Razorbacks' Jordan Smith Projected Most Impactful Freshman in College Basketball

FAYETTEVILLE — One thing Arkansas coach John Calipari has never shied away from during his coaching career is putting the ball in the hands of freshmen and letting them figure things out on the fly.

That approach has worked out pretty well considering he's already in the Naismith Hall of Fame. After going away from his preference upon being hired at Arkansas, Calipari has shifted his focus back toward building a roster that's predominantly made up of true freshmen.

At least that's the way it appears his thought process is shifting after having a sensational year molding Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas into two of top freshmen in the country. Now, he's brought in another special group headlined by 5-star signees Jordan Smith Jr., JJ Andrews, Abdou Toure and Miikka Muurinen.

Three Arkansas freshmen rank among the nation's top 30 incoming players in projected Bayesian Performance Rating (BPR). Smith is tied with Kansas freshman Tyran Stokes for No. 1 nationally at +7.1, a metric designed to estimate a player's overall impact on team performance,according to Evan Miya's analytical data.

Wired to Score

Smith has never lacked confidence or competitiveness on the basketball court, and his production at the high school level backs that up. He is the reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year and helped lead his Paul IV Catholic School team to the Virginia High School state championship.

He averaged nearly 27 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals per game while shooting 56% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and 72% from the free throw line as a senior, which doesn't even begin to tell the whole story of successful prep career.

His goal isn't even to be the best individual player on the team, receive all the personal accolades, but to go out on the floor and win. Even if that takes being at his best, it's all about "us."

"If you want to win and you're going to be competitive, that's been the biggest thing," Smith said on Tuesday. "I've always had that since I've been playing basketball ...my competitive nature has always brought my teammates up.

"I know it's a different level and it's not the same as high school, but for us to win a national championship, for us to be the best that we can be just for us to have fun on the court together, you know, we all have to be competitive and I wouldn't say it starts by me, but part of it starts with me and just [being] the leader of the team, we've just go to be competitive and [winning] is going to come."

Learning to Lead

While Smith's ability to score, distribute the basketball and defend at a high level has made him one of the most highly regarded freshmen in America, he understands there's more to making an impact than putting up impressive numbers.

For Smith, becoming the player Arkansas needs him to be means learning how to lead a roster that includes teammates with considerably more college experience.

"My biggest focus, honestly, is just to be a better leader and a better teammate," Smith said. "In high school, I did a decent job at leading my teammates. I feel like I could have done a better job. But you know in college you know it's different with grown men.

"I always say that but I mean we're all grown men but... and just to be more vocal and lead by example have been my biggest focus. Obviously, I just wanted to develop my skills as a point guard, get people involved, and just make everybody better around me."

While Smith is the headliner, two of his freshmen teammates round out the top-30 list. For Andrews, a 6-foot-6, 235 pound guard, is physically imposing attacking driving lanes but can also make an impact at all three levels of the floor.

He has the ability to handle the ball in relief of Smith due to his ability to facilitate offense, and is a violent finisher in transition.

Toure might be the ultimate wildcard of the bunch as an athletic wing who can make things happen in an instant. He can make noise from the outside, has exceptional verticality and is known as a relentless defender.

Toure could be a more polished offensive version of Billy Richmond III, who arrived at Arkansas as a five-star recruit known primarily for his athleticism and defensive ability.

If Calipari can find a way to have all three of these freshmen playing at a high rate early in the regular season, this could make for an exciting basketball season for a fanbase that's hungry for a championship.

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