Player Profile: Wildcat Ray Smith ready to play some basketball
It has been a long two years, for Ray Smith, and as he gears up for his sophomore year with Arizona, Zona Zealots brings you the Player Profile, where you get to meet this Wildcat.
Injuries are a fickle thing and for Ray Smith, they’ve become all too common for him. As you may recall, the long, athletic sophomore tore his ACL once again last year. This time, he inured on the opposite knee, before the start of the 2015-16 season as a true freshman.
This injury, of course, came on the heels after recovering from tearing his ACL the year prior as a high school senior year. Two years and two severe knee injuries for Smith.
Unfortunately, that’s how things pan out sometimes, but for Smith, he has certainly learned a lot about himself in the process. He also looked forward to finally playing for head coach Miller and Wildcats fans.
Smith often tends to be the forgotten Arizona basketball player. That is certainly no disrespect to him as a player, but he is a guy that hasn’t played a meaningful game in nearly two years.
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Not many seem to remember he was actually Arizona’s highest rated player coming out of the 2015 recruiting class (according to Scout.com). A pretty dang good one at that!
The five-star out of Las Vegas, NV picked the Wildcats over a bevy of offers from Cal, UCLA, Connecticut, Louisville, Oregon, as well as others.
Recovering again from this injury, Smith intends to have a big impact for the Wildcats, and he will likely have a prominent role for Arizona this season assuming he is healthy.
He already is quickly becoming a polarizing face for the Wildcats, and with his great attitude, it definitely is no surprise to see him becoming another likable Wildcat in Tucson.
Apart from the busy off-season recovery and workout, Smith has already gotten himself into some off-court competition.
Just days ago, Smith partnered with the Athletic Department in facing off against Arizona Baseball’s very own fan entertainer and pitcher, Robby Medel.
https://twitter.com/AZATHLETICS/status/776143176222412800
Related Story: Baseball's Robbie Medel meets Basketball's Ray Smith in McKale for a lip sync contest
Silliness aside, Smith is still very focused on the task at hand, and that is getting back to basketball. The toughest thing for him last season was not being able to compete, “Mentally I just loved the game so much that I wanted to play 24/7– and at the time I just wasn’t able to and wasn’t allowed to.”
The work he has been putting in with Associate Director of Player Enhancement, Chris Rounds, is ultimately going to get him ready for a potentially big season.
For Smith, he’s just getting ready to play some ball, “I am really excited,” said Smith, “I am getting ready to tack on that Sean Miller mentality of stopping every possession, it should be a good year!”
Catch his latest video of Smith to get the full interview. Smith highlights his thoughts on his recovery last year, his growing bond with his teammates, and what he’s doing to get ready for the upcoming season.
Next: Parker Jackson-Cartwright Discusses Expectations going into 2016 Season
At Zona Zealots, we’re certainly excited to see the debut of Smith and are happy to see him recover from two, brutal knee injuries. We are also glad Basketball is nearly upon us. BearDown, Ray! Can’t wait to cheer you on in the Red and Blue game!