ScoutTV: 2010 Big Man Josh Smith

Tom Crean is trying to lock in on some of the best up-and-coming players from the 2010 and 2011 classes, and they don't come much better than 6-9, 280-pound Josh Smith. Now you can see what everyone is raving about with Scout.com's third-ranked player in these two video clips...

Bloomington – Tom Crean has spent plenty of time trying to piece together a competitive team for next season, and he’s also locked up four commits from the 2009 class. But don’t think he’s done that at the expense of some of the younger kids.

In fact, Crean recently pointed out the importance of his staff getting up to speed on who some of the top rising juniors and sophomores are as they try to lay the groundwork for some big classes in 2010 and 2011.

“We’ve really tried to dive hard into the rising juniors, the rising sophomores and even paying attention to who the freshmen are going to be,” Crean said.

That starts in-state with players like Marques Teague and Jeremiah Davis from the 2011 class and Donnie Hale, Terone Johnson and Justin Martin from the 2010 grouping. But it’s also about trying to identify who the elite recruits are from all corners of the country. One the players IU appears to have singled out is Kentwood (Wash.) H.S. big man Josh Smith.

The 6-9, 280-pound center is the third-ranked player in the 2010 class according to Scout, and a player who is drawing interest from just about every prominent program in the nation. But Indiana has established itself as a team to be reckoned with thanks to its recent recruiting push.

“I didn’t know they had interest in me, and then I got a letter from them,” Smith told HoosierNation.com. “I thought they were just going to show me a little interest, but then I started getting letters about once every two days. So it’s started to pick up.”

So what kind of player is Smith? He averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds as a sophomore and he’s been one of the most dominating big men on the AAU circuit this spring and summer.

You can see his skills for yourself in these two video clips...

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