As he spent his summers playing night and day on the courts in
his hometown of Chino Hills, UCLA freshman Jeron Smith always felt
he could be a Division I college basketball player.
But as a 5-foot-3 junior at Diamond Bar High School, his chances
of developing into a top college prospect were slim to none.
That was until he grew 12 inches over the last two years of his
high school career. Now, after a year of pickup games at the Wooden
Center, Smith has earned a spot on the University of Pennsylvania
basketball team next season.
“Jeron was a very late bloomer,” Jeron’s
father, Randy Smith, said. “He was always a very good player,
but he did not develop physically until his senior year, and by
that time, it was too late in the process for him to be heavily
recruited.”
For Smith, that meant he would have to pass on playing for
high-profile basketball schools such as UCLA, but it did not
prevent him from training as a freshman and trying to reach his
goal as a transfer.
Overwhelmed by the desire to continue his basketball career,
Smith lifted weights, took numerous jumpers per day, and ran up and
down the steps of Drake Stadium two to three times a week.
He decided to contact the UPenn coaching staff and see if they
still had interest in him from high school.
To his surprise, the UPenn coaching staff had followed his
training and offered him a recruiting visit to the campus during
December 2003.
“I always knew that I could play at the college
level,” Smith said. “I just needed the opportunity and
Penn gave it to me.”
His hard work earned him a recruiting visit to UPenn in December
2003, when he attended a home game against St Joseph’s, the
No. 1 team in the country at the time.
“I really enjoyed my trip to the campus,” Smith
said. “It was very cold but I met the team and they seem to
be a very cool bunch of guys.”
Before his recruiting trip, Smith tried out for the UCLA
basketball team at the beginning of the season, but was told by
coach Ben Howland that the team was not accepting any walk-ons.
“I had always dreamed of playing for UCLA,” Smith
said. “But there were certain things that were not in my
control, and I just had to move on.”
Out of high school, Smith was given offers by smaller level
programs such as Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the
Naval Academy, but Smith instead opted to attend a respected
academic school such as UCLA and try to walk-on.
“Academics is a very important part of my family,”
Smith said. “And I did not want to sacrifice going to (a)
lower level school to play basketball.”
That was why Smith was very intrigued by the opportunity to play
at UPenn.
“It is the best of both worlds,” Smith said.
“It has a great basketball program, and it’s an Ivy
League school. What more can I say?”
UPenn has reached the NCAA Tournament two out of the last three
years, and is generally regarded as one of the best teams in the
Ivy League conference, along with Princeton.
Currently, the only thing that could hold Smith back are his
grades. Smith needs to send in his mid-year grade report, and if he
qualifies, he will be able to commit to UPenn.
Smith’s basketball career first started at the Inland
Empire Basketball Program, where he played in high school, under
coach Keith Howard.
“I owe much of my success to (Howard),” Smith said.
“Playing on a traveling team, he allowed me to play in front
a lot of college coaches, and I gained a lot of exposure through
him.”
During his senior year, Smith finished his career at Diamond Bar
High School and played for the Rockfish Orcas, one of the most
respected Amateur Athletic Union teams in southern California.
During his time with the Orcas, Smith played against some of the
best competition in the country including LeBron James and UCLA
incoming freshmen Arron Affallo and Jordan Farmar.
“Playing against the best competition, I felt that I held
up my own,” Smith said. “And that’s why I really
believed like I could play at a school like UCLA.”
Despite failing to make the UCLA team, Smith has stuck to a
strong workout regimen in order to prepare for playing at a
Division I program next year.
“I feel that people are going to be very surprised next
year,” Randy Smith said. “Jeron has been training very
hard this year, and he still may not be done growing. He’s
only 18 years old.”
Smith has been mentored by current UCLA basketball player Janou
Rubin, a former walk-on who played a significant role on the UCLA
basketball team this season.
“Janou has been a really big help for me this year,”
Smith said. “He has helped me with the fundamentals of my
game and just been giving me advice on what to expect when playing
college-level basketball.”
Smith’s situation next year at UPenn is looking very
promising, as last year’s starting point guard graduated and
the backup point guard currently has a torn ACL.
“With their current situation at the point guard position,
I will have a good chance to start,” Smith said. “But I
feel that I can play either guard position, having played both in
high school.”