Kentucky contacts Utah transfer guard Deivon Smith
Smith is coming off a strong season with the Utes.
New UK head coach Mark Pope has made contact with a former in-state rival of his as Pope and the Wildcats have contacted Utah transfer Deivon Smith.
Smith told 24/7 High School Hoops he has heard from Kentucky, Villanova, Florida, Creighton, St. John’s, Miami, Wake Forest, NC State, Kansas State, Washington, Louisville, and VCU since entering the transfer portal Friday.
The 6-foot guard from Decatur, Georgia, started his college career at Mississippi State where, as a true freshman during the 2020-21 season, he played in 33 games and made eight starts for the Bulldogs, averaging 5.2 points per game, 3.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
Ahead of his sophomore season, he transferred back to his home state of Georgia, landing at Georgia Tech. In his debut season with the Yellow Jackets, Smith played in 24 games and started five. He averaged 5.7 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals. During his junior season of 2022-23 with the Yellow Jackets, he played in 24 games and 13 starts in which he averaged 8.0 points per game, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting 39.9 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from three.
Following the firing of head coach Josh Pastner, Smith re-entered the transfer portal and landed at Utah
With the Utes this past season, he played in 28 games, starting 21 in which he averaged 13.3 points per game, 7.1 assists, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field, 40.8 percent from three, and 67.7 percent from the free throw line.
He scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a season-ending loss to Indiana State in the NIT, logged a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds while also dishing eight assists in a regular season win over Oregon and on the year logged a total of eight double-doubles and one triple-double which came in a win over Stanford in which he scored 16 points, dished 11 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds.
