Smart wins 3rd Mr. Basketball

quote:

---

Where Ja’Vonte Smart ranks on the all-time list of high school boys basketball players in Baton Rouge and Louisiana may be debate for years to come.

Smart’s four-year career at Scotlandville provided plenty to talk about. The 6-foot-4 LSU signee won three LHSAA titles with the Hornets, was a three-time Outstanding Player in Class 5A and won the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year award three times.

Good? Great? Try unprecedented. Smart now becomes the first player to win the Louisiana Farm Bureau/LSWA Mr. Basketball award three times.

---

quote:

---

Riverside Academy coach Timmy Byrd said Smart became a complete player in his final two seasons at Scotlandville.

“He’s a winner, he’s a competitor and does everything he can to help his team win,” Byrd said. “What more could you want?”

Byrd ranks Smart as one of Louisiana’s top players over the past 10 years. The The Brighton School’s Gary Duhe coached against Smart while at Live Oak and has ties to Redemptorist’s golden era. He puts Smart on another level.

“He is one of the best players we’ve had in Baton Rouge and in the state of Louisiana over the last 30 or 40 years, without a doubt,” Duhe said.

---