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  Ishmael Smith
Ishmael Smith

Player Profile
Class:
Senior

Hometown:
Concord, N.C.

High School:
Central Cabarrus HS

Weight:
175

Position:
Guard

Birthdate:
07/05/1988

Experience:
3VL

Smith's Photo Gallery
Smith's 2008-09 Video Highlights
Smith's Career Stats Get Acrobat Reader
Download Desktop Wallpaper Featuring Smith

Lightning quick point guard who started for the Deacons as a freshman and sophomore ... An injury to start last season pushed him to a reserve role, but he excelled as the team's sixth man ... Consummate team leader both on the court and off ... Two-year team captain ... Combines with Jeff Teague to give Wake Forest one of the quickest back courts in the country ... Has developed a knack for hitting clutch shots late in games ... Looks to pass first but has scoring ability as well ... Led the ACC in assists as a rookie in 2006-07 ... Perfect fit for Wake Forest's up-tempo offense.


2008-09 (Junior)
Saw action in 29 games off the bench ... Received the team's Most Improved Player award ... Missed the first two games of the year after fracturing a bone in his left foot in mid-September ... Returned to the court on Nov. 24 against Winston-Salem State but had his 58-game starting streak snapped after coming off the bench vs. the Rams ... Surpassed the 400 career assists plateau to become just the seventh member of Wake Forest's 400 Assists Club ... Dished out his 400th career assist on Feb. 18 against Georgia Tech ... Enters his senior season ranked seventh on the school's all-time list with 427 career assists ... Played an average of 22.0 minutes per game ... Averaged 6.2 points, 3.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game ... Ranked second on the team in assists and sixth in scoring ... Dished out exactly 100 assists on the season ... Shot 43.0 percent from the field ... Averaged 8.3 points and shot 46.8 percent from the floor in ACC games ... Made a dramatic improvement in free throw shooting, finishing at 78.9 percent (30-of-38) from the charity stripe ... Ranked fourth in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7) and was eighth in the league in assists ... Finished the season with a bang, scoring in double figures in seven of the last nine games of the year ... Led the team in assists in 15 games, dishing out five or more assists six times ... Made his season debut vs. Winston-Salem State (Nov. 24), turning in two assists and two rebounds in 11 minutes ... Pulled down two boards vs. Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 27) ... Dished out three assists vs. UTEP (Nov. 28) ... Had four points and four rebounds vs. Baylor (Nov. 30) in the championship game of the 76 Classic ... Had four assists vs. IU (Dec. 3) ... Finished with five assists and five rebounds vs. Bucknell (Dec. 6) ... Dished out six assists vs. Wright State (Dec. 14) ... Scored 11 points and had a season-high nine assists at East Carolina (Dec. 22) ... Finished with six points, three assists and three steals at BYU (Jan. 3) ... Had four points and five boards in the season opener vs. North Carolina (Jan. 11) ... Turned in five rebounds and four assists at Boston College (Jan. 14) ... Dished out four assists at Clemson (Jan. 17) ... Had five points and four assists vs. Virginia Tech (Jan. 21) ... Scored seven points and had four assists vs. Duke (Jan. 28) ... Had six points at Georgia Tech (Jan. 31) ... Finished with seven points and three assists vs. Boston College (Feb. 8) ... Scored five points at NC State (Feb. 11) ... Scored 11 points, had five rebounds and four assists and went 5-for-5 from the foul line vs. Florida State (Feb. 14) ... Passed Chris Paul in career assists vs. the Seminoles ... Dished out eight assists to surpass the 400 career assists mark vs. Georgia Tech (Feb. 18) ... Also had 11 points vs. the Yellow Jackets ... Finished with 12 points and five assists at Duke (Feb. 22) ... Scored a season-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting vs. NC State (Feb. 26) ... The 18 points against the Wolfpack is his career-high for a regulation game ... Scored 10 points at Virginia (Feb. 28) ... Had 11 points and four assists at Maryland (Mar. 3) ... Turned in 13 points and six assists vs. Clemson (Mar. 8) ... Had nine points and two assists vs. Maryland in the ACC Tournament (Mar. 13) ... Finished with six points and three assists vs. Cleveland State in the NCAA Tournament (Mar. 20).

