One of Texas’ best high school football players, Franklin senior quarterback Shay Smith, has decided to stay home and play for UTEP.
Smith will be part of new coach Scotty Walden’s first recruiting class. Walden was hired earlier this month to replace Dana Dimel.
Smith, the son of former UTEP and NFL running back, Paul Smith, had a strong high school career for the Cougars. As a junior, Smith passed for 2,569 yards and rushed for 1,076 yards, as a sophomore he had 77 tackles as a linebacker. This past season Smith passed for 1,750 yards and rushed for 1,195 yards and helped the team stay in the playoff hunt deep into the season despite the team having lost several key running backs and receivers to injury.
Smith also held offers from North Texas, Texas Tech, Texas State, Houston and SMU.
Smith is the second senior quarterback from El Paso in recent days to make a decision to attend a Division I university. Eastwood’s Evan Minjarez committed to Army West Point on Wednesday.
“Shay has worked hard to get to this point and he was a leader for us,” Franklin coach Daren Walker said. “This past season with all the injuries we had, he really stepped up even more so and I’m happy for him. He will do everything he can to help UTEP and for him to be able to stay home and play for the hometown team is special and he will get a chance to play quarterback.”
Franklin’s Shay Smith gets tackled by a Coronado defender at the Sun Bowl on Sept. 7, 2023 in El Paso, Texas.
More: Eastwood QB headed to Army Eastwood QB Evan Minjarez commits to Army
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on X (Formerly Twitter)
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Franklin QB Shay Smith verbally commits to play for UTEP
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/franklin-qb-shay-smith-verbally-153527162.html
Author : The El Paso Times
Publish date : 2023-12-18 15:35:27
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