Aggies add PG Caleb Smith to 2016 basketball signing class

The Texas A&M basketball program has added another piece to the 2016-17 roster with the signing of Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) point guard Caleb Smith.

The 6-0, 175-pound playmaker is best known for leading Bridgeport (Texas) High School to an improbable run through the class 4A UIL state tournament to win the 2015 state title as a junior.

Smith transferred to Notre Dame Prep in Fritzburg, Mass. for his senior season to shore up his academic record; he excelled as a point guard with the ability to score from anywhere on the court. In a late season contest against Army Prep, Smith scored 28 points in the second half to propel the Crusaders to victory.

But it was his sparkling performances in the 2015 UIL state tournament that resonates with most high school basketball observers and college coaches. Home-schooled in Flower Mound by Neal Hawks, prominent Nebraska athletics booster and brother-in-law of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Smith and three other at-risk youths moved-in with the Hawks family after eighth grade and played exclusively on Hawks' AAU team, the Flower Mound Rebels.

Prior to the 2014 academic year, Hawks built a house in Bridgeport and moved his family and the four youths to the small northwest suburb less than an hour from Fort Worth. He also enrolled the four players in public school at Bridgeport, where Smith had an immediate impact on the basketball team as a versatile point guard with the ability to distribute and score from any spot on the floor.

The left-handed point guard and his housemates dominated the 4A competition through the regular season and easily advanced to the state tournament in San Antonio to face Admon Gilder and the powerhouse Dallas Madison squad that had been a fixture at the state tourney for several years.

Smith matched Gilder point-for-point, scoring 25 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and making 9-of-11 free throws down the stretch to hold off Madison, 68-60. Gilder finished with 27 points.

In the championship game, Houston Sterling was no match for Smith and his Bridgeport teammates, who ran away with the title, 83-53. Smith remained on fire, scoring 23 points, shooting 67 percent from the floor. Throughout the state tournament, he shot 60 percent from the field and made 78 percent of his 18 free throw attempts. 

Smith's performance earned him 4A state tournament MVP honors. He also garnered first team all-state accolades.

Given his unconventional path from homeschooling to small Texas town to Massachusetts prep school and his uncertain academic progress stemming from issues early in his high school career, Smith didn't emerge on many national recruiting lists. However, once he received confirmation of his academic qualification from the NCAA Clearinghouse in early June, several power five conference schools immediately contacted Smith — including the Texas A&M staff.

Smith visited Missouri two weeks ago before taking a trip to College Station this past week. He was scheduled to officially visit new Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard this weekend, but Billy Kennedy's offer was too good to leave on the table over the weekend.

The Bridgeport product is expected to enroll at Texas A&M next week for the Summer II session and will have four years of eligibility.