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Nick Smith Jr. is officially Arkansas’ highest-ranked signee of the recruiting rankings era.
The North Little Rock product moved up two spots and is No. 2 in the final Rivals150 rankings for the 2022 class, Rivals announced Tuesday.
Prior to his most recent bump, Smith had been tied with Al Jefferson — the No. 4 player in the Class of 2004 before going straight to the NBA — as the Razorbacks’ highest signee.
Moving into the No. 2 spot, behind only Duke signee Dariq Whitehead, comes after Smith went through the all-star circuit. The five-star point guard played in the McDonald’s All-American Game, USA Nike Hoop Summit and Jordan Brand Classic.
Although he didn’t have the best performance at the McDonald’s All-American Game, Smith did post 10 points and 3 assists against the world team at the Nike Hoop Summit and was then named the MVP of the Jordan Brand Classic after scoring 27 points, making 5 of 7 attempts beyond the arc and notching 4 assists.
A strong case could be made that Smith is not only Arkansas’ top rated signee of the recruiting rankings era, which dates back to 2003, but also its most heralded prospect in school history.
The primary competition for that title is probably Corliss Williamson, who was a two-time National Gatorade Player of the Year at Russellville before helping the Razorbacks win their lone national championship.
Williamson was widely considered to be one of the top two players in the Class of 1992, along with Jason Kidd. Some give Williamson the nod because of their head-to-head matchup in the King Cotton Classic championship their junior year — which Russellville won by one point when Williamson blocked Kidd’s potential game-winner at the buzzer.
It is unlikely Smith will have a similar career at Williamson because of the one-and-done nature of basketball in this era.
While Williamson was at Arkansas for three seasons, winning a national title in 1994 and finishing runner-up in 1995, before becoming the 13th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, Smith will probably spend just one year in Fayetteville before taking his talents to the next level.
He is already being talked about as a potential No. 1 overall pick, with ESPN previously tabbing him the top college prospect for the 2023 NBA Draft.
The rest of the Rivals150 is set to be announced Wednesday. The other five members of the Razorbacks’ 2022 class are expected to be included, with Jordan Walsh potentially retaining five-star status and Anthony Black potentially receiving a five-star bump.