2007-08 (Sophomore)
Started all 30 games at point guard ... Was the only Deacon to start every game of the season ... Served as a team captain ... Played a team-high 32.1 minutes per game ... Led the team with 141 assists, an average of 4.7 per contest ... Ranked third on the squad in steals (40) and fourth in scoring (8.6 ppg) ... Averaged 9.9 points and 4.75 assists per game in conference play ... Led the team with 24 steals in league contests ... Finished among the ACC leaders in assists (5th) and assist/turnover ratio (1.68; 7th) ... In conference games only, ranked among the league's best in assists (4th), assist/turnover ratio (4th) and minutes played (34.6; 9th) ... Scored in double figures 11 times and led the team in scoring four times ... Led the Deacs in assists 25 times and in rebounding twice ... Drew nine charges on defense, the second-most on the team ... Posted three turnover-free games on the year ... Dished out seven assists in the season opener against Fairfield on Nov. 9 ... Had eight points, five assists and just one turnover Nov. 19 vs. N.C. Central ... Tallied a career-high tying four steals Nov. 26 at Iowa ... Tied his career-high with nine rebounds at Charlotte on Nov. 29 ... Began a streak of four straight games in double figures scoring with 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting Dec. 1 vs. USC Upstate ... Had 12 points and eight assists at Vanderbilt on Dec. 5 ... Scored 14 points three days later at Georgia ... Went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field for 11 points vs. Bucknell on Dec. 16 ... Opened ACC play in grand fashion with 18 points, including the game-winning bucket, on Dec. 23 against Virginia Tech ... Drilled the game-winner on a jumper from the right elbow with one second remaining to cap a 10-0 run and give the Deacons a 77-75 comeback win over the Hokies ... Dished out a season-high 11 assists with no turnovers Jan. 2 vs. Presbyterian ... Scored 10 points against BYU on Jan. 8 ... Turned in 16 points and six assists with no turnovers Jan. 15 at Maryland ... Posted career-highs of 19 points, four steals, eight field goals and 42 minutes Jan. 22 at Clemson ... Once again came up big late in the game Jan. 29 vs. Miami ... Hit the game-winning shot from the right elbow with three seconds remaining to give the Deacs a 70-68 defeat of the Hurricanes ... Also dished out six assists with no turnovers against Miami ... Followed with 15 points Feb. 3 at NC State ... Turned in 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with six assists against Virginia on Feb. 9 ... Dished out eight assists at Florida State on Feb. 14 ... Had eight assists Feb. 24 at North Carolina and seven assists a game later against Maryland on Feb. 28 ... Scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting Mar. 8 vs. NC State ... Tallied eight points and six assists in the Mar. 13 ACC Tournament game against FSU.

2006-07 (Freshman)
Played in all 31 games and started 30 times ... Missed just one start (Nov. 17 vs. Elon) when he was five minutes late to shoot-around ... Became just the fifth freshman in the history of the ACC to lead the league in assists (6.0 apg) ... Was the first Deacon in 20 years, since Muggsy Bogues in 1987, to lead the ACC in assists ... Broke the Wake Forest freshman record for assists, previously held by Chris Paul, with 186 ... Was the second-leading scorer on the team (8.7 ppg) ... Ranked fourth on the team with 3.8 rebounds per game ... Sank 23 three-point field goals ... Struggled at the free throw line, shooting just 46.2 percent (42-of-91) ... Had 186 assists and just 112 turnovers, giving him the seventh-best assist-turnover ratio in the ACC ... Led the team in steals with 36 ... Scored in double figures 12 times ... Had three double-figure assist games ... Recorded three double-doubles ... Led the Deacons in rebounding four times ... Was Wake's leader in assists in 27 of 31 games ... Drew eight charges on defense ... Dished out eight or more assists nine times ... Began his college career in grand fashion with a double-double (12 points, 11 assists) in season opener vs. James Madison, breaking the Wake Forest freshman record for single-game assists ... Scored 14 points and hit a key three-pointer in overtime at Bucknell Nov. 14 ... Scored 17 points and dished out nine assists in a key win over Vanderbilt Nov. 21 ... Had another double-double (12 points, 11 assists) Dec. 29 at South Florida ... Scored 15 points and was 2-of-3 from three-point range Jan. 1 against East Carolina ... Scored 13 points at Virginia Jan. 21 ... Had 14 points, five assists and three steals Feb. 28 at NC State ... Dished out a career-high 15 assists, breaking a Wake Forest freshman record and an ACC Tournament record, March 28 against Georgia Tech in the opening round of the ACC Tournament.

High School
Ranked as the No. 28 point guard in the country according to Rivals.com ... Listed in Rivals's top 130 prospects for the class of 2006 ... Rated by Scout.com as the No. 17 point guard and the No. 82 prospect nationally ... A four-star recruit according to Scout ... Part of a Wake Forest recruiting class that was ranked No. 10 in the country by Rivals ... Graduated from Central Cabarrus High School in 2006 ... Played under coach Scott Brewer at CCHS ... Finished his career with 1,775 points and a school-record 687 assists ... Led Central Cabarrus to a 25-3 record and a MECA-6 Conference regular season and tournament title as a senior ... Averaged 24.8 points and 9.8 assists per game as a senior ... Named the Meca-6 Conference Player of the Year in 2006 ... Earned all-conference honors in 2005 and 2006 ... Named the Charlotte Observer's Piedmont Player of the Year in 2005 and in 2006 ... Led Central Cabarrus to a 20-8 record and to the sectional finals as a junior ... Averaged 24.7 points, eight assists and five steals per game during his junior season ... Scored 30 points and dished out nine assists against powerful Oak Hill Academy in 2005-06 ... Competed in the same conference as Jamie Skeen and North Mecklenburg HS ... Played in the 2006 Carolinas Classic All-Star game ... Played AAU basketball for the North Carolina Gaters.

Personal
Given name is Ishmael Larry Smith ... Nickname is "Ish" ... Son of Gwen and Larry Smith ... Has three siblings - two sisters and one brother ... Born July 5, 1988 in Charlotte, N.C. ... Majoring in religion ... Chose Wake Forest because he liked the Demon Deacons' style of play ... Committed verbally to the Deacons in late June of 2005 ... Selected Wake Forest over a number of schools including Charlotte, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Xavier and Maryland.