One of nation’s top shooting guard recruits puts Kentucky on his list of options
One of the most highly touted shooting guards in the class of 2022 has added Kentucky to his list of college options.
Nick Smith Jr. — a 6-foot-4 prospect from Sherwood, Ark. — narrowed his recruitment to 10 schools last month, and UK didn’t make it. However, the Wildcats have been voicing an interest in his recruitment for months, and — though UK has not yet extended a scholarship offer — Tipton Edits reported Monday that Smith has now added Kentucky to his list of possibilities.
UK joins a group that already included Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oral Roberts and Texas Tech.
247Sports ranks Smith as the No. 25 overall recruit in the 2022 class, and he’s the No. 2-rated shooting guard in that group. Only Texas native Keyonte George — another UK target — is ranked higher at the position. Rivals.com ranks Smith as the nation’s No. 29 recruit and lists him as a point guard.
Smith attends the same high school that produced former Kentucky guard Archie Goodwin.
UK is already in the mix with several talented perimeter players from the 2022 class. Five-star point guard Skyy Clark committed to the Wildcats in October, while another five-star point guard, Jaden Bradley, landed a Kentucky scholarship offer several weeks ago. UK has also offered Canadian shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe.
The 247Sports top 30 rankings for the 2022 class includes 16 players that are listed as point guards, combo guards or shooting guards.
Smith landed scholarship offers from Kansas and North Carolina in late December, after he revealed publicly that he would be cutting his list soon. He told 247Sports around that time that he was hearing from those two schools, Arkansas, Auburn and Georgetown the most.
There is no timetable for Smith’s college decision.
