Mark Smith Talks Commitment & CEC
Riverside Brookfield senior post Mark Smith had the best performance we have seen out of him in four years on the big stage at the Chicago Elite Classic. The 6’7” center used to be very long, thin, and didn’t have…
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Continue ReadingRiverside Brookfield senior post Mark Smith had the best performance we have seen out of him in four years on the big stage at the Chicago Elite Classic. The 6’7” center used to be very long, thin, and didn’t have much coordination around the hoop. That has changed. He has gotten significantly stronger and his ability to score in the paint has improved tremendously. Smith did a great job carving out space and sealing on the interior for scores. He uses the glass well and showed he could finish with both hands. Plus offensive rebounder that knows how to use his length to high point rebounds. Great to see the improvement out of the Riverside Brookfield post. Needs to work on free throw shooting. He had 19 points and 9 boards against a quality Gonzaga (DC) front line. Committed to Trinity International University in recent days. He broke down why the D3 program in Deerfield was his choice.
“Their coach is a great coach. He has been after me for a while. He is more than a coach. He really connected with me and with a lot of guys on the team it seemed like more of a family. I loved the atmosphere.”
He talked about why he wanted to make a decision in the early part of his senior season.
“When it came down to it I didn’t want to have to worry about it going into the season. We are trying to make a big playoff run this year. That is what I want to focus on getting as far as we can and helping out the guys on my team with their recruitment as well.”
Smith discussed the development in his game.
“I have some of the best coaches around. I played with the Wolves and then played with Coach Carpenter on TAW. He has helped me tremendously as far as footwork and getting stronger. Earlier in my career I was kind of all over the place. The coaches at RB every single day are working on it.”
For Riverside Brookfield to make a deep run in state he will need to play like he did at the CEC!