Five-star takes slew of visits

Rahshaun Smith has been well-known in the recruiting world for a long time and the Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances star has taken a number of visits.

"I have a lot of players I'm close to at Penn State," said the 6-foot-2, 226-pound Smith. "We were coached by the same guy. Coach Franklin is a relaxed, down the earth kind of guy that people will want to play for.

"Oklahoma was one of my best visits," he said. "It was everything I thought it would be an more. The facilities are great. They played well and I like the way I could fit into that defense.

"Since going on my Maryland visit, it kind of changed my mind about them," Smith said. "A lot of the guys are talking about staying home and a lot of the guys are recruiting me harder than the coaches. When I go to college I want to play with people that I know and have played with before. I think that would be some good chemistry.

"At West Virginia, I'm close with Marvin Gross," he said. "I love coach Galloway. It was cold but it was a good visit.

"Alabama is everything it was hyped up to be," said Smith. "They were playing Mississippi State when they were number one so it was a big game. I could tell by the coaching staff they were prepared. They have a type of swag with them so on game day they have no doubts about what they were going to do. I would love to play in an atmosphere like that, around coaches like that.

"Down at Clemson, it was probably my best visit," he said. "I saw a lot of the people and fans around there. They have great facilities. The tradition there with the rock is great. I'm close with Stephone Anthony and he tells me the real stuff about Clemson and that's what I like.

"I went down to Florida last year," Smith said. "I've always liked them and watched them. I'm close with Jalen Tabor. We talked about the life at Florida and playing the Swamp. Where we come from that's the environment we want to play in.

"I had a great time at Tennessee," he said. "Their indoor facility is one of the best. Being down there with coach Strip, he spent some one-on-one time with me. We built a relationship. We watched a lot of tape and I could see myself playing in that defense."

Smith says five schools are standing out based on their visits but more visits are on the horizon.

"Oklahoma, Florida, Clemson, Maryland, Tennessee stand out right now," said Smith. "I've been talking about possibly doing a visit to Virginia Tech and maybe West Virginia."

According to Smith, he has no visits scheduled right now.