Prospect Profile: Alex Smith

The Upper Arlington junior has emerged as the area's top-ranked recruit. He talks his offers, including Ohio State, and how he wants to bring UA back to a title contender

COLUMBUS, OH - For some high school players, recruitment can be a slow burn as it may take up until senior year to receive a well-deserved scholarship opportunity. In more unique cases, college coaches can notice quickly when a player is more than capable of being a Division I player and that’s when the phones start to buzz.

In the case of Alex Smith, a rising junior forward from Upper Arlington, he falls into the rare latter category. At 6’9, Smith possesses the handles of a guard with an accurate clip from long range. In short, he fits the ideal profile of what scouts look for as a player with the unique blend of size and skillset which has become more of an emphasis in the college game.

Smith capped off a successful sophomore season for the Golden Bears after he led the team in scoring (14.5 per game) and rebounds (8.5) while shooting over 34% from beyond the arc and was named honorable mention All-Ohio. His spring and summer has only improved his stock, most notably when he picked up an offer from Ohio State in June after an impressive performance at their team camp. Smith is the only local player currently with an Ohio State offer, regardless of class.

He now holds seven total offers and looks to make a further impression this upcoming weekend in Atlanta as Smith was invited to the Adidas All-American Camp. Before he heads south, Smith took time to chat with 270 Hoops about the rise in his profile, his recruitment, NIL and how he aims to lead Upper Arlington back to being one of the area’s top teams.

270 Hoops: We use the term “stock riser” quite a bit, but I think it’s fair to say not many players have seen a stock rise quite like yours these past few months. Has this even caught you by surprise or does it feel like your game has really started to click?

Alex Smith: It did catch me a bit by surprise. A couple of years ago, if you would have told me I’d be a high-major guy going into my junior year, I would have been like “you’re crazy, that’s not gonna happen,” but it definitely has been a bunch of hard work, some stuff just clicked in my brain and a lot has really happened these last few months.

You received your first high-major offer from Indiana back in February. What was that moment like and speaking with coach Woodson?

I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think I would get the offer. I had went down there for my second game and [coach Woodson] was just like “I want to offer you. We know you’re going to be really good and we’re going to take a chance now and offer you.” It was a really great feeling knowing that my dreams have basically come true, the dreams that I had as a kid have started. I was on cloud nine the whole time, it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.

[Talking with coach Woodson], it definitely taught me about how the industry is. He was in the NBA, he coached the Knicks, so he definitely knows a lot. When he talks, you have to listen, he’s not talking to just talk, you’re going to learn from him.

And then came the Ohio State offer in June. Growing up ten minutes away from campus, did that feel pretty surreal?