Prospect Spotlight: Luke Smellie (2020)

Big things could be coming for 6-foot-1 point guard Luke Smellie, who picked up his first Division I offer this past summer.

The Preston junior, who was offered by Idaho State, will step into a starring role this winter with the Indians. And will be showcasing an ability to play at the rim.

“I feel like I have great athleticism, getting to the hole and getting high above people,” said Smellie. “And I have great vision, I can find my teammates, and I think that's probably my best skill-set.”

He added: “Ball-handling is always good to work on, and I've been working on that. And one thing I need to do is keeping my shot consistent and my form.”

Smellie spent his spring and summer improving with one of the area's best grassroots teams, Cache Valley Elite 16U.

“I feel like I was kind of the spark plug for the team. I really focused on being intense the entire game, especially on defense and that would lead to offense,” said Smellie.

“I feel like I played great and I finished the season really strong in Vegas and California, and I had a great time.”

Now, with his junior season starting up at Preston, it will be his team to run. A slew of seniors graduated last year for the Indians.

“A lot of people are expecting us to not be as good as we were last year, but we're going to pick up right where we left off,” said Smellie. “I'm going to have a big role, I'm going to be the starting point guard.”

Although he still has two years left to see his recruitment continue to materialize, the Idaho State offer he picked up in June is definitely a good start to the process.

He was offered while attending an Idaho State camp in June. 

“I was talking to the coach and he just told me he was going to offer me a scholarship, and I kind of thought he was joking, but he was dead serious,” said Smellie.

“It didn't set in for a couple of days, I was just in shock.”

Smellie's been to some open gyms at Idaho State and says he's in and in frequent contact with the coaching staff. No other schools have been in the mix just yet.

For now, he's juts going to focus on being the best player he can be. 

“I have to work on everything this year,” said Smellie. “And I want to be so in tune and fundamental, that I'm unstoppable.”