Denver entered the rare air of college basketball recruiting when they landed a prized, three-star (247 Sports ) recruit out of Illinois, Tevin Smith.  According to Verbal Commits who assigned Smith a 2-star ranking on their board, Smith received offers from Miami (Ohio), Milwaukee, DePaul, Oregon and Bradley. Initially, Smith committed to Cal-State Fullerton.

According to The News Gazette , his commitment was, “tethered to Titans assistant coach and Bloomington native Brandon Dunson. So when Dunson last April was announced as the University of Denver program’s new associate head coach, Smith had a decision to make. Smith officially decommitted from Fullerton on May 27. He then picked up an offer from Denver coach Jeff Wulbrun’s staff one day later.”

Denver has recruited some high-level prospects in the past such as local Denver prep player Drick Bernstein, Jase Townsend out of Dallas and current roster member JaVonni Bickham who was a highly sought prep player before two major knee surgeries. However, according to DU athletics, this three-star recruit is the most significant freshman signing Denver has ever landed.

The 6’5″ shooting guard from Danville, Illinois can score from anywhere on the floor and his size will allow him to make plays on both ends of the floor in the Summit League. In high school, he averaged 20.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game as ranked #2 small forward and #8 overall player in the state of Illinois.

Up until this point, Jeff Wulbrun had added some nice experienced players to the roster and a developmental player in freshman Coban Porter. The addition of Smith adds a four-year starter and a much-needed scoring punch since Denver lost their top four scorers from last season. This move takes Denver closer to realizing Wulbrun’s vision of creating the most improved team in the nation following last season’s 2-19 finish.

Photo: News-Gazette