NCAA Basketball Recruiting: 2022 4-star wing Colin Smith releases top-10

2. Stanford Cardinal

The Cardinal have not been able to find significant success on the court over the last several seasons. It comes as a disappointment given Jerod Haase’s recent track record landing top players. Despite landing 8 top-100 players since joining the program, Stanford has found it consistently difficult to exceed the .500 mark. Next season again provides a new start with renewed hope for a better season, after landing 5-star wing Harrison Ingram and top-50 guard Isa Silva.

Notably, Ingram is a former teammate of Smith’s both with Southern Assault and St. Mark’s HS (TX), thus creating a strong potential influence for the latter to evaluate Stanford in even more detail. The two Dallas-natives have similar playing styles and stand to exhibit similar tendencies within the same program. Ingram’s success could have a significant impact on what Smith decides to do, however, the university’s academic track record and ability to recently send players to the NBA cannot be ignored by the 4-star prospect either.

1. Vanderbilt Commodores

Much like Stanford, the Commodores have not been able to consistently find success under head coach Jerry Stackhouse. Part of Vanderbilt’s issues has directly been related to a high frequency of injured players, especially at the top end of their roster. While these circumstances are tough to deal with, the lack of results is still disappointing for a program that has had success reaching the NCAA Tournament relatively consistently.

Yet, there seems to be positive momentum brewing in Nashville. Even if Scottie Pippen Jr. does not return for the 2021 season, Coach Stackhouse is assembling talent in greater depths through the 2022-23 season. Managing to sign a pair of 4-star prospects from Dallas, in center Lee Dort and guard Noah Shelby, the Commodores seem to be looking up at better days. Smith is familiar with both players and has played against them routinely each season. The signed duo have been in constant communication with Smith about joining the fray and frankly, the thought of signing a 3rd 4-star prospect in the same class must be very exciting for this fan base.

Smith provides strong defensive tendencies, both on the interior and perimeter to assist both Shelby and Dort anchor the floor. Furthermore, their combined offensive talents cover all the bases that Vanderbilt has not been able to simultaneously utilize in any season under Stackhouse yet to this point. While Stanford provides a great opportunity for Smith to meet both his academic and athletic goals, Vanderbilt does the same while granting a more complete roster to carry out his career.