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D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera: IU atmosphere ‘great’

by Alex Bozich in Recruiting | May 20th, 2009

Indianapolis North Central has produced its fair share of standout guards over the last decade. Since 1999, the school has produced a trio of Mr. Basketballs: Jason Gardner (Arizona), A.J. Ratliff and of course, Eric Gordon.

And a fourth could soon be on the way in the form of 2012’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera.

A physical guard who is regarded as one of the top prospects nationally in his class, Smith-Rivera already holds a scholarship offer from the Indiana staff. And he plans to get more familiar with Bloomington over the summer.

“I do plan to visit IU over the summer pretty often,” Smith-Rivera said at the adidas May Classic. “I like it down here. I’ve been down a few times. I came down here and visited a few weeks ago. It was nice. I enjoyed it.”

On his last visit, Smith-Rivera got a chance to see the campus and became more familiar with how Tom Crean sees him fitting in with the program.

“We watched a little bit of film,” Smith-Rivera said. “We toured around the campus and everything. I saw a lot of historic things about IU and a lot of the things that they have going on. What he’s doing for this school and everything, he thinks it fits my personality and I can really help out in this system.”

With three years of high school remaining, Smith-Rivera plans to take his time with the recruiting process. Although he plays mostly at the two at North Central, he doesn’t mind playing the one, two or even the three.

“I get in where I fit in,” he said. “I try to do what the coach needs me to do. I really don’t try to put myself in a category, I just do what I have to do to get the win.”

Besides the offer from IU, Purdue and Tennessee have also offered and Smith-Rivera broke down the way he views the atmospheres at the three frontrunners in his recruitment.

“Purdue, their atmosphere is pretty good,” he said. “IU, the atmosphere is great. I enjoy it. The crowd is into it every game. Tennessee, the chemistry is great there and everybody gets along.”

Scouting report: Smith-Rivera is fantastic at getting to the basket and more importantly, getting to the line. He’s good enough with the ball to play the point and also showed an ability to knock down the outside shot when left alone. Consider him one of the top priorities in Indiana’s 2012 recruiting efforts.

  • Adam
    Smith-Rivera is definitely a point guard. I watched several North Central games this year and whenever he was in the game he brought the ball up. Terone Johnson is a stellar Purdue recruit, and at times he would bring it up as well, but I'd categorize Smith-Rivera as a 1. His jumper, although accurate when open, isn't quite there yet to be a true 2.
  • pacino
    I think there are many better guards in the class of 2012 that we can get. Just because he is from Indiana does not mean we have to get him. Look at Creek. Just my opinion.
  • Scott W
    Creanta Claus, I would like D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, A.J. Hammons, DeJuan Marrero, Edward Sealy and Ron Patterson in I.U. uniforms for 2012.
  • pacino
    He will definately be an interesting prospect. Hopefully he develops into a superstar.
  • pacino
    Very solid fundamentals. Watched him many times. Very limited athleticly. He couldn't even dunk it in a game i watched. Not explosive at all. He has very good instinct though. I would not consider him at all a top priority.
  • Totally disagree on the last comment. You might not consider him a top priority, but he is a top priority for IU.
  • jgongora86
    He's still a freshman. Did gordon have a great jump shot when he was a freshman? i have no clue, but a great jump shot can still be developed in the next three years of high school. This is the athlete in which we judge and see if crean is effectively recruiting the greats from Indiana. I think he will come hear, because unlike a lot of kids from prior classes, he might understand that he might be able to become a legend at Indiana. i think he has that killer instinct very few athletes have.
  • Diesel
    The thing I like about DSR is that similar to Gordan, he likes to get to the rim and he likes to force the contact on his way there. When his team needs a bucket, he's the guy that's going to go get it. I think he handles the ball better than EJ, but his comfort with the jumpshot is not even close to EJ. I wonder a bit where his ceiling might be though, he is so mature at this point. He would be a solid get for IU.
  • Kelin Blab
    I agree with both of you guys......You hope these kids don't peak so early and continue to get better.........If I look at that class, I like the DSR or Patterson, not both, and the kid from Gary. If we could get a kid out of the region it would be great
  • I agree with a lot of what you said here. I noticed the comparison to Gordon in terms of getting to the line, which is spot on. But besides the jumpshot not being close to Gordon, he's also not nearly the athlete Gordon is. And few are.
  • CraiginOR
    Bruce Pearl is a cheeseball who made a conscious decision to rat out another coach, frolics with co-eds and is a self promoting egomanical running dog who sings Rocky Top. just my opinion. I have two words that sum up PU..."Piggy Lambert"....their basketball legacy. GO IU!!
  • student
    Lay off, Bruce Pearl.
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