Email
Print
Wake Forest star returns to Cabarrus roots
Contributed
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 24, 2009
CONCORD — What Ishmael Smith calls "a bumpy road" at Wake Forest University isn't finished yet.
The former Central Cabarrus basketball star still has his senior season to go, and he is optimistic it will be a good one.
Smith has been through injury, free-throw shooting woes and the death of Demon Deacons head coach Skip Prosser in his first three years in Winston-Salem.
But by the end of last season, Smith was playing his best ball, and he looks for more of the same during his final collegiate go-round.
"All of a sudden this light clicked in my head," Smith said Monday during a break while appearing at his former coach Scott Brewer's basketball camp at Concord High School.
"I started playing like I was back at Central Cabarrus. It was fun again. That's one thing people always know about me back here, that Ish has that smile, like it's easy to him. It isn't easy, obviously, but it's fun out there."
What was puzzling was Wake Forest's flame-out during first-round losses in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
"My dad DVRs most of my games," Smith said. "Yesterday was the first time I looked at the Cleveland State game. I was just so hurt after that game. It wasn't a close game at all."
"It was just such a blow because we knew we could make some noise in that tournament. We had a good team. We had the depth, we had the size, we had the speed. A lot of people were picking us to the Final Four."
The result was "it made me hungry," Smith said. "You want to get back. That's a lot of lessons learned in going back and looking at those
tapes.
"In the ACC Tournament, we came out flat. Maryland came out with this different kind of energy. They were hungry."
With James Johnson and Jeff Teague leaving early for the NBA draft, Wake Forest could find it difficult to match last season's second-place finish in the ACC.
Those departures put more of a burden on Smith, who came to Wake Forest hoping to follow the example of departing Deacons star Chris Paul.
"I have to step up and be more of a leader," he said. "If things don't go well, get on them. I can't be that nice guy all the time.
"I remember Coach Prosser talking to me in the locker room and saying, 'Ish, if you want to be a great point guard, you've got to make free throws and improve your jump shot and decision-making. Once you get those three things down, you will be an elite point guard. You will be one of the best point guards that ever stepped foot through Wake Forest and you will go on to play at the next level."
Which is what Ish Smith wants.
"That's my goal," he said. "There's some things to work on. One thing I've been doing since I was little is try to prove people wrong. 'Ish, you're not big enough.' OK, my heart is big. 'Ish, you're not strong enough.' My heart is big. And no matter what, you just fight and try to will your team to win."
He overcame the frustrating free-throw shooting slump that hit during his sophomore season. Now he has something else to work on.
"People say, 'Ishmael, you can run a team, you can distribute the ball, you have great ballhandling skills, but can you score?'
"So that's something that I have to prove next year, but not going out there trying to force anything. Just take what the defense gives you. If we're going to become a better shooting team, I've got to become a better shooting point guard."
In an effort to improve, Smith has been working with former Maryland player Keith Gatlin during the offseason.
"I love the game of basketball," Smith said. "I'm always trying to get better."
Only a fortunate few athletes get to compete in the ACC. Smith is one of them.
"Wake Forest has been a long journey," Smith said. "No one said my road was going to be easy and smooth, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Click a region for news specific to that area.
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
Advertisement
