Cleveland Heights Footballer Is Ohio Defensive Player Of The Year

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Tyreke Smith is 6'5 and about 235 pounds. It's easy to forget that he's only a senior in high school. It's easier to forget that he's only been playing football for two years.

The Cleveland Heights High School defensive end racked up a bevy of post-season awards but none more impressive than being named one of two Division I Defensive Players of the Year and a finalist for Mr. Football in Ohio. Both awards are given out by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association.

The awards come in addition to being named First Team All-Defense for Division I and getting an Under Armour All-America jersey (pictured above). Smith is a highly-coveted recruit for several powerhouse college programs. Despite all that, his coach, Mac Stephens told Patch that Smith is a happy-go-lucky kid that has taken the pressure and attention of the world in stride.

"It can be daunting to get the attention he's getting," Stephens said. "But if you see him everyday, you'd know he's been very humble throughout this process."

Stephens notes that Smith is also a classroom performer who has pulled down impressive grades in difficult classes.

"He’s an honor roll student, an AP class student. He maintains a 4.0 GPA," Stephens said. "The teachers, across the board, say he’s a great kid. He’s very much a leader and he leads by example. He comes from a great home, his parents are tremendous people. You see his successes off the field and to me that's more impressive."

Smith is set to announce his choice of college in January at the Under Armour game. His choices are currently between Ohio State, Alabama, Penn State, Oregon and USC, according to cleveland.com.

Stephens said Smith has received more than 40 offers from different college football programs.

"To seeing a kid not have a college football offer to having multiple opportunities...that's what it’s all about for us. It’s the platform to change lives. That’s the one thing we’ve become very good at doing," Stephens told Patch.

The Under Armour Game will be played Jan. 4 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Photo from Cleveland Heights-University Heights Schools