NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 5 in 2023-24 season
By Joey Loose
6. Deivon Smith (Utah)
Four seasons ago, Smith arrived at Mississippi State with expectations, having been considered a Top 100 prospect in the nation. He transferred after only a season with the Bulldogs and recently transferred again after two decent efforts with Georgia Tech. However, Smith seemingly found the ideal landing spot with Utah even if it came in a bit of a disappointing season for the Utes.
Unfortunately, Smith missed the first month of the season and got off to a slow start when he was on the court, though that didn’t stop him from turning in a great senior season. He averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game, numbers that look even better when if you take out his first five games. He led the conference in assists per game (finishing 6th in the nation) and was an important all-around backcourt piece for the Utes in a year where they fell just short of the Big Dance in the end.
Smith was on his game by the time league play started, dropping the first of five triple-doubles against Stanford in mid-January. He had 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Utes’ tough double-overtime loss to Arizona, though Utah lost a few too many games to reach the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Utes went on a nice run to the NIT semifinals, featuring two of Smith’s triple-doubles and a 28-point game against Indiana State to end the year.