BU recruit- class of 2009- Darius Smith

[Da Coach]

The Oregon State Rivals site has a new article today on Darius Smith.
It is a premium article--

http://oregonstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=836900

But here are a couple clips--
"I was blessed to play with all the players I played with on the summer circuit," Smith said. "I helped them and they helped me. I showed that I could play the point. A lot of people had doubts and said that I was just a slasher. I like to score, but I know when to score and I can set up my teammates as well."
Smith has seen his evolution as a point guard show up in his recruitment.
He declined to name a school list at this time as he didn't want to leave anybody out, but did note that he needed to give Bradley some love as "everywhere I'm at, they're at". Other schools who have shown up on his radar in the past include the likes of DePaul, Marquette, Indiana, Baylor, and Clemson. Smith plans to take the next few weeks to go over his recruiting and one school that will merit some consideration is Oregon State.
Smith noted that distance shouldn't play a factor in his decision and doesn't necessarily have a timeline on when he wants to start narrowing things down.

Rivals profile--

http://oregonstate.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=73641

[BUBraves06]

The Oregon State Rivals site has a new article today on Darius Smith.
It is a premium article--

http://oregonstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=836900

But here are a couple clips--
"I was blessed to play with all the players I played with on the summer circuit," Smith said. "I helped them and they helped me. I showed that I could play the point. A lot of people had doubts and said that I was just a slasher. I like to score, but I know when to score and I can set up my teammates as well."
Smith has seen his evolution as a point guard show up in his recruitment.
He declined to name a school list at this time as he didn't want to leave anybody out, but did note that he needed to give Bradley some love as "everywhere I'm at, they're at". Other schools who have shown up on his radar in the past include the likes of DePaul, Marquette, Indiana, Baylor, and Clemson. Smith plans to take the next few weeks to go over his recruiting and one school that will merit some consideration is Oregon State.
Smith noted that distance shouldn't play a factor in his decision and doesn't necessarily have a timeline on when he wants to start narrowing things down.

Rivals profile--
http://oregonstate.rivals.com/viewpr...2&pr_key=73641

That's awesome. Even if we don't end up landing this kid, I love hearing stuff like that. It reassures me that the program is in great hands. I hope the coaching staff keeps up the good work.

[thefish7]

Id love to have Darius at BU. Keep on it coaching staff!

[mexicobufan]

Give Bradley some love, give us a signed LOI!!!!!!!!

[Beninator]

Really love the quote; "Everywhere I'm at they're at. "

Keep up the good work coaching staff.

[real fan]

Darius would be a great recruit for Bradley and he could be the next Chicago public star to make a name for himself in Peoria; this is a good fit for both parties. I said it before that he was probably the best player at the state tour.

[Bradleyguy10]

Plus he'd be the second "unreachable" that Bradley got for the 2009 season, and this one would be undisputed like some do with the JP commitment.

Obviously it's hard to get one, but it's almost just as hard to get the 2nd one. But once the dominoes start to fall......


Darius Smith you are the #1 recruit on almost every Bradley fans' list (including mine). Please come to Bradley!!!!!

Smith, Prosser, Knezevic plus the stars we are already going to have that season. That team would have sweet 16 potential...easy. Anyone disagree?

[Dubl R 1]

Would love to get Darius Smith or David Brown to fill out next year's draft class.

[Da Coach]

Darius Smith to visit Minnesota this coming weekend. I have heard that Tubby Smith really wants Smith and he is their #1 target.

http://minnesota.scout.com/

[bugregshu]

Many people were predicting that Darius Smith would commit to Minnesota during his visit last weekend, but he did not. Tubby seems to really be hard after Smith, and he is planning on visiting Smith tomorrow. He won't be alone though.

"The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Darius Smith, rated a four-star prospect by scout.com and one of the top 20 point guards in the nation by rivals.com, will get a visit from Tubby Smith on Thursday in Chicago.

But Darius Smith also is expecting to be visited by several other schools this week, including Southern California, George Washington, DePaul, Bradley and Marquette, according to Marshall high school coach Courtney Hargrays."

"He really enjoyed the scenery in Minnesota," Hargrays said about Darius Smith. "He said the people were nice, and the players and coaches, he liked them all. But I think he's going to visit two-three other schools before he decides. At least two, then he will decide."

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/

[Big Mike]

I hope Smith shows Bradley the Love he talked about previous and gives the Hilltop a visit...then decide!

[Da Coach]

The Minnesota Rivals site has another article about Darius Smith.
It is a premium article--
http://minnesota.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=849743

In this article, despite Smith's visit to Minnesota last weekend, and a home visit by Head Coach Tubby Smith and Assistant Coach Vince Taylor, Darius Smith is still not ready to commit, and announced that he intends to take at least a couple more campus visits.

Here is some of the text--
Minnesota has put in much effort to get Chicago point guardDarius Smith to commit early this fall. Smith was in the Twin Cities for a visit last weekend and both Tubby Smith and Vince Taylor traveled to Chicago yesterday to meet with Darius and his family. So after the full court press put on by the Gophers where does Darius stand?
"Darius enjoyed his visit last weekend," said Smith's coach at Chicago Marshall Courtney Hargrays. "He liked the scenery of the school. Darius likes the coaches and he liked the campus. But to this point he is still open. He is going to take a couple more visits before he decides but Darius is going to sign early this fall."
Minnesota was not the only school to send coaches to Chicago Marshall since school opened this fall. Several teams around the nation have picked up their interest in Smith and he has several options to chose from as he decides on his next visit.
"Kentucky, Iowa State, Bradley, Creighton, DePaul, Illinois and a couple more schools are showing interest," Hargrays said. "Darius has not set any more visits yet. We have had a lot of visitors this week and many of them were the schools I just listed."

[brocks]

That's very promising, IMO. And the comments about Minny were sort of "Well, she was a very NICE girl . . ." Does not sound like Tubby made the sale.

[Bradleyguy10]

I'm worried about the mention of Kentucky, Creighton, and Illinois.

Kentucky because its Kentucky
Creighton..well because if he's considering us so much then why wouldn't he find Creighton just as appealing
and Illinois because well..they do have a monster recruiting class for the next couple of seasons..he might want to ride that upswing

[dogsrus]

I crossed him off our list long ago....Do I want him...for sure...do I think he would excell here....for sure.....do I think he would help lead BU back to the NCAA's along with our allready impressive class...you bet.

It just doesn't seem possible though with all the heavyweights involved. I think JL and staff have done a GREAT job but I have a gut feeling he goes "bigger".

Lets hope I am wrong like I USUALLY am.

THe table is really set for a fairly high profile guy to come here and have 4 years running the point.

JL has put alot of his eggs in this basket......lets HOPE it works out for him/us. He'd NEVER regret the choice as we ALL know.