Nick Smith Jr. anticipated to miss rest of January
Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman said Thursday that the team "can anticipate" that freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. will be out for the remainder of the month of January with right knee management.
Smith last saw action on Dec. 17 against Bradley, before he exited the game in the second half and did not return for the rest of that matchup. The team officially announced prior to the Dec. 22 game against UNC Asheville that Smith would be out indefinitely, and his status remains that way.
An Arkansas spokesperson relayed to media members prior to Wednesday's game against Missouri that Smith would not be present for the game as he was seeing a specialist for his knee situation.
Musselman said Wednesday that there is still no update, and Smith is currently in Los Angeles to see a specialist.
"Yeah, there’s no update," Musselman said. "Has seen a specialist. Remains in LA. I would assume that that will be the case for the next, not to speculate, but I mean that’s probably going to be the case throughout the rest of the month. And then where it is at that point, probably reevaluate it. But certainly not the expectation that he’ll play in the next few games."
Smith has seen action in just five games this season, and he was fully available for just three of those. He averaged 23.4 minutes, 12.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 1.2 turnovers per game.
The first action Smith saw this season came on Nov. 28 against Troy, when he was 0 for 2 from the field in just five minutes of play. He had previously missed the first six games of the year due to right knee management.
Over the next three games, Smith averaged 19.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and three assists per contest. He scored a season-high 22 points and played 39 minutes in a win over UNC Greensboro on Dec. 6.
Smith came to Arkansas by way of North Little Rock High School in North Little Rock. He was a McDonald's All-American and the top rated point guard by Rivals in the 2022 class.
A recent 2023 NBA mock draft from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman had Smith projected as the No. 8 overall pick to the Toronto Raptors. Smith is commonly projected to be a lottery pick in this year's draft.