UCLA signee Josh Smith not worried about Bruins’ struggles
Words. Jason Jordan
If Kentwood High (Wash.) star Josh Smith could do it over again, he wouldn’t do it at all.
The countless phone calls, the nagging interviews, the emails, the visits…
“It’s all a part of the recruiting game,” says Smith, a 6-9 senior center who put his signature down with UCLA during the early signing period in mid-November. “I would do so much different now that I look back on it.”
We chatted with Smith, rated the No. 12 prospect in the updated HSH Top 50, about everything from what he would change to what he thinks about UCLA’s dismal season thus far.
HighSchoolHoop: How has life changed since you officially signed with the Bruins?
Josh Smith: Well, it’s changed a lot since the eighth grade when I started getting recruited. It was fun at first, then it started to get hectic and kinda predictable. That’s why I got it out of the way now before basketball season started. I couldn’t go through this stuff all season.
HSH: What can you do now that you couldn’t do before?
JS: A lot of times when I would be hanging out with my friends I’d get a call from someone wanting to know where I was going. Sometimes I’d be at a movie and a coach or a scouting service would call wanting to know if I’d cut my list or if I’d decided. It was really annoying. Things are a lot better now. I can just go hang out with friends and basically be a regular kid.
HSH: How has the season been going so far?
JS: It’s been going pretty good. We won our first game. I only had 24.
HSH: Only 24, huh?
JS: (Laughs) Yeah.
HSH: So what are some of your team goals this season?
JS: Basically just to work hard and let the game dictate itself. If we play hard and do what we’re supposed to do we won’t have to worry about the score. Some of our other goals are to win districts, league and state. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time.
HSH: You’ve seen UCLA this season I assume?
JS: Yes.
HSH: What do you think?
JS: Well, they’re in a rebuilding situation. They have a lot of young guys and the majority of their team last year either graduated or went to the NBA. This year I’d say that they’ve been playing really well for what they have and how young they are. They only lost to Kansas by 12 and they were in the game the whole time. Turnovers killed them, but they were in the game the whole time and obviously Kansas is No. 1 in the country. So there’s something to build on there.
HSH: One of the reasons you picked UCLA is because you loved the rich tradition there, right?
JS: Yes.
HSH: So does it bother you to hear fans and experts basically call them garbage?
JS: Not at all. A lot of teams go through rebuilding years. You can’t be good all the time. I understand that this isn’t a traditional UCLA team. I wasn’t expecting them to win the national title and go undefeated. I’m proud that I picked the school. I still tell people to wait and see what they do when conference play starts.
HSH: Yours was one of the more interesting recruitments in the class. Looking back, what, if anything, would you different?
JS: I probably would’ve narrowed my list down to five instead of staying undecided. That would’ve just cut out some programs and let them know that I wasn’t interested. When I was saying I was undecided I wasn’t really undecided because I knew that it was gonna come down to two schools (UCLA and Washington). That’s just how it ended up. But I learned a lot throughout the process. I’m just glad it’s all over now.
* Dime’s Austin Burton breaks down UCLA’s early-season problems.
Got a burning question for Jason? Email him: JasonJ@DimeMag.com