There was a time it looked like Kentucky Basketball could land Deivon Smith.
Now, the former Utah point guard is playing for Rick Pitino.
On Monday, Smith committed to St John’s, he announced on Instagram. So he’s officially off the board for Mark Pope and Co.
Smith began his collegiate career at Mississippi State in 2020-21, then transferred to Georgia Tech for two seasons and ended up at Utah last season. All of that transferring led to a credits issue that prevented him from being admittable to Kentucky, so the Wildcats turned their focus to Lamont Butler instead.
Last season, Smith averaged 13.3 points on 46.7% shooting (40.8% on 3s), 7.1 assists, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 29.5 minutes per game.
Smith would have been a tremendous get for Kentucky, who will now rely on Butler and Kerr Kriisa to handle the bulk of the point guard duties. Don’t be surprised to see Coach Pope target another point guard for some added depth at the position.
It will be interesting to see what this means for Kadary Richmond, another point guard Kentucky has been linked to and was thought to be leaning strongly toward St. John’s. Adam Zagoria does report that the Johnnies will want Richmond and will host him for a visit this week.
Coach Pitino may have a special group next season.