Smith sets Stanford visit
Stanford basketball will host one of the Midwest's top wing prospects next month According to his father, Edward, four-star Illinois standout Justin Smith will take his official visit to The Farm on the weekend of Sept. 30.
"It's set in stone with September 30th, and we're looking forward to the trip," Edward Smith said. "We're looking forward to finding all there is to know about Stanford - the athletics, talking to the players, seeing the facilities, looking at the different curriculum within the institution, just everything. We're very, very excited about that."
"(We're also looking to learn more about) the business side for Stanford as well as just kind of looking at the process - looking at film and seeing how Justin would fit into the grand scheme of things. I know a new coach is coming in, we do understand that, but I don't think he's going to change everything. He'll put his own pulse on certain things.
"We just want to see what it's like at Stanford - the football team, having students on campus, all of those things. We want to take a look at how the players are relating to Coach Haase. All those are things we'll take a look at."
The Cardinal has been pursuing Smith for several months. He was among the earlier priority targets of Stanford's new coaching staff in the spring. Led by assistant Adam Cohen, the two sides have stayed in close contact in the months since.
"We've been talking regularly," Smith said. "Adam Cohen has constantly been in touch with us, pretty much every week. He keeps us informed about everything that has to do and is about Stanford, whether it's how many Olympians there are from Stanford, how it's going with Justin, how everything is going with family. He's staying in touch and he's doing an outstanding job of being their support and letting us know what's going on with Stanford. So we really appreciate that."
Smith recently cut his extensive list of college offers to seven finalists. Stanford made the cut along with with the likes of Villanova, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
"One of the biggest reasons is the academic standing that Stanford provides," Smith said. "It's a great education. Not all kids can get into that school. And also the basketball program, it's up and coming. Jerod Haase, we think he's a very, very good coach. We think he's a good man. His resume speaks for itself. He's had some outstanding mentors. He's been through the trenches as a coach. He's been a head coach. And that was the biggest thing for me and I think for Justin, is the relationship with Jerod Haase and his resume and how he treats his players. We could see it when we looked at his eyes across the table. We can see that he has a genuine feel and a fondness for his players. That's important."