3-star combo guard Serrel Smith commits to Ole Miss

Football usually dominates the recruiting conversation on this web site. But, Andy Kennedy has stolen the spotlight, as he always does, securing a verbal commitment via Twitter from 2018 combo guard Serrel Smith Thursday afternoon, as reported by Scout’s Ben Garrett. This commitment comes off the heels of his official visit to Ole Miss, as reported by Scout’s Evan Daniels.

Daniels interviewed Smith’s high school coach, Chris Blackwell, at Saint Petersburg (Fla.) and he seems to think that Serrel will not skip a beat when it comes to his scoring habits once he arrives in Oxford.

"It's a great fit for him," Blackwell said. "They had a great visit and he liked the coaches and the players. It was just a good fit."

The 6’3, 170-pounder chose the Rebels over offers from Dayton, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, La Salle, Memphis, Temple, Wichita State and Winthrop, among others. As a junior, the nation’s No. 11 combo guard averaged 27.3 points a game at St. Petersburg (Fla.) High.

How does he fit in?

Smith is going to add to an already long and athletic back court that Kennedy should be giddy to get on the court at The Pavilion. Devontae Shuler (6’2), Terence Davis (6’4) and Illya Tyrtyshnik (6’4) will all be at A.K.’s disposal to create mismatches and get out and run in the open floor and once Smith is added to the fold, it’ll only get better. Serrel is an energetic floor general who has no problem taking control and taking over on the offensive end. This has been somewhat of a trend throughout Kennedy’s tenure, but croots seem to oblige his offer to come in, create their own shot and get buckets.

I expect Serrel to have an impact immediately because of his athleticism and pure shot from deep. Another trend throughout Kennedy’s time at Ole Miss has been his lethal guard shooting from three. Ole Miss loses Deandre Burnett and Markel Crawford so Smith will be counted on to come in and fill those voids in more ways than one. Which works out because Blackwell thinks that he will fit right in.

"I think the best aspect of the game is he just makes everybody better," Blackwell said. "The way he plays the game, he's always playing at a high level and he's very unselifsh. He sees the court very well."

Highlights