by Alex Schwartz

Early yesterday morning, I caught up with arguably the best junior basketball player in America, Josh Smith '10 of Kentwood (WA). When I spoke with the 6'10 big man in late August at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Classic, he was very open on his recruitment, naming 22 schools, claiming offers from most of them. When you are a dominant low post player, you have the luxury of having a great deal of college options. "I don't even know," said Smith when I asked him who he currently hold offers from this time around. He had proceeded that by saying that he did not really even have a school list. So who is going after Josh the hardest? "I would probably say all the schools are pursuing me the most, . . . it's pretty even." It's clear that Josh Smith has a number of choices for college, but what exactly is he looking for in a school? "Probably [the] style of play, that is probably the only thing. . . . [I can go to the] East Coast or West Coast, . . . just somewhere I'm comfortable." It really seems as though Smith's recruitment is wide open right now, so I asked him when he plans on actually making a decision: "I have no idea. I'm going to try to drag this out as long [as] I cam. I'm in no hurry."

When I interviewed Josh at the Elite 24 Classic, I asked him who he thought the best player in the class of 2010 was, and he mentioned himself, Texas-commit Tristan Thompson, Ohio State-pledge Jared Sullinger, and Louisville-commit Jeremy Tyler, eventually saying, "I'd say I am." When I talked to him yesterday I inquired of him again how he thought he stacks up with guys such as Tyler and Sullinger: "Those guys are all good players. . . . I [have] played with Jared Sullinger [and] I [have] played against him. I [have] played with Jeremy Tyler [too]. . . . I'd say we're all about even. We all bring different stuff to the table." The big man, who said that his high school season is "going pretty [well]," adding that his team is "on a little roll right now," is the key member of the squad, which is "8-3 overall [and] . . . 7-1 in conference." Smith is one of the many stars in Washington right now, along with ballers such as Louisville-signee Peyton Siva '09, Washington-bound Abdul Gaddy '09, and super sophomore Tony Wroten, Jr. '11. Speaking of Wroten, Jr., there had been a question of his eligibility due to concerns about where he actually lived (see Seattle Times article). I asked Smith what he thought of the situation:m "I haven't really talked about it. I am just focused on my high school season. . . . I haven't really thought about it." Smith also seems to not really thinking about where he will end up for college just yet, but he certainly has a lot of time. Whichever ever school winds up with the big man (look for it to be Washington, UCLA, Duke, or North Carolina) will be getting one of the best players in the nation.

Note- photo is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/