Justin Smith back in Indiana for potential collegiate finale
HawgBeat's coverage of Arkansas's journey in the 2021 NCAA tournament is present by Wright's Barbecue. Already serving up the best meats in Arkansas, you can now also find Wright's meat rub and sauces at Walmart.
For Razorback senior Justin Smith, the Hogs' trip to the Big Dance is a return to where his collegiate journey began. The former Rivals150 standout from Illinois chose Indiana over offers from Villanova, Stanford, Illinois and nine others and spent three seasons contributing major minutes for the Hoosiers.
Smith was looking forward to playing at Assembly Hall, Indiana's contribution to the NCAA's six first-round locations, but Arkansas will actually play 54 miles away in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, home of the NBA Pacers and WNBA Fever.
Arena aside, Smith was still beaming about the opportunity to play in Hoosier country once again.
“It means a lot," Smith said. "Spending my first three years of college in this state, you kind of get to know how big basketball is, especially college basketball. It’s a big deal and I’m excited to be back and to play here again. It’s familiar surroundings, so I’m excited and I just can’t wait to play."
As a freshman, Smith contributed 14.9 minutes per game, 6.5 points and 3.2 rebounds. Moving into a starter role as a sophomore, Smith averaged 24.7 minutes with 8.2 points and 4.5 boards. He saw even more time in his junior season and averaged 10.4 and 5.2. Despite all that, the Hoosiers didn't make the tournament during Smith's time on campus.
Joining the Hogs as a senior and knowing it would be his final stop, Smith said Arkansas's season met his expectations to a T. The Razorbacks will face Colgate as the 3-seed on Friday after going 21-5 in the regular season.
"I wanted to make sure that we were going to have a chance to win, to do a lot of big things, and we’ve had that so far," Smith said. "Obviously the conference tournament didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to but we’ve still got a big opportunity in the NCAA tournament. Winning was always a big, important factor for me and I’m glad that it came to fruition here at Arkansas.”
Arkansas struggled in the first stretch of SEC play as Smith had to get ankle surgery and missed several games. The setback motivated the senior to come back as fast as possible and he finished the regular season with the best numbers of his career.
Smith averaged 30.9 minutes, 13 points and 6.9 boards, finishing as the team's third leading scorer, leading rebounder and with the highest shooting percentage of Arkansas's main contributors.
Looking back at Smith's scouting report from high school, it's clear the forward has met expectations:
"At his best in transition, Smith attacks the rim and often plays above it when finishing in traffic. He's a strong baseline driver, rebounds the wing position very well and though jump shooting from beyond the three-point line isn't his strength, he has developed into a pretty reliable mid range jump shooter. Defensively, Smith has the lateral quickness required to defend Big Ten wings and he's also big enough that he can play the four in small ball type settings."
Musselman and Smith's teammates expressed their excitement for his opportunity to show out one last time in Indiana:
"He deserves it," Jalen Tate said. "Just being around him this one year, I know he’s put in timeless hours and tons of work to get to this point. So for him to have that finally pay off in his final year, I’m just happy to be part of it. Happy to see him happy that he’s finally here."
"He’s one of the key reasons why we got here," Desi Sills said. "I feel like he’s playing on an SEC level, he should have been on an SEC team, and what he’s doing for Arkansas is a hell of a job. I hope he keeps it up in the tournament."
"Just imagine how it felt these other years around this time," Moses Moody said. "Maybe being on the bubble and not making it in or just knowing you’re not going to be in. In comparison his senior just being able to play and compete for a championship. That’s got to be great. So yeah, I’m happy for him."
"He took a leap of faith to come here because he was so sought after by different teams across the country," Musselman said. "His mom, Lucy, is really happy. Edward, his dad, is real happy with the way the whole season has gone. We're happy for him. For him to be able to come back to the state of Indiana and play in the NCAA Tournament is a really neat story."
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