mbrown@sunmulti.com
Whistles. Horns. Screams and shouts. Basketball players just don’t pay attention to those things in the heat of battle, when the game is on the line. That’s especially true when you are trying to win a region championship.
So, two years later, Jarius Smith still believes he did indeed beat the buzzer in a gym in Columbus. Yes, he knows Bainbridge High protested, saying he didn’t release his game-winning layup in time, but – two years later – the ruling still stands and Northside had its first of consecutive tournament titles on the hardwood.
Now Smith, a versatile player if there ever was one, will go from one successful program to another. On Wednesday, he joined his family, teammates and coaches from both Northside and Gordon College in his scholarship signing event with the two-year program based in Barnesville.
It was just six years ago that Gordon College revived its men’s basketball program. When Smith joins the team as a freshman for the 2013-14 season, Gordon will be looking for a third straight 20-win campaign and a return trip to the NJCAA national tournament. Gordon qualified for nationals in the 2011-12 season and finished the year ranked No. 15.
“Most of the time I can shoot the ball whenever I want to,” said Smith about his versatility. “Going to the basket is not hard at all.”
Among a collection of awards on Smith’s signing table are two from skills contests held during the 2013 Middle Georgia All-Star Classic in Macon. He took first place in both the slam dunk and the 3-point shootout. The best part about this dual accomplishment in Smith’s eyes is that it was someone else who signed him up for these events.
Also on display were trophies from Smith’s eighth-grade days at Thomson Middle School. He was the best offensive player for Thomson in football as well as the basketball Most Valuable Player. Upon arriving at Northside, the first award for Smith also came in football as co-offensive player of the year on the Eagle freshman team.
That was the last season for Smith on the gridiron. He said basketball was always his No. 1 love in sports and felt it was best to commit to developing his game in head coach Ken Price’s program.
“Jarius has been such a strong player the last four years,” said Price, who announced his retirement from Northside last week. “He came in as a ninth grader being ready to play. Not only did he get better physically, he’s matured as a young man. He was very serious and wanted to get ready for college.
“He was more of a quiet leader, but all the kids respect him, his work ethic. You couldn’t have had too much of a better senior year individually than Jarius had.”
Smith was not only Northside’s team Most Valuable Player, but he was co-Player of the Year for Region 2-AAAAA with 6-9 Jarquez Smith of Jones County. It was Jarius’ team getting the better of Jarquez’ Greyhounds in the 2-AAAAA championship game held at the Jones County gym.
“He’s the high-riser,” said Price. “The kids love (the dunks) and he loves it. He still has some upside. He’s going to get better and stronger. He can attack the basket and shoot the 3. His defense got so much better, so he’ll be able to do all the parts a coach needs.”
“Once I visited there and saw them play a couple of times … I knew I could fit in,” said Smith about his choice of Gordon College. “I’ll be able to play my game and make them better, and they’ll make me better, too.
“(College basketball) is going to be a lot harder, so I’m going to have to keep going to the gym.”
Smith isn’t selling himself short on goals, either, like earning a starting spot and playing at an All-Conference level. He also hopes that what he does at Gordon will catch the eyes of the Division I college scouts.
“I really want to end up getting picked by a good D-1 school,” said Smith, who wants to major in physical education. “It really doesn’t matter to me (where). Being a basketball player, you just want to play on TV. I want to be seen.”
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