullest potential. If I see something wrong, I tell them, and I want them to say the same thing to me.”
Smith also has a fun-loving side that comes out frequently. Just ask Barber, one of his suitemates.
Barber goes by his nickname rather than his first name — Anthony. Smith likes to call him Tony.
“He plays too much,” a half-joking Barber said. “He started that trend, so I don’t talk to him when he calls me that. If he says ‘Tony,’ I don’t say nothin’ to him.”
Staying patient is one of the toughest challenges for Smith.
He had surgery at Duke and rehabbed there before enrolling at N.C. State, but now he’s working solely with the Wolfpack’s medical staff. Duke, which recruited Smith before turning its attention to current freshman Derryck Thornton, who re- classified to play point guard for the Blue Devils this season, is scheduled to face N.C. State on Saturday in Raleigh.
For the time being, Smith is a high-profile observer.
Moving in at N.C. State with the help of three aunts, his grandmother and his father, Smith made sure to bring jerseys from the Adidas Nations event in California, where he hurt his knee, and his Team Loaded travel club. He wants to add a Trinity Christian jersey to the collection.
His hometown loyalty was obvious as he conducted interviews Thursday in a black, hooded “Dreamville” sweatshirt that acknowledges the label founded by Fayetteville rapper J. Cole.
“It was kind of bittersweet,” Smith said of the moving-day scene with his grandmother and aunts. “They’re glad about where I’m getting, but it was sad that I’m going to be out of Fayetteville.”
