Full release:
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men’s Basketball has signed transfer guard Mark Smith to its 2018 recruiting class, head coach Cuonzo Martin announced Monday. Smith, the 2017 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and 2017 Illinois Mr. Basketball, was a consensus four-star, Top-80 recruit out of high school.
Smith transfers from the University of Illinois, where he made 19 starts in 31 game appearances and averaged 5.8 points and 1.4 assists as a freshman. The Edwardsville, Illinois, native will sit out the 2018-19 campaign due to NCAA transfer rules and have three years of eligibility remaining.
“We are excited to have Mark Smith join the Mizzou Basketball Family,” Martin said. “Mark is a high character individual and a great fit for our program. We can’t thank his parents, Yvonne and Anthony, enough for trusting us with their son. He is a dynamic, talented scorer and distributor, and we can’t wait to get him to campus.”
Smith averaged 21.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 2.1 steals as a senior while captaining Edwardsville High School to a 30-2 record. He racked up eight 30-point games and reached double figures 30 times.
After his stellar senior campaign, Smith garnered First-Team All-State recognition from the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Champaign News-Gazette and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. He was also named St. Louis Dispatch All-Metro, and Champaign News-Gazette Player of the Year.
“Cuonzo has a lot of faith in me, he’s expecting big things from me in the future and I just feel like we have a really good relationship,” Smith said. “I’m excited to get to Columbia and work with him and the staff.”
Smith steered Edwardsville to the IHSA Class 4A Sectional Championship, exploding for a career-high 45 points and hauling in 16 rebounds in the title game. He is the fifth member in a vaunted group of Mizzou newcomers heading in to the 2018-19 season, alongside signees K.J. Santos, Javon Pickett, Xavier Pinson and Torrence Watson.
For all the latest on Mizzou Men's Basketball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team at @MizzouHoops (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
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