Ex-Illinois basketball 4-star recruit Mark Smith chooses to transfer to Missouri

Mark Smith made his decision to transfer to an SEC school on Saturday.

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Posted 4 months ago

It was one month ago that Mark Smith chose to transfer from the Illinois basketball program.

Fast forward a month, and the former 4-star recruit for the Fighting Illini has found a home — Missouri.

It’s official!! pic.twitter.com/jo2PxaRaRl

— MARK SMITH (@Mark_Smith_13) April 15, 2018

Smith, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound guard for Illinois in the Class of 2017, was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 79 overall player in his class. He was rated the No. 5 player in the state of Illinois.

Unfortunately for everybody involved, Smith lasted only one season at Illinois. In 2017-18 — his freshman campaign — he averaged 5.8 points, 1.4 assists and 1.4 rebounds per game.

Smith ranked seventh on the team in minutes per game at 19.1. He was Illinois’ highest-rated recruit for the 2017 class, ahead of 4-star prospect Trent Frazier, who is also a guard.

Frazier averaged a team-high 26.3 minutes per game and 12.5 points per contest, which was second best on the team.