Although he has some impressive basketball bloodlines of his own to draw on, Terre Haute South’s Jay Smith is compared to a completely unrelated player by his coach.
“To me, he’s the closest thing to a Reggie Miller-type of shooter I’ve seen,” said Mike Saylor of his senior guard, who scored a career-high 30 points in helping his high school team to third place in the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic last week, earning all-tournament team honors in the process. “He can catch it and shoot it quickly.”
Being compared to Miller — or any other long-range shooter — might seem surprising to Wabash Valley basketball fans who remember Smith’s father from a two-year career at Indiana State. James Smith, a 6-foot-8 power forward, came to ISU as a rebounding and defensive specialist good enough to earn junior college All-America honors at Allegany (Md.), although he did — somewhat reluctantly, it appeared — lead ISU in scoring as a senior in the 1982-83 campaign.
Defense is not Jay’s forte yet, and he’s built more like the slender Miller than his father — although he rebounded fiercely at times during the Classic, even leading his team in that category in one game. So the conversations at home are somewhat predictable.
“[My father] is always talking about my defense and my rebounding,” Jay said this week. “He always says defense brings offense, and that [college] coaches are always looking at guards who can rebound.”
“A long-armed, athletic guard like he is can help us [on the boards],” Saylor agreed this week. “He’s got extraordinary ability as a shooter, and his best basketball is ahead of him as his body matures.
“As he works harder to get a college body, that would help him in a lot of areas of the game. He’s an excellent student, has a great attitude and comes from a good basketball background — and if he’d inherited his dad’s height, we would literally have a Reggie Miller.”
One thing father and son definitely have in common is their on-court demeanor, which ranges from deadly serious to full glower. Appearances can be deceiving, however; Jay Smith indicated this week he is far from an unhappy player — and that he understood the process last year when he saw limited varsity action with the Braves’ team that reached the Class 4A Final Four.
“We had a real good team last year,” he said, “so I can kind of understand taking a back seat. I knew this season would come, and I’d get plenty of time to help the team.”
And now, with the Braves having won four of five games since an 0-5 start, Jay is ready for both he and the Braves to take additional strides as they travel to Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference foe Warren Central tonight and to Bedford North Lawrence on Saturday.
“I feel like we weren’t together long enough to have chemistry at the beginning [of the season],” he said, “but now we’re starting to get it.
“We’re just now scraping our talent level. We’ll be a hard team to reckon with at tournament time.”
Jay Smith will likely be a shooter other coaches will have to prepare for at that time too.
“I’ve been shooting pretty good so far,” he said this week. “I’m just here to help the team.”
Even James Smith has been somewhat converted to a shooter’s mentality, his son added.
“He also tells me, ‘You shoot to get hot, and you shoot to stay hot,’ ” Jay said.
High School
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Prep Profile: South’s Jay Smith drawing on father’s experience
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THN SECTIONAL: Braves to play Mooresville for sectional title tonight
Terre Haute South continued to show what’s new and Terre Haute North unfortunately reverted back to what’s old in Class 4A high school girls basketball sectional action Friday night at North.
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OWEN VALLEY SECTIONAL: Eagles bring Vikes down to earth
Baby steps. A baby takes that first step and grins, then attempts the second step and tumbles. The West Vigo High School girls took their first step with a victory Tuesday night in the Class 3A basketball sectional at Owen Valley.
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North Vermillion Sectional: Panthers, Falcons to meet for NV title
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South swimmers don’t advance at Finals
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Davis hits layup in double overtime to lift Terre Haute North at Bloomington North
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Sullivan stays on top of WIC for third straight year
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South girls looking for solid performances at swimming state finals
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PREP ROUNDUP: Cesinger, Jones each score 24 in Clay City win
Blake Cesinger and Brylan Jones poured in 24 points apiece to lead visiting Clay City over North Central 67-53 in SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference boys high school basketball Thursday night.
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Teutopolis knocks off record-setting Marshall girls in regional championship
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Sullivan wins battle in low post
Sullivan dominated the low block at both ends of the court Wednesday to defeat South Knox 43-30.
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State wrestling berths won't come easily
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Vikings break long sectional drought
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PREP ROUNDUP: RP rolls past Attica
Riverton Parke jumped to a 20-point halftime lead and easily defeated Attica 59-34 in the Class A North Vermillion girls basketball sectional on Tuesday.
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They’re the pride of Marshall
With a 24-1 record, coach Kathy Miller’s Marshall team earned the top seed in the Class 2A Teutopolis Regional.
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Union season more fun with Talpas around
The Union boys basketball team has had its share of fun moments in the past, arguably the most fun being its Class A state runner-up in 2000.
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Injury bug follows girls into postseason
Who’s healthy is the question at least three of the four teams will be asking tonight when Class 4A girls high school basketball sectional play begins at Terre Haute North.
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Rockville needs late run to stop West Vigo
It was a game of fits and starts, but host Rockville finally overcame a stiff challenge from visiting West Vigo in a 53-46 victory in boys high basketball action on Saturday.
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Northview holds off Plainfield
Northview got its sixth victory in boys high school basketball action Saturday night, defeating Plainfield 59-56.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Cloverdale helps Rady to career win No. 714
Brandon Dorman and Joe Fidler combined for 37 points and six 3-pointers Saturday night as visiting Cloverdale defeated Turkey Run 63-45 in boys high school basketball.
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North seniors enjoy hot start
The appearance of balanced scoring in the Terre Haute North High School basketball lineup Saturday night was a little bit deceiving as the Patriots held on to defeat visiting Evansville Reitz 62-48 in North’s Senior Night contest.
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Ben Davis Giants top South Braves
Visiting Ben Davis nearly went to sleep on a sizeable lead against Terre Haute South in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school basketball Friday night.
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No. 3 Panthers too much for Patriots
After trailing by 15 at halftime, Terre Haute North’s boys basketball team got off to a nice start in the second half and cut its deficit to seven against Class 4A No. 3 Indianapolis North Central.
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Clay City gives Shakamak first SWIAC loss
Clay City shook up the top echelon of the SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference with a solid 52-41 victory Friday over visiting Shakamak in a boys high school basketball game at the Eel Dome.
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Regional wrestlers know importance of opening-round matches
Eight in each weight class. Four of those advance to the semistate. No byes.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Mahurin leads Rox to victory
Lane Mahurin tallied 10 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to help Rockville hold off Wabash River Conference foe Fountain Central 80-72 in boys high school basketball Friday night.
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Robinson rolls past Paris
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Sullivan girls focused only on team success
If you’re looking for a good omen for the postseason hopes of the Sullivan High School girls basketball team, you might want to consider how the Golden Arrows handled the ceremonies and hoopla surrounding Rhagen Smith’s 1,000th point recently.
There wasn’t any — no ceremony, no hoopla. In fact Smith, her family, her coaches and her teammates weren’t exactly sure when the 1,000th point happened (it was actually Jan. 12) — and that seems perfectly fine with everyone. - More High School Headlines
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