Illinois Transfer Lands Boston College Offer

Mark Smith, a rising sophomore who played at Illinois in 2017-18 before announcing he would transfer, has landed a Boston College offer, various sources are reporting.

The 55th ranked recruit in the 2017 class by Rivals, Smith is a 6'4" combo-guard who chose Illinois over such schools as Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State, and Boston College.

Playing 31 games for Illinois this season, Smith was in and out of the starting lineup for most of the year, but saw his role diminish over the final month of the season, coming off the bench in Illinois' last 10 games and averaging just 3.3 points per game.

Worse, Smith was beaten out of the starting lineup by fellow freshman Trent Frazier, who was averaging nearly 30 minutes a game in Big Ten play. With his role at Illinois unclear moving forward, Smith has decided that it is best to transfer to a school where he can have a more defined role.

Announcing that he would be transferring on March 5th, Smith said in an interview, "I wish all the players the best of luck, but I just don’t fit the system. Coach Underwood, he’s going to get people that fit his system."

Coming out of high school, Smith was heavily recruited by BC Assistant Coach Bill Wuczynski, so it's no wonder that BC has quickly handed out an offer to Smith after he announced he would be transferring.

At 6'4", Smith has excellent size for someone who can play point guard, however his overall efficiency during his freshman year was poor. Playing in nearly 600 minutes this year, Smith hit double-digits points in four of his first five games, but then shot 29% from the field over his last 26 games and scored in double-figures just twice.

Maybe Illinois was just a bad fit for Smith, but his numbers this season were not very impressive. However, he was a very highly ranked recruit coming out of high school, so it's certainly possible Smith can thrive in a different environment.

At this time, Smith is also receiving heavy interest from Creighton, who did an in-home visit with Smith March 21st.

From BC's perspective, going after a guy like Smith makes sense. He is a top-tier recruit who would bring a lot of promise to a program that lacks guard depth. Smith will have to sit out a year, but with three years of eligibility remaining, he could easily develop into a high quality backup/successor to Ky Bowman, a rising junior.

Unfortunately, BC does not have any open scholarships for the 2018-2019 season, so it's very interesting to see them hand out an offer to Smith when they don't actually have room for him. By going after Smith, the program seems to be suggesting that someone will be departing BC, although it's unclear whether that would be an outgoing transfer or Jerome Robinson departing for the NBA.

If Jerome does declare for the draft but does not hire an agent, BC will not know for sure if he is leaving until late May or early June, which makes things tricky when trying to bring in a top-tier transfer like Smith. With that in mind, it is likely the BC coaching staff believes someone will transfer out of the program, but that remains to be seen.

At this time, it is unclear when Smith will make a final decision for his next school.

We'll keep you covered on Smith's status.