The second shooting guard joining the Horns in the fall will be Harrison Smith. Smith is 6'3" 185 lb senior at Houston Jones High School. According to newly revised rankings at Rivals.com, Smith is the tenth best player in Texas and the 96th best in the country. He is considered a four star recruit and one of the top twenty five shooting guards in this class.
Smith committed to Texas in October of last year after visiting Austin. His hosts were PJ Tucker and former high school teammate Daniel Gibson. Smith was a sophomore at Jones High School when Gibson led the team to the 2004 4A Texas state title. Before committing to the Horns, Smith was weighing scholarship offers from Connecticut, Boston College, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma. Smith became the third Longhorn commitment in this class of six.
Harrison wanted to stay close to home and was seriously pondering the offer from A&M. His former AAU teammate is Martellus Bennett, Aggie tight end and backup forward. The Aggies were the first school to offer Smith a scholarship. He was scheduled to visit College Station just days after his visit to Austin. The trip was obviously cancelled after Harrison chose the Longhorns.
According to Rivals.com, Smith is a physically strong and athletic guard and a true scorer. He possesses a strong ability to get to the basket and finish with high percentage shots. Harrison is an above average rebounder at the guard position who can also play solid defense. His ball handling and passing will need to improve at the college level.
Both Smith and Justin Mason have the size and athleticism to contribute as freshman at Texas. The Horns will be loaded at shooting guard next season with these two joining Daniel Gibson.
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