Smith transferring to North Little Rock

Sylvan Hills junior Nick Smith, who is rated as one of the nation’s top players for the 2022 recruiting class, averaged 25 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game this season, despite facing double and triple teams throughout the season.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Justin Cunningham)
Sylvan Hills junior Nick Smith, who is rated as one of the nation’s top players for the 2022 recruiting class, averaged 25 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game this season, despite facing double and triple teams throughout the season. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Justin Cunningham)

Senior Nick Smith, the 2021 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Boys Player of the Year, is set to play his final year of high school basketball for a defending state champion.

Smith, who helped lead Sylvan Hills to the Class 5A state semifinals last season, will play at North Little Rock this season, his father confirmed to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday. The Charging Wildcats won the Class 6A state title in March after beating longtime rival Little Rock Central in the final.

The 6-4, 170-pound guard averaged 25 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists as a junior for Bears, which went 24-4 and won the 5A-Central Conference regular-season conference title. The 5-star prospect -- who has offers from several Power 5 programs such as Arkansas, Kansas and North Carolina -- is rated as the No. 37 overall player in the Class of 2022 by ESPN, and the No. 1 recruit in the state.

The move comes days after Smith's teammate at Sylvan Hills, Corey Washington, announced that he would be transferring to North Little Rock as well.

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