Mr. Basketball Candidate: Javonte Smart
Player: Javonte Smart 6’4 PG Scottlandville Last season: 34-3, 5A State runner-up, Class 5A POY, Gatorade Louisiana POY 22.7 PPG, 5.5 APG, 5.8 RPG The returning Louisiana Player of the Year continues to race past expectations set for him by…
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Continue ReadingPlayer: Javonte Smart 6’4 PG Scottlandville
Last season: 34-3, 5A State runner-up, Class 5A POY, Gatorade Louisiana POY
22.7 PPG, 5.5 APG, 5.8 RPG
The returning Louisiana Player of the Year continues to race past expectations set for him by others. After going into last season as a class 5A 1st-team player of the year, there were many people who thought that no matter how good he was, there was no way that Javonte would make a big enough leap to be a serious contender for player of the year as only a Sophomore. I was one of those people. I could not have been more wrong. And Javonte wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. With even the limited amount of interactions that I have had with him, he carries himself different than other college players, let alone other 16 year olds. It is easy to tell that he used all of the people who said that he couldn’t do it, as motivators.
There were people saying that all he could do was score. The first game of the year, Javonte had 17 assists in a win against Mandeville. There were people saying that all he could do was get to the basket. The next game, he went 7/13 from 3 and finished with 29 points. Those weren’t even in his top 5 games of the year last year. There was a four game stretch for Javonte in which he averaged 41.5 points per game, including a game with the most ridiculous stat line in a high school game I have ever seen in which he dropped 50 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out 6 assists and swatted 5 blocks. Over that stretch, the least amount of points Javonte had was 32. The other team had 27.
Now you see why Javonte was the only Sophomore to win the Player of the Year, in Louisiana history. He once again spent the summer playing with Team USA in the World Championships, bring home gold as the team’s starting point guard. Do not be surprised if you see an even more motivated Javonte this season. After coming up short in the state championship, and a summer on the grassroots circuit that was not as fulfilling as many thought, many national recruiting services dropped him from a consensus top 3 player of his class, down out of top 10. ESPN has him as low as 13. And don’t for a second think that Javonte doesn’t know this.
If you want to win Mr. Basketball in Louisiana this year, there is a ravenous pitbull guarding the trophy, and he goes by Javonte Smart. Every single game, he is going to be the center of the other team’s scouting report. But many saw last year, and even more will see it this year. When you come for the king, you best not miss.