Now that Arkansas five-star basketball signee and North Little Rock star Nick Smith and his team have finished a talent-laden national non-conference slate, they can turn their attention to Class 6A Central action.
The Charging Wildcats (11-3) will do so Tuesday night when they travel to face Little Rock Central (7-5) in a battle of the last two Class 6A state champions and last season’s title game combatants.
It is a matchup featuring Smith (6-5, 180), Oregon signee and fellow 5-star prospect Kel’el Ware (7-0, 220) and Central sophomore star Annor Boateng (6-5, 205), a 2024 Razorback recruiting target.
One missing star will be Bryson Warren, who played for North Little Rock as a freshman and Central as a sophomore before turning professional and is playing in the NBA developmental Overtime Elite league.
“We don’t really care who we are playing, we are going to try and take their heads off,” Smith said. “We are going to come out and compete. We need to make less mistakes and be more disciplined. Or main goal is get a state championship at the end.”
North Little Rock will come into the game after winning the King Division of the King Cotton Classic in Pine Bluff with Smith being named the MVP.
The Charging Wildcats have also competed in tournaments in Jonesboro and the City of Palms against teams such as Bradenton (Fla.) IMG, Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips, Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young and Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Calvary Christian Academy.
“We have played a great schedule, one that has given us the chance to find out a lot about ourselves and what we need to work on,” Smith said. “It’s also shown that we can compete with anybody out there.”
North Little Rock head coach Johnny Rice saw improvement from his team during its vaunted non-conference slate.
"We've been talking the last two weeks, it's not so much about X's and O's as it is about finishing games, being tough and playing with energy and passion all the time," Rice said after the King Cotton title game. "We went through stretches where we didn't do that all the time. This week was probably our most sustained effort-wise. I'm tickled about that, especially with conference starting next week."
Smith had a triple double of 32 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in his team’s 86-59 win over Antioch (Tenn.) Cane Ridge in the semifinal while playing against best friend and Alabama signee Brandon Miller.
He followed that up with 33 points in an 82-72 win over defending Class 5A Texas state champion Houston Beaumont.
Smith was aided by Ware’s 17 points and 6 rebounds and a strong game from Corey Washington, who had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists in the win.
North Little Rock has put forth a balanced attack this season with five starters all having double figures scoring nights.
“It’s worked really well for us so far this season,” Smith said. “We have really shared the ball well when we are on the court, everybody’s getting points and we are winning, which is the most important thing.
“We are able to get them open and they have done a great job of knocking down shots. Hopefully this will get them more exposure and open them up to get some of the the same type offers that we (Smith and Ware) have.”
Ware, who had 24 points and 12 rebounds in a 77-46 win over Shreveport (La.) Calvary Baptist, is thrilled to be playing alongside Smith, who was a standout the past three seasons at Sylvan Hills.
“Nick is a good point guard that gets me the ball and everybody else on our team the ball,” Ware said.
Ware took an official visit to Arkansas, but ended up signing with Oregon in November.
“I had a great vibe with the coaches, I liked the environment and I really like the weather,” Ware said of Oregon.
Little Rock Central comes into the game off a 2-2 performance in the Allen (Texas) Invitational.
The Tigers will also play at Fort Smith Northside on Friday night. Then they play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Washington (D.C.) St. John’s in the Hoop Hall South Classic tournament at Bentonville West.