The kid with the motor

Ahmad Smith was pulled out of Simsboro’s high-stakes matchup against Choudrant less than 30 seconds in.

After miscommunication on an early inbounds play that led to a turnover, along with mistimed positioning on the offensive end with Itavus Brown, Smith was yanked and sat for nearly four minutes of the first quarter. But what would have been an otherwise glaring demotion became a fuel for Smith, an eighth grader, in his first-ever varsity district game.

In 24 minutes, Smith poured in a career-high 30 points — his seventhstraight game in double figures — to go with a career-high 7 steals as he nearly sank the Aggies by himself with 24 points in the second, with Choudrant as a team scoring 27.

The Aggies have allowed two players to score 30 against them this season – Zwolle junior Preston Sanders, a reigning state champion, had 38 on Nov. 2 on 17-30 shooting from the field. And then there’s Smith, who had his 30 points on 10 fewer shots than Sanders.

Simsboro head coach Adam Wodach said Smith’s maturity to handle the early benching and still deliver his best performance yet reinforces how far the young guard has come in such a short amount of time.

“Two months ago, he would not have handled that well. And then he has 30 points,” Wodach said. “The more he buys in, because people want him to have success, and you need to be willing to accept advice. That’s been his biggest growth has been. He’s a different player from where he was three months ago. I’m just proud.”

Wodach and his staff could see from the beginning Smith was not the usual timid eighth grader content with riding the pine and enjoying the ride as a varsity depth piece. He wanted to be a difference-maker. All he needed was strong coaching and reinforcement.

It’s paid off with flying colors, with Smith averaging 9.1 points per game and 2.2 steals overall, bolstered by 3.8 steals per game in January. He’s also the team leader in blocks (10) and plays with a high level of intensity whenever he’s on the floor.

Smith said his adjustment to the varsity game has had ups and downs, but he feels like he’s starting to come into his own.

“It hasn’t been too bad. You just have to have the mentality to just gel with your teammates and let them get respect for you and that’s what I’ve tried to do,” Smith said. “I just love when I see my teammates cheering us on. It’s not about me. It’s about our team. It’s about our school. It just feels good I can help with that.”

Simsboro (19-11, 2-0) has benefitted from his maturation, winning five-straight games by an average of 20 points. Smith leads the team in scoring during that span at 19.8 points per game.

“I think Coach Mitchell and I have both talked forever how the skill is there, it’s just the varsity game is so fast,” Wodach said. “The scouting reports are so good. They know exactly what we’re doing and you have to be able to execute at a different level. At the JV and the freshman and junior high level, you can get away with different stuff. I think he’s had to learn what he can get away with and what he can’t get away with, when he should trust himself and when he shouldn’t. His biggest improvement I’m most proud of is he’s become increasingly more coachable.”

Wodach said Smith’s ability to bait players into turnovers and use his deceptive length to grab steals is a rare gift for a player that young, and there’s plenty of room to grow.

Even with Simsboro leading Choudrant by 20 with five minutes left, Smith still harassed his man on defense and poked his way for more steals and points off turnovers.

That love to compete until the buzzer sound, said Wodach, makes Smith a special product already.

“He has a motor. I would say that’s one of his greatest strengths,” Wodach said. “He has a massive motor.”