“Baton Rouge means everything to me,” said Ja’Vonte Smart after signing his National Letter of Intent to play basketball at LSU. “It’s my life and everything I live for.”
Fellow recruit Darius Days also signed his National Letter of Intent to play basketball at LSU on Wednesday. Smart and Days are ranked No. 29 and No. 65 in the country, respectively, by 247sports.com.
Days is a 6-foot-7, 218-pound forward from Florida, signing with LSU over North Carolina. Days brings a unique skillset to the Tigers and can play both forward positions.
The two are a part of LSU coach Will Wade’s first full recruiting class, which is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation behind North Carolina and Kansas.
It is Smart, however, who is the crowned jewel for Wade.
6-foot-4, 185-pound, Baton Rouge native, is expected to contribute right away at guard and chose the Tigers over Kentucky and UCLA. Smart has been named Mr. Basketball in the state of Louisiana for the past two seasons. Previous winners include NBA players Paul Millsap, Greg Monroe and Jarrell Martin.
“I just want to thank the city,” Smart said. “This isn’t just for me. This is for the whole city. We’ve been through a lot, I just want to put on for my city.”
Smart’s ties to Baton Rouge runs deep. He has led Scotlandville Magnet High School to three straight state championship game appearances, with wins in 2015 and 2017.
It wasn’t just staying home near his family in Baton Rouge that made Smart choose LSU, but also his belief that he can become a better player under Wade. Wade made Smart his priority when he was hired at LSU, and Smart’s commitment has been a huge boost for the program.
“Coach Wade came in and established a relationship with him and his parents,” said Scotlandville coach Carlos Sample. “He did a great job recruiting him and selling LSU to him, as well as selling coach Wade the person.”
“[Ja’Vonte] is not the savior of LSU,” Sample added, “But he is a very big piece of the puzzle that coach Wade is putting together. You can’t expect excitement. He is going to work, he is going to be there day in day out. He wants to bring LSU to another level.”
Another piece of the puzzle for LSU and Wade is forward Naz Reid, who is expected to sign with LSU on Monday. Reid, the No. 17 player in the country, committed to LSU on Sept. 12.
“Naz is one of my favorite players in 2018,” Smart said. “I’m just happy to play with him.”
Smart said he wants to compete for a national championship immediately with Reid and Days.
“It can be real,” Smart said on his national championship aspirations. “I hope that we play hard and just compete.”
