Four-star narrows things down

Woodland Hills four-star athlete Malcolm Smith (6-2, 200, 4.4) has proved his grit this season. He has played most of the season banged up. Slowly but surely he is getting back to full strength.

A week ago Smith was about 80 percent, but last Friday against Chatsworth he was back to 100 percent and he played liked it rushing for 288 yards. His best performance running the football since the first quarter and a half against Los Angeles (Calif.) Crenshaw when rushed for 72 yards before he suffered his ankle sprain midway in the second quarter.

Though Smith has been banged up he still has rushed for 443 yards and has scored eight touchdowns. He is also making his presence known on defense.

Taft head coach Troy Starr is obviously very pleased to have his star athlete back to full strength.

"I think Malcolm is the best player in the city section when healthy," Starr said. "He was the best player in the City last year, too."

"Malcolm can do so many things and he does them all very well."

Though Smith was hurt it hasn't stopped his recruitment much. Smith has several offers on the table, but he narrowed his college choices down to six. They are UCLA, USC, Arizona, Cal, Notre Dame, Penn State and Michigan.

"I took one visit to Notre Dame when they played Michigan," Smith said. "It was fun and it was a nice place."

"I want to visit all the other schools officially except UCLA and USC," Smith said. "I took a tour to UCLA and I want to do the same with USC."

"The reason I like Notre Dame, Michigan and Penn State is they have tradition," Smith said. "They are classic teams that produce players."

"USC is USC," Smith said. "UCLA has great academics and an up and coming defense.

"The Cal Bears are competitive and they also have excellent academics," Smith said. "Arizona's defense is good and they have a program that is coming into its own."

Smith was selected to the Rivals.com Rivals250 team for the class of 2007. Rivals.com ranks Smith as the nation's No. 8 athlete prospect and he is a member of the Rivals.com California top 100 landing as the Golden State's No. 12 prospect at any position.