NCAA Basketball Recruiting: 2022 4-star wing Colin Smith releases top-10
By Ian Mumm
10. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Former Golden Gopher player Ben Johnson has taken over the coaching reigns of the team this offseason and has re-affirmed the offer initially extended to Smith under head coach Richard Pitino. Coming off of a 14-15 season, Johnson will be looking to try and quickly turn the fortunes of the team into something more positive. However, his work will be cut out for him with nearly the entire roster transferring out from the program.
The large influx of talent to the roster provides some question marks about what kind of outlook this team will have in the next few seasons. With the massive rebuild expected to take some time to complete and uncertainty about what kind of system Coach Johnson will implement, this seems like a fairly safe bet that Smith won’t attend.
9. Arizona State Sun Devils
The Sun Devils are another program that has been hit hard by the transfer portal this offseason. However, there’s a little more benefit to their outlook with head coach Bobby Hurley still at the helm and an understanding of his preferred system and style for recruits. Arizona State signing 5-star center Enoch Boakye is an enticing piece to potentially play alongside should he decide to keep his name out of the NBA Draft after next season.
Coach Hurley has utilized stretch forwards previously with Taeshon Cherry and Marcus Bagley putting forth a strong blueprint of what Smith can expect in Tempe. While the offensive system provides a good fit for the long-range threat, this team is still likely to experience some kind of rebuild in the coming season or two.