Arkansas basketball commit Nick Smith Jr. is ready to play for the Razorbacks next year. The question is where he is going to play this year.
Smith, the North Little Rock High School guard, a 5-star player who committed to coach Eric Musselman’s Hogs earlier this month, has been ruled ineligible to play for NLRHS this season. The reason? It’s complicated.
But the gist comes down to Smith and his family having moved from the Pulaski County Special School district over the summer to the North Little Rock school district. Allegations of “recruiting” followed and after the state’s high school sports governing body, the Arkansas Activities Association, investigated the case.
That’s where things get tricky and drawn into a battle of he-said, she-said, as it were.
Smith and his family have said their movement into North Little Rock was a family decision only and unrelated to basketball.
I sat down with 5-star recruit Nick Smith Jr. and his parents this evening – they made it clear their decision to move to NLR was personal and had nothing to do with playing basketball.
On Wednesday night at 10 on @KATVNews you will hear their side of the story… #arnews pic.twitter.com/obHhHHCTsF— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) October 26, 2021
North Little Rock School District stated that AAA said it violated two rules and Smith was ruled ineligible to play and the boys’ basketball program was given a one year warning.
Don’t expect this to be forgotten about, or even cleared up, any time soon.
