Huskies 2020 commit James Smith found his future at cornerback
James Smith was a sophomore when his future started sliding into focus.
Six-foot-1 and 180 pounds, Smith was once a three-sport athlete at St. John Bosco High School. His athletic ability was never in doubt, but Smith was still figuring out where he fit as he entered 10th grade. Not only was he splitting time between football, lacrosse and track, he was also bouncing between positions.
Head coach Jason Negro encourages players to find their own way at the football powerhouse in Bellflower, California. And even though it took some time, Smith eventually found his. During his sophomore year, he decided to focus on football. He quit lacrosse, and then Bosco defensive backs coach Colin Lockett approached him about playing defense.
Smith hesitated at first. He had never played cornerback before, and he had every intention of focusing on offense. But Smith quickly realized a position change would give him the best chance to play in college. He made the switch the next day. Flash forward two years and Smith is planning to make a commitment to Washington official when the early signing period begins on Wednesday. The Huskies class is currently ranked 14th in the country and No. 1 in the Pac-12 by 247Sports.
“It’s super exciting, especially going in to play DB at Washington, one of the top developers,” Smith said during a phone interview on Monday. “I really trust Coach (Jimmy) Lake a lot, (defensive backs) coach (Will) Harris. That’s what they do, they produce great DBs and they get those guys to the NFL. I’m super excited about it.”
Lockett described a “very, very rough” transition for Smith in the beginning. The two spent countless hours together, setting up workouts after practice and getting together during the off-season. When they weren’t watching film, Lockett was sending Smith clips to study.
“Corner is the hardest position to play outside of quarterback,” Lockett said during a phone interview this week. “Hands down. You can ask anybody who knows football. … You’re out there on an island and it’s you and another athletic type of body. Big, fast, physical guys. You’re out there on your own.”
Smith wasn’t comfortable on that island at first. His education started with the basics: Learning how to backpedal, how to break, where to look pre-snap and post-snap. Smith was, in Lockett’s words, “as raw as it can get.” Early on, his confidence was wavering. But Lockett stuck with him — he credits Smith with teaching him the importance of patience while developing young players — and during that same sophomore season, Smith showed his first signs of progress.
As a junior, Smith played behind future Division I players in Trent McDuffie and Chris Steele. McDuffie started as a freshman for UW this season — he earned Pac-12 freshman defensive player of the year honorable mention — while Steele played at USC.
“He really got to sit back and understand like, this is what I need to do in order to be successful,” Lockett said, “especially seeing the offers that they got and accolades that they got.”
By the middle of his junior year, Smith took another significant step forward, picking up his first college offer from Nevada in the spring of 2018. By the time he committed to UW, Smith had more than a dozen offers. He chose the Huskies over Arizona State, Louisville, Michigan, Oregon, UCLA, Washington State and more.
On Saturday, Smith concluded his high school career with a state championship as Bosco topped De La Salle 49-28. Afterward, Lockett pulled Smith aside.
“He played lights out,” Smith said. “I told him after the game, ‘You finally turned the corner. You got through all the road blocks and you’re on your way now.”
And Smith is headed exactly where he always wanted to go. He called UW a dream school, and he was hoping for the offer long before it came. Once it did, the decision was “pretty much a no-brainer.” He committed to the Huskies in July.
“A lot of recruiting requires a lot of fake promises, fake love and stuff,” Smith said. “I feel like I got more pure, truthful culture out of (UW’s) coaches. I just love it there.”
Chris Petersen’s decision to step down did catch James off guard — he thought it was fake at first — but he was comforted by the knowledge that defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake was taking over. Smith figured Lake would take a head coaching job eventually, but he didn’t expect it to be with the Huskies. He just hoped Lake would remain on staff for as long as possible. Now, he doesn’t have to worry.
While Smith took huge steps in his development at Bosco, Lockett knows he’s only scratched the surface of his potential. As Smith prepares to continue his career at UW, Lockett looking forward to seeing what Lake and Harris can unseal.
“His ceiling is so high,” Lockett said. “Out of all the corners I coached at Bosco, I think he’s got the biggest ceiling out of all of them because he’s got the size and he’s barely just now figuring out this is what I can be.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 6:30 AM.
