Staff photo.
Dylan Smith
Dylan Smith during the 2015 Class 7A state semifinal game, where he scored 17 points in overtime to send Hoover to the title game.
Dylan Smith is ready for high-major college basketball.
After a season at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Smith is transferring to the University of Arizona and joining the traditional power in the college basketball world.
A star on Hoover High School’s 2015 Class 7A state championship basketball team, Smith scored 17 overtime points in the Bucs’ semifinal game against Lee-Montgomery and helped the team to a win over Mountain Brook to capture the school’s first title.
“I wanted to win a state championship before I graduated,” Smith said. “We said all year it was title or bust, and we proved ourselves right.”
He then took his talents to UNC Asheville, where he starred as a freshman in 2015-16. Smith led the Bulldogs with 13.5 points per game, starting the final 18 games of the season. UNC Asheville won the Big South Conference Tournament to seal a spot in the NCAA Tournament and took on eventual national champion Villanova in the first round.
“We were in the game until they went on a run,” Smith said of the game against the Wildcats. “They were veteran players, knew the game well and moved the ball well.”
Despite the 86-56 loss, Smith led the team with 14 points, but he said the game brought him to a realization.
“I just felt like during the season I could go play high-major,” he said.
Smith spoke highly of the Bulldogs and his season there, and he said he used the opportunity to “prove the doubters wrong” — something he has been doing his whole life.
“I had a lot to prove growing up, being small and people saying I couldn’t play,” Smith said. “I have played with a chip on my shoulder all the time since I picked up a ball when I was 12.”
Smith will have to sit out the 2016-17 year due to NCAA transfer rules, but he said he will use the time to get better.
“Getting stronger and taking contact going to the rim. Skill-wise, I’m ready for that level, and I proved it,” he said.
He chose Arizona over the likes of Oregon, Texas A&M, Butler and others.
