Former Texas football and USC WR Jake Smith transfers to Arizona State
Last week, the news arrived that a former highly touted blue-chip recruit for the Texas football program, redshirt junior wide receiver Jake Smith, will be playing for the Arizona State Sun Devils next season. A report from Chris Karpman of Sun Devil Source indicates that Smith will join new head coach Kenny Dillingham and the Sun Devils next season after sitting out the 2022 campaign.
Smith spent his first two seasons in college playing for the Longhorns under former head coach Tom Herman. After playing for Texas in 2019 and 2020, Smith entered the NCAA Transfer Portal and landed with the USC Trojans. And while Smith was on the roster for the Trojans in 2021, he didn’t take any snaps as he dealt with injury issues last fall.
He also sat out the 2022 season reportedly while he worked to finish his degree.
Former Texas football blue-chip WR Jake Smith chooses Arizona State as his third school
The Scottsdale, AZ, native and former Notre Dame Preparatory wideout will now be returning closer to home to play for Arizona State. Smith should have three years of eligibility remaining, despite being a part of the 2019 recruiting class.
Dillingham recruited Smith when the Arizona native was coming out of Notre Dame Prep during the 2019 cycle. The new Arizona State head coach offered and recruited Smith when he was the offensive coordinator for the Memphis Tigers until the conclusion of the 2018 season.
But the former Gatorade National High School Football Player of the Year ultimately chose to play for Herman, former OC Tim Beck, and the Longhorns with their 2019 class.
During his two seasons at Texas, the 6-foot and 200-pound Smith registered 48 catches for 568 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns. Smith was second on the team in touchdown catches as a freshman during the 2019 season. And he ranked third on the team in receiving yards and touchdowns in 2020.
Next. Status updates for top priority recruits heading into NSD1. dark
Smith is the second former Longhorn to join Arizona State as part of the 2023 transfer class. Arizona State also landed a commitment out of the transfer portal on Dec. 18 from the former Texas redshirt sophomore edge rusher and blue-chip recruit Prince Dorbah.