Smith finds fit at Iowa
This past weekend, when Garland, Texas native Jerminic Smith gave his verbal commitment to the Iowa Hawkeyes, it was the end of a long recruiting road that didn't have a whole lot of twists or turns, just familiarity. In speaking with Jerminic this afternoon, we learned that when Iowa coach Bobby Kennedy first saw him play, he was actually on a recruiting trip to see another Iowa commit, Emmanuel Ogwo from Mesquite, TX. Since the two cities are next to each other, that wasn't a surprise. It isn't the first time that an Iowa coach has gone to watch one recruit, only to find another. Coach Kennedy obviously liked what he saw that evening and immediately went after the talented wide receiver and stayed after him until he finally got the thing he wanted most, which was the verbal commitment that Jerminic would become a Hawkeye.
It wasn't an easy task. Jerminic was pursued by a couple of Texas schools, three of them basically in his back yard. TCU offered, as did North Texas State and SMU. Texas Tech threw their hat in the ring, as did Minnesota and Iowa State. It was, however, the relationship that Jerminic built with Coach Kennedy that won him over.
"Coach Kennedy is a really great guy. He is in constant contact with me. We have probably spoken to each other every two weeks or so since he started recruiting me. I really liked that."
It obviously made an impression. When asked what he experienced this past weekend that made him pull the trigger and commit, Jerminic said, "The atmosphere at Iowa was awesome."
He also had plenty of good things to say about the game day experience, his two days in Iowa City and above all else, and something fans are well aware of, the stability of the Iowa coaching staff came into his decision making process.
I asked Jerminic if that had been his first trip to the Hawkeye State, and he told me no. His brother, Darnell Smith, actually played at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls. He then went on to play for Coach Dan McCarney at North Texas. Darnell led the Mean Green in receptions his senior season on a team that went 9-4 with a Heart of Dallas bowl win over UNLV. When I asked Jerminic if he knew that Coach McCarney had Iowa ties, he said that he knew he had coached at Iowa State and thought he may have coached at Iowa as well.
Smith's high school coach, Mark Cox, is a very typical Texas High School football administrator who has pretty much seen and done it all, including coaching at the college level. When asked about the type of player Jerminic was and what the Iowa staff could expect, his response was "A young man with a good, strong work ethic, who shows up each week prepared. He is a student of the game, runs good routes, has a really good set of hands and really just puts in the extra time with film study. He is in every Saturday to see what he did the week before, looks for things he can improve on and then looks ahead to our upcoming opponent to see if there are any weaknesses that he can exploit."
Coach Cox went on to say that Jerminic was a typical teen who has not been a problem and has matured rapidly the last couple years. He is a three-sport athlete who occupies his time the right way.
South Garland has had a difficult season at 1-8. There will be no playoffs for them this year. I asked Coach Cox if he could recap the season for me. He said that they were very young and inexperienced on the defensive side of the ball and had trouble stopping people. On the offensive side, they thought they would be throwing more this year as they had some very highly skilled players at quarterback, tailback and receiver. Unfortunately, they were behind often, and really threw more than they wanted. The passing game certainly helped open up the running game and when the running game was clicking, the passing game was made easier as well. He told me that he knew Jerminic would be instrumental in the offensive game plan even as early as last year.
I asked Coach Cox if he had spoken to Jerminic about his commitment and whether or not it really was firm. He told me that he had talked to him and he felt that there was a very short list of teams that could come into play that might sway his decision.
When I asked Jerminic to describe himself, he responded with, "humble and hard working."
I asked what was next for him with basketball around the corner and he told me that there really was no break, he would move right from one sport to the other. He plays point guard for the South Garland Colonels. Also, in the spring, he will once again be out running the 200 meter dash during track season.
The last thing we discussed was his level of commitment. Jerminic told me that he was firmly committed to Iowa. I asked him about the "keep things open" comment. He didn't hesitate to tell me that there was one team that was his favorite and if they came through with an offer, he would accept it. That school is Oklahoma. Again, one of those familiar programs to Iowa fans, with an Iowa history.
Jerminic currently measures in at 6'1", 180lbs. He was hand timed in the 40 at 4.4 seconds.