MIKE SMITH- SAYRE HIGH SCHOOL

Tell everyone about yourself?
Whats good SoSportz. I'm Mike Smith. I am a freshman attending Sayre High School in the class of 2013. I am an athletic guard that tries to distribute to my teammates and score for my team. I live in Lexington, Kentucky and have been here my whole life. I put basketball over everything in life, I chose basketball over anything in life including hanging out with friends and any sort of social life. I am all about being humble and working hard to get to where I want to go. My goal is to go division 1 and then go Pro from there. I play AAU every year but I'm not decided where I'm going to play this year. My other biggest focus right now is getting my grades to Division 1 standards. School is something all athletes need to take serious and I'm learning that more and more every day

What was your best game?
My best game was a 30 point game against Nicholas County. It wasn't just the points that made the game good though, I made my teammates better that game too. I had many assist and made my teammates wide open. All around, that game I did what the ideal point guard is supposed to do.

Why are sports/education important to you?
Education is important because it is the root to everything in life. If you have a good education the sky is the limit for your life. I try to make the best grades I can make and work hard on all my work to achieve those grades. I'm going to be honest, I'm not the smartest kid on the block, but the hard work I put in, getting work done, and making the best grades I can always makes up for it. It shows the teachers I'm willing to work and do good in their class. Sports is something I've always put over anything. I was born and raised through all sports. At an early age I chose basketball to be the sport I take seriously. My goal in basketball has always been to make it to the top. I've played with older groups of players since 6th grade, sitting bench varsity in 7th grade then starting in 8th. This year I was the number one scorer in the city of Lexington and number 12 in the state.

What is your dream college?
My dream colleges are University of North Caroline, because my favorite players Ty Lawson and Vince Carter graduated from there. Also Kentucky because that's my hometown and I admire all the work John Calipari puts into making the program better and developing NBA players.

If a College Coach ask you, how can you make our team better, what would you say?
I am a guard who doesn't always just look for scoring. Though I can score alot, I really enjoy getting my teammates open and making everyone around me better. I like making assist and tricky passes that fakes the defenders out and makes my teammate have an easy shot. Also I'm a natural born leader and I like keeping my teammates heads up when there down. Even in times when we're losing and it looks like there's no hope, I encourage my team to fight until the end and to never go down without a fight.

What advice can you give other student-athletes?
All athletes need to focus on being an ideal student if they want to go anywhere with there athletics. No matter how good you are at whatever sport you play, all colleges are going to want to see is what kind of student you are before they consider taking you. Being a student and making good grades isn't just for sports, in life your going to want a back up plan if sports doesn't work out and it will all revolve around your education. You never know where you're going to end up in life but you always want to have a good education to fall back on.

Send a shout out to SoSportz:
Thanks for putting me on SoSportz! Good Luck! It was nice talking to you.