Smith reaches 1,000 point mark
12/14/2009
By Travis Dedina
Staff Writer
On December 2, Jake Smith (Junior, Rhinelander, WI) became the second Yellowjacket basketball player to surpass the 1,000 career points this season after Dwight Hill (Senior, Chicago, IL) reached the plateau earlier this season.
“Every game I say a prayer during the national anthem. I’m thankful for the opportunities and skills I’ve been given,” said Smith.
This is not the first time that Smith reached the plateau. He also achieved the same mark at Rhinelander High School where he was heavily recruited by many other WIAC schools including UW-Stevens Point. Smith instead committed to play at UW-Superior for former head coach Dave Buchanan.
“Scoring the thousand in high school and at the collegiate level feels about the same,” said Smith. “It is different because you are achieving the same thing at a higher level, but I’ve never really been about individual accomplishments. It’s more about the wins.”
Smith is the leading scorer, averaging 24 points a game for the ‘Jackets as he has helped guide them to a 4-2 record and an upset win over Division II University of Minnesota-Duluth where he scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
“The team’s offensive philosophy is a big reason why I have been doing so well. We always try to get the ball into the post. Once we do that, it opens up the rest of the floor and gets the other guys open shots,” said Smith. “Everybody on the team is really close, we have great chemistry and we like to consider ourselves a basketball family and I truly believe in that.”
With reaching the 1,000 point mark and still having 19 games left in his junior year and his senior year still ahead of him, Smith has the opportunity to possibly surpass Jim Sevals as the school’s all time leading scorer. Sevals played for the ‘Jackets from 1963-67 and scored 1,794 points in his career.
“That’s something I’d definitely like to accomplish,” Smith said. “At the same time, I have to remember that every game it gets harder. There will be a lot of games where I may get double and triple teamed.”
“Every game I say a prayer during the national anthem. I’m thankful for the opportunities and skills I’ve been given,” said Smith.
This is not the first time that Smith reached the plateau. He also achieved the same mark at Rhinelander High School where he was heavily recruited by many other WIAC schools including UW-Stevens Point. Smith instead committed to play at UW-Superior for former head coach Dave Buchanan.
“Scoring the thousand in high school and at the collegiate level feels about the same,” said Smith. “It is different because you are achieving the same thing at a higher level, but I’ve never really been about individual accomplishments. It’s more about the wins.”
Smith is the leading scorer, averaging 24 points a game for the ‘Jackets as he has helped guide them to a 4-2 record and an upset win over Division II University of Minnesota-Duluth where he scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
“The team’s offensive philosophy is a big reason why I have been doing so well. We always try to get the ball into the post. Once we do that, it opens up the rest of the floor and gets the other guys open shots,” said Smith. “Everybody on the team is really close, we have great chemistry and we like to consider ourselves a basketball family and I truly believe in that.”
With reaching the 1,000 point mark and still having 19 games left in his junior year and his senior year still ahead of him, Smith has the opportunity to possibly surpass Jim Sevals as the school’s all time leading scorer. Sevals played for the ‘Jackets from 1963-67 and scored 1,794 points in his career.
“That’s something I’d definitely like to accomplish,” Smith said. “At the same time, I have to remember that every game it gets harder. There will be a lot of games where I may get double and triple teamed.”
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