By JACK LeGWIN
Dennis Smith Jr. has announced that he will be graduating high school early, and will enroll at N.C. State in January.
“It’s mainly for rehab purposes,” Smith Jr. said on ESPNU Thursday. “I can rehab everyday there, and thankfully my grades are good enough for me to do it early.”
Smith Jr., who committed to the Wolfpack in September, went on to say that rehab on his ACL following surgery Aug. 7 has been going even better than the original plan.
“It’s going great,” Smith Jr. said. “I’m ahead of schedule. I have a great therapist and I have a great surgeon up at Duke, so rehab is going great right now.”
Smith, a native of Fayetteville, N.C., is the highest-ranked recruit NC State has signed since the Recruiting Services Consensus Index began ranking prospects in 1998. He is the No. 4 recruit overall and the No. 1 point guard according to ESPN.com. He’s tabbed No. 6 overall in the composite ranking of 247Sports and he’s ranked eighth by Scout.
“We are extremely thrilled to have Dennis join our Wolfpack family,” head coach Mark Gottfried said. “He’s a special talent who will be an electric player for our fans to watch. I’m excited to coach Dennis because not only is he extremely talented, but he’s also a terrific young man with tremendous character. He’s the type of person other players will want to play with.”
N.C. State is hoping to add 6-foot-10 power forward Bam Adebayo to its 2016 class along with Smith Jr. The two are close friends and Adebayo could announce his college choice as early as Monday. Kentucky and Auburn are among those also involved.
