Brant Smithers, 2022, PG, Walton-Verona

When reading about this past season's winners from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, I came across this kid Brant Smithers from Walton-Verona recognized as the 2019-2020 free throw leader. He shot 90%!

He's a junior class of 2022, so I decided to look him up and see how his game is otherwise.

I'm surprised to not see him on sites like 247Sports. He's not very big—6"1", 150 pounds— but he seems athletic and can handle the ball very well in traffic. He also ranked 15th in the state for three point shooting, shooting 46%. The way he drives to the hoop, creates space for his jumper, and gets to the line, he seems to have most any shot a guard would need, except the dunk.

Doesn't seem to be on Xavier's radar—at least he isn't showing up on 247 or Verbal Commits. I don't know. He needs to add weight and strength, but he seems like the kind of local player XU should be going after. Goodness knows we could use better outside and free throw shooting. This is Dionte Miles' high school.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/12660991/Brant-Smithers

Without there being AAU ball and all the tournaments there usually are, this year, there are probably going to be a lot of kids that are overlooked by the schools and the recruiting sites. If this goes on and there isn’t HS ball this year, it’s even going to get worse. In past years, a kid like this might make a splash as a member of a traveling team and pick up offers from all over the place, but that’s not happening this year and might not happen next year either. It’s almost like things have reverted back to the 1950’s and 1960’s where almost all recruiting was local and based on coaching contacts first.

XU just offered to a PG who is about the same size from out of town. The closed recruitment rules are affecting things, but not stopping it completely.

Smithers looks to be a gamer. I'm guessing he finds some opportunity as this year advances.

There could be any number of reasons I'm totally unaware of why he's not on a national radar. My only experience seeing him is what's on that website. Still, if you make it into the top lists for any state's year-end awards as a junior, you're probably a decent player who's thinking about playing in college. And this kid is scoring in ways that we'd need more of, and he's a local that should be easy to connect with.

With all due respect to the young man, he lacks quickness, lateral agility and speed to be successful at high major D1. NKU might work for him. WV does not provide much competition for good comparisons statistically.