Player Bio

Dennis Cliff Smith Jr. was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1997. Smith's family lives and breathes basketball. His sister De'Aira played at Fayetteville State University. Smith's father, Dennis Smith Sr. coached his son's teams from the elementary level to the national AAU circuit. For high school, Smith spent four years at Trinity Christian School in in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and lead the team to a State Championship as a sophomore. As a junior, he averaged 22.2 points per game for Trinity Christian, taking the team to the 1A High School State Semifinal and capturing Gatorade State Player of the Year Honors. Smith, a lifelong Wolfpack fan, spent one year at North Carolina State University, where he started all 32 of the team's games, averaging 18.1 points per game, the highest by a freshman in NC State history. Smith is close friends with hip-hop artist J. Cole, who also grew up in Fayetteville. You can follow Dennis Smith Jr. on Twitter @Dennis1SmithJr and on Instagram @Desmith4. The one year (2016-17) that Dennis Smith spent at North Carolina State had plenty of highlights. The 6-foot-3 guard supplied a pair of triple-doubles and averaged 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. In the final game of the non-conference slate against Rider, Smith posted 19 points and 16 assists. He helped the Wolfpack beat Virginia Tech with his first triple-double: 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists along with five steals. His second such performance came in a loss against Syracuse: 13 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists. Smith followed that game with 31 points against Miami, which was one short of his season high set earlier in a win over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The freshman was only held to single-digit scoring in three games. Smith was named ACC Rookie of the Year and to the All-ACC Second Team. After the season, Smith committed to the 2017 draft, forgoing his final three seasons of eligibility.