Luke Smith and TN’s best ’28 Centers

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Luke Smith headlines the junior centers populating Tennessee. McCallie runs out an enormously tall team featuring <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1719620' first='Ryan' last='Wingard']</strong> (Middle Tennessee verbal), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2959343' first='Junub' last='Duor']</strong> (Murray State/Chattanooga offers),<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='2765352' first='Asa' last='Fortune'] </strong>(Gardner-Webb verbal), and <strong>Luke Smith</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2898933,"width":"497px","height":"auto","aspectRatio":"1.3333401151553377","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/1000005118.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/1000005118.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-2898933" style="aspect-ratio:1.3333401151553377;width:497px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:acf/position-ranking-table {"name":"acf/position-ranking-table","data":{"class":"2028","_class":"field_65cfb7374abb9","position":"77243","_position":"field_65cfbfcb19ad6","national_rankings":"0","_national_rankings":"field_660c1d73c0e49","state":"","_state":"field_65cfb88a603fe"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6abbbe88db26c"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Luke Smith drastically improved his shotblocking in the last six months. Facing State Champions Bartlett at BCAT Smith came up with a tremendous, strong-armed block. Providing a legitimate deterrent for driving guards and ambitious bigs is extremely valuable. Most of Luke's defensive game occurs beneath the free throw line. He does not commit too high to screen actions. He drops off or remains pretty low in order to keep all dribblers in front of him. Smith's lower body strength keeps getting better. He now does a impressive job of anchoring low, getting his center of gravity similarly low to the smaller rebounders. Blocking out is consistent. All things point to Luke experiencing a breakout season in 2026-2027.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Center<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='3562722' first='Lucas' last='Cornwell']</strong> (Smith County) competes as both a high-academic tight end and a post player. Standing 6-foot-6 at 235-pounds Cornwell is one of the biggest, strongest junior dudes in the state. Likely Lucas will play D1 college football as evidenced by a recent Georgia State University, Bowling Green, UAB, UConn, and Wake Forest football offers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":3784666,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/SmithCounty.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/SmithCounty.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-3784666" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Owls out of Carthage High played two games in the 2026 TSSAA Division I Class 2A Boys Basketball State Championship. Between those two games <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='3562722' first='Lucas' last='Cornwell'] </strong>averaged 26.5 minutes per game, five points per game, seven rebounds per game. He did foul out in the season-ending loss to Westview High. And he finished with five made shots in 10 attempts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='3221024' first='Parker' last='Platt'] </strong>(Brentwood) stars as a volleyball player and will be an important rotation player for State Champion aspirants Brentwood High basketball this winter. Obviously, he gets off of the floor well like volleyball players are known to do. Like McCallie, Brentwood is very tall, featuring Mr. Basketball-candidate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2376260' first='Davis' last='Cochran']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='3189944' first='Jake' last='West']</strong>, Parker and some tall guards. "[Jake and Parker] are 6-foot-8, 6-foot-7 guys," said Brentwood Head Coach Troy Crane. "Big bodies. That is going to give the opportunity for us to go big sometimes with some lineup combinations. If you have a 6-foot-10, 6-foot-8, and a 6-foot-7 with the stuff that we do defensively it really kinda allows you to get multiple defenses and really kind of take control of the glass." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Platt does not bulk up a bit long-term. He likes to step away from the lane and hit faceup shots. If Platt and Davis play together and both can hit 15'-18' shots...good luck.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->