Columbia Basketball Point Guard Transfer Mike Smith Commits To Michigan
Michigan has added some depth to its backcourt for next season. Columbia grad transfer Mike Smith, a 20-plus point per game scorer last year, has chosen the Wolverines over Arizona, Seton Hall and Gonzaga.
Seton Hall recently picked up a pledge from another Ivy Leaguer head coach Juwan Howard was looking at, point guard Bryce Aiken.
Smith is a former teammate of U-M walk-on Jaron Faulds of Holt, Mich., and averaged 22.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game last year for a bad Columbia team (6-24 overall, 1-13 Ivy League).
The 5-11 Smith shot 43 percent from the floor and 34 percent from long range, and should help provide some minutes at point guard.
Smith tore his meniscus in 2018-2019, allowing him to graduate with one year of eligibility remaining.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
"The Ivy League’s archaic rules virtually forced his hand. Unlike other Division I conferences, the Ivy League doesn’t grant medical redshirts, nor does it permit graduate students to play athletics. So with an Ivy League degree in tow following the 2019-2020 season –– and immediate eligibility the following season –– Smith knew he was going to leave as a graduate transfer. Thus, Smith felt no need to wait.
“I was criticized and a lot of people didn’t think I should do it,” says Smith of his decision. “People thought I would be less focused and looking ahead to what was in front of me rather than my team. But I was never going to give up on a season. I put the team first, and I hoped and thought the character I had in doing that would show and coaches would see that.”
Smith played his high school ball at Chicago Fenwick. Fenwick head coach Rick Malnati said he chose to stick with his pledge to Columbia despite interest from Vanderbilt, Minnesota, South Carolina and others.
“Mike is a bright kid who had a 40-year vision and not a four-year one,” says Malnati. “A lot of guys are shortsighted, care a whole lot more about what level and who they are playing for. He showed maturity with his vision. He chose Columbia and stayed when he could have gone somewhere else. He now has an Ivy League degree from an unbelievable school with an unbelievable alumni base.”
Smith told the Sun-Times his friend, NBA standout Jimmy Butler, always spoke of the “Miami Heat way” in their conversations and how the team and organization is run, along with the consistent success of the franchise.
“He always would go on and on about the Heat culture,” Smith said. “So when Michigan and Juwan Howard started talking with me, I couldn’t help but think of how he was part of that organization for so many years.
"My goal is to bring a championship to Ann Arbor. I think with the returning players and the players coming in, along with the culture coach Howard is building, that’s possible.”
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