2003 Top 50 List: Yes
Dan Collins List: Yes
Joe Smith was the greatest two-year player in ACC history. I don’t mean only that he is the best two-and-done player, though he is that. I mean that if you look at just the freshman and sophomore years of all players in ACC history, Joe Smith is the best ever.
Now of course that’s not fair to players who weren’t freshman-eligible. David Thompson, for one, might have something to say about that had he been eligible as a freshman. But among players who played as freshmen and sophomores, I’d pick Smith as the best. Smith was National Player of the Year as a sophomore, which places him in some seriously rarified air. The only other ACC players to do that are Ralph Sampson and Elton Brand. But Smith was better as a freshman than either.
When Smith showed up on campus, the Maryland program was way down. In the seven long years since Lefty Driesell had departed, the Terrapins had compiled a 25-70 ACC record. Gary Williams, in his fifth season, was coming off a 12-16, 2-14 year, and was under some pressure to win. That 12-16 year concealed some potential in the form of freshmen Johnny Rhodes, Exree Hipp, and Duane Simpkins. When Smith and Keith Booth showed up in 1994, the effect was immediate and electric. In the first game of the year, the Terrapins went into the Capital Centre and beat 15th-ranked Georgetown behind 26 from Smith. Maryland went on to make an unexpected run to the Sweet 16 as a 10 seed, upsetting John Calipari, Marcus Camby and UMass along the way.
I’ve previously written about the 1995 season under the Jerry Stackhouse and Randolph Childress entries, so I won’t go on about that here. Suffice it to say that Smith was the best player in arguably the best season in ACC history. Everybody remembers the Randolph Childress show in the epic ACC Tournament final, but not as many people remember the epic semifinal battle between Carolina and Maryland, which the Tar Heels won 97-92 in overtime. Smith and Rasheed Wallace went it at, and Wallace got the better of him with probably the game of his life – 33 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks. Maryland advanced to the Sweet 16 again before losing to eighth-ranked UConn in Smith’s final college game.