The accolades were there for Jabari Smith before he had even stepped foot on Auburn's campus as a student-athlete. He was Auburn's highest-rated signee, he was a McDonald's All-American, he was in the Jordan Brand Classic. The list goes on.
Now that he's officially arrived on campus, his drive to succeed and work ethic hasn't changed.
A "killer mentality," as his teammates describe it, Smith is in the gym pretty much every day at 6 a.m. getting in extra work.
"Jabari is a different breed," Auburn center Stretch Akingbola said. "Like I said, we all put in work, but Jabari’s just — he’s a 5-star and he’s showed that in practice. He can shoot, he can dribble the ball, his post-up game is really there — the dude is next level."
The play of Smith is shown on and off the court. On the court, he's a 6'10" killer with one of the smoothest shooting strokes on the team. Off the court, he's a leader. Despite being just a freshman, Auburn forward Jaylin Williams says Smith has quickly stepped into a leadership role.
"He can talk," Smith said. "He’s actually kind of like, being a freshman, he’s one of our leaders. He talks to us, he picks everyone up ."
Akingbola felt the same way about Smith.
"We’re there for him and he’s there for us," Akingbola said.
In Bruce Pearl's system, Smith will be playing the power forward spot. But Pearl says it's really more of a "big guard" spot with four players outside the arc and one inside the paint.
Williams sees Smith's abilities causing a lot of problems for other teams this year.
"You better put a hand up. You better close out to him or he’s going — you might as well get back on D, he’s going to knock it down, And then if you close out on him, you better retreat because he’s going to drive by you," Williams said. "He’s going to playmake. He’s going to crash the offensive board almost every time, you better box him out. He’s just skilled everywhere around the court."
Smith and Auburn basketball started official practices on Tuesday ahead of the Nov. 9 season opener.
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