One of the top prospects at Stanford's Friday Night Lights camp last week hasn't played a down of high school football. Ohio defensive end/tight end Tyreke Smith, who is also a high-caliber basketball recruit (he has an Air Force offer for hoops), has picked up numerous offers this offseason despite his lack of gridiron experience. It was easy to see why as Smith rolled through drills at the Cardinal's camp.
Smith is a Southern California native (he moved to Ohio a few years back), and his sister still lives in the Golden State - actually 30 or so minutes from Stanford's campus. Those California ties - along with Smith's academic inclination - prompted his visit to The Farm.
"I wanted to get back to some West Coast schools," Smith said. "I always priortized education. That's a big part in my decision, and I know Stanford has a (top-tier) education with a good football program, so I just decided to go out there. And it's closer to where I grew up, too."
Smith had been in contact with Cardinal defensive assistant Toure Carter before the camp. He wasn't able to stick around on campus for all of the day's Junior Day events, but he did take a brief tour of the campus and meet with Stanford defensive line coach Diron Reynolds in addition to working out at both defensive line and tight end during the Friday Night Lights camp.
"I think (the visit) went great," Smith said. "Coach Reynolds taught me a lot of new techniques. I sat with him in his office and he showed me a video of many techniques and then out on the field he showed me how to do them. At tight end I learned a lot of new off-the-line techniques from the coach. It was good."
Smith thinks Stanford likes him most as a defensive end. He doesn't have a preference between tight end and defensive line.
The Cardinal expressed that they will continue to monitor Smith's progress moving forward.
"They really like me but they want to see how I do in school - they want to see my ACT scores or my SAT scores," Smith said. "But they really like me."
A Stanford scholarship offer would be taken under strong consideration.
"It would be in my top schools," Smith said. "It's a great educational school and it's a great football program. They have a great coaching staff, Coach Shaw and the others. It would definitely be in my top (programs) of interest."
As Smith continues to build his relationship with Stanford's he's eager to learn more about the specifics of the university's academic offers and majors. Smith knows Stanford has a strong engineering program, but given that he's still trying to determine what academic path he wants to take, he wants to learn more about the various educational offerings.
Next up for Smith are visits to Ohio State, Pitt, Penn State and maybe Alabama. Given his basketball abilities, he's still undecided about the exact athletic path he intends to take at the college level - the upcoming months of the recruiting process will help inform that choice.
