BENTONVILLE — Nick Smith made an oral commitment to Belmont University in June, and he never wavered from that decision.

The Bentonville basketball standout stayed true to his word Wednesday afternoon when he signed a letter of intent with the Nashville, Tenn., school.

“I just felt like it was the right place,” said Smith, who made his oral commitment shortly after visiting Belmont during an elite camp. “The campus is nice, and they also stress academics. That was a big part of it as well.”

Belmont, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, has placed 10 players as academic All-Americans since 2001, the most in the nation. The school has also had a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher for 13 consecutive seasons.

The Bruins have been just as successful on the basketball court. They have won the Atlantic Sun title five times and earned as many automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament since 2006, a feat only matched by Kansas and Memphis in that time.

“The fact that they go to the NCAA Tournament almost every year was a big draw for me,” Smith said. “Because that’s my dream — to play in it some day.”

Smith, a 6-foot-8 forward, became only the second Bentonville boys basketball player to sign a letter with an NCAA Division I school. He was also the first Tiger to earn all-state honors for a second consecutive season and the first to be named the 7A-West Conference Player of the Year.

He was also named the NWA Media Player of the Year after he averaged 20.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last season.

“We couldn’t be more excited,” Bentonville boys basketball coach Jason McMahan said. “Nick is a perfect representative of our basketball program for everything — his grades, his work ethic, his character, his skills.

“He’s our shining star, so it’s great to be able to push him up front and say this is what we want Bentonville basketball to be like.”

Smith will begin his senior season on Nov. 27 when Bentonville takes on Shiloh Christian at the Citizens Bank Classic in Van Buren.