Whiz Kid: Hazelwood West Teen Awarded College Scholarship

Darris Smith

• Whiz Kid's Age: 18

• Whiz Kid's School:

Hazelwood West boys varsity basketball player Darris Smith is taking his talents to South Fifth Street.

That’s the location of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, where Smith, a standout hoops star considered one of the best schoolboy shooters in the area, will play collegiately once he graduates later this spring.

“It really is a beautiful thing to watch Darris shoot the ball,” Hazelwood West varsity basketball coach Cary Lewis said. “Sometimes the coaches and I get mad at Darris, because he doesn’t shoot it enough.

"If I could shoot like him, I’d shoot all the time.”

Smith has been shooting the ball more lately, and he’s done so with great effectiveness.

He had 20 points and made four three-pointers in a close win over Parkway West last month. Three weeks ago, Smith scored 18 points and made four threes against Wentzville Timberland.

That same week, in a tough loss against area No. 2 McCluer North, Smith had 23 points and made five threes.

Just days later, the 6’2 sharpshooter, who leads the Suburban North Conference in three-point shooting, had 13 points, with 11 of those coming during a brilliant stretch early in the second half that gave his team the lead for good against rival Hazelwood East.

It’s because of those recent performances, and his magnificent season overall, that Darris Smith was selected this week’s Hazelwood Patch Whiz Kid.

“It feels good to get recognized for all the hard work me and my teammates been putting in,” Smith said, “It feels like it’s a new beginning for Hazelwood West.

"We’ve got a good coach, a team that all likes each other, and plays hard all the time," he said. "It’s been good.”

Smith has been sensationally good throughout his high school career.

Last season, he led the Wildcats in scoring, at 18.5 points a game, which incidentally is the same number he’s averaging this season. But where Smith really stood out, was his three-point shooting.

Last year, he made 72 percent of the threes he attempted. A nearly unprecedented number for a high school player, which means he connected from long range nearly three out of every four times he shot it.

“I work hard on my shot,” Smith said. “I do extra practice everyday. I try to get up at least 100 shots from every spot everyday.”

That hard work has paid off with Smith earning a full athletic scholarship to play for coach Brad Soderberg at Lindenwood next season.

The Lions are one of the top teams in NAIA basketball. They were ranked No. 11 in the most recent national poll, and currently boast a 21-3 record.

Lindenwood has been eyeing a move up to NCAA Division II, a higher level of competition, and will do so beginning with the 2012-13 season.

It’s been clear ever since an early season text message Soderberg sent to Smith, following a December game at the St. Charles West Tournament, that the coach had Smith marked as one of the players he needed to take his program to a higher level.

“When Darris gets going, he can take over games,” Lewis said. “He’s got that kind of ability to score, and make plays, and do some things. "

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