Maryland Basketball: All-American Jalen Smith declares for NBA Draft

Jalen Smith is headed to the next level after a stellar sophomore campaign for Maryland Basketball.

Jalen Smith declared for the NBA Draft Tuesday via Twitter to no one’s surprise and the NBA is going to get another talented Maryland basketball star.

The  6-foot-10, 225 pound, Baltimore, Maryland native came to the Terps via Mount St. Joseph’s High School in that city a year after high school and college teammate Darryl Morsell. Smith starred both on the court and in the classroom for the Mount Saint Joseph Gaels as he was named a McDonald’s All-American, Jordan Brand Classic selection, 247 Sports, Rivals and ESPN five-star recruit, two-time Baltimore Sun All-Metro Co-Player of the Year and Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year. He averaged 23 points, 12.5 rebounds and three blocks as a senior and finished his academic career with a 3.9 GPA.

As a starter for Maryland in the frontcourt alongside Bruno Fernando, Smith shined and provided the Terps with plenty of highlight-reel alley-oops, two-handed slams, three-pointers, and blocks. He was an essential part of the Terps 2018-19 NCAA Tournament run. He finished that season averaging 11.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting 49 percent from the field. He was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and Big Ten Player of the Week three times.

As a sophomore, Jalen Smith improved tremendously as he was one of the best scoring and rebounding big men in the Big Ten this year. He averaged a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) and received a host of Third Team All-American honors among other accolades. His points, rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage numbers were better than last year.

He’s considered to be a late first-round pick like Fernando and Kevin Huerter were in previous drafts. His departure leaves a big hole in frontcourt depth and production for next season. Jordan Bruner is a viable option to replace him, but his commitment decision has not been set. The Terps did get a commitment from Boston College transfer Forward Jairus Hamilton which is good news.

Jalen Smith became one of Maryland’s best players en route to a Big Ten regular-season title and Maryland basketball fans will surely wish him luck as he takes the biggest step of his basketball career.