NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 4 teams for top-10 Nick Smith

Consensus five-star guard prospect Nick Smith is down to just four NCAA Basketball team options. Which one will he choose in just a few days?

Several months ago, Nick Smith was a consensus top-30 overall prospect in the 2022 NCAA Basketball recruiting class. The 6’4 combo guard from Little Rock, Arkansas, had already risen up the ladder compared to being barely on the radar before but recently has seen his status exploded towards being a clear-cut five-star recruit.

Now, Smith is ranked in the top-10 overall, according to the latest updated from 247sportsComposite. He’s an outstanding scorer with good size, while also fully capable of running an offense from the point position. Smith’s versatility will make him a great asset in both NCAA Basketball and potentially the NBA.

His recruitment was updated a couple of months ago, going from an original list of 10 teams to five. However, Smith and the Kentucky Wildcats parted ways, leaving just four teams; Arkansas, Auburn, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Alabama.

With a decision coming on September 29th, here’s one final look at how Smith would fit at all four options before we know where he’ll be at.

Alabama Crimson Tide

The Tide has a five-star freshman point guard in JD Davison, alongside Jahvon Quinerly to run the backcourt this season. Assuming Davison is gone, that could pave the way for Smith to be the next starter and this has been an offense that has allowed playmaking guards to thrive.

The only problem here is that Smith may not be the priority guard for Alabama. They’ve been linked with another five-star prospect in Jaden Bradley, who is reportedly down to them and Arizona. Until that is settled (won’t be before the 29th), then the Tide likely is out of the mix. It’s not that they both can’t come here but likely won’t want to.

Arkansas Razorbacks

One of the two local options, the Razorbacks are looking to get its first five-commit under head coach Eric Musselman. They already have three perimeter-oriented commits in the 2022 class, including four-star combo guard Derrian Ford.

There’s a good chance that Arkansas will need another guard in the 2022 class. Grad transfer Chris Lykes from Miami will only be around for one season, while sophomore playmaker Davonte Davis is considered a breakout and NBA Draft candidate if things go well. With the opportunity to lead the Hogs offense, this is an option with plenty of upsides besides just staying close to home.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions

The SWAC program stands out as the odd-team out compared to the SEC ones. But they are a local team and an HBCU (Historically Black College and University), which black players have recently warmed to, including former five-star big man Makur Maker for Howard. And with grad transfer Shaun Williams only around for one season, the Lions can allow Smith to come in and be the entire offense and put up gaudy stats.

The issue is that Arkansas-Pine Bluff has been one of the worst teams in the country as of late, going just 4-21 last season. Even with Smith, this team wouldn’t even be a favorite in the SWAC if he joined them and wouldn’t be surrounded by the talent or coaching needed to be ready for the NBA if the goal is to be around for 1-2 years.

Auburn Tigers

To replace star freshman Sharife Cooper is a trio of transfers this offseason in KD Johnson (Georgia). Wendell Green (Eastern Kentucky), and Zep Jasper (College of Charleston). Of the three, only Green has experience of being a primary ball-handler but going from the Ohio Valley to the SEC will be a tough task. Either way, it makes sense for the Tigers to go after a quality guard in the 2022 class so they don’t have to go portal hunting next offseason.

Auburn has reportedly also been in the mix for five-star point guard Zion Cruz but he recently re-opened his recruiting process. If he’s not part of the picture anymore then it opens up this team to really make a run at Smith, even with top-100 PG commit Tre Donaldson on board. But after focusing so much on Cruz, could they be behind the eight-ball in this recruiting battle.