Justin Smith commits to Indiana over Villanova

Justin Smith, via his Twitter account, announced tonight his decision to play for Tom Crean and Indiana.

What do you need to know about Indiana’s newest addition? Let’s get up to speed.

The facts

Smith is the 76th ranked player in the class of 2017. His decision comes just days after many outlets had reported that Smith had narrowed his choices down to Indiana and Villanova, where his relationship with high school teammate Jalen Brunson (Villanova’s starting PG) was seen as a big factor in his recruitment.

He visited both schools on back-to-back weekends in early September, and apparently received all of the information that he needed. Smith joins Al Durham to become the 2nd member of Indiana’s 2017 recruiting class, which is sure to grow larger in the near future.

His game

Renowned for his all-around game, the Lincolnshire (IL) product really does do a bit of everything. If you had to pick, his transition game and ability to be an effective slasher on the offensive end are definitely strengths, but he also can knock down open jumpers with decent range and is an excellent finisher at the rim.

He is far from a finished product though, and will definitely need to get bigger if he wants to be play a similar style of basketball in the Big Ten, but I have a good feeling that Lyonel Anderson will take care of that.

All in all, he’s very much a typical Tom Crean recruit in the fact that he’s a versatile, athletic wing loaded with offensive skills without any major glaring weaknesses. While he might not start from day one, expect Smith to contribute right away before growing into a larger role.

Yeah yeah yeah, I get it. Just show me some highlights

Ok.