Danville product Smith dishes on transfer portal experience

Apr. 21—Sign a few papers.

Check with the coaching staff. Give it to compliance officials in a college athletic department. And then, an athlete can enter the transfer portal.

Tevin Smith is finding out what life is like in the portal, with the 2021 Danville graduate deciding to do so on March 29 after spending the past two seasons playing with the Denver men's basketball program.

And the former two-time News-Gazette All-Area First-Team pick with the Vikings is finding out just how easy landing in the transfer portal is, only two years removed from his high school playing days.

"I really appreciate what the NCAA has done because you're giving student-athletes another choice to make a better home," Smith said. "The portal has opened up so much for other people, and it's changed the student-athletes' lives."

Smith shared that sentiment while closing out his trip to Illinois-Chicago's campus last Saturday. That soon was followed by a visit to Cleveland State. A stop at Southern Illinois Edwardsville is also on Smith's to-do list as he searches for a new college basketball home.

He has received offers from those three schools since he announced his intentions to leave Denver, along with offers from Illinois State and Southern Illinois Carbondale.

"It felt good to be back in Chicago," Smith said. "I haven't been back in years, since AAU."

Smith is among those taking advantage of a recent NCAA Division I rule change that permits basketball players a one-time option to change schools without sitting out for the following season.

A former Cal State Fullerton commit before flipping to Denver before his college career began, Smith was a regular starter for coach Jeff Wulbrun's Pioneers each of the last two seasons.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound guard averaged 10.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists as a sophomore last season for a Denver team that finished 15-17, starting 20 games as the Pioneers tied for eighth in the 10-team Summit League.

As a true freshman in the 2021-22 season, Smith started 26 times and averaged 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocked shots as Denver compiled an 11-21 record.

Smith said one of the first questions the Denver coaching staff asked him during an end-of-the season interview is what did Smith want from a school in the future.

Four items stood out in the mind of Smith: Play closer to home, play for a program with a winning culture, playing on a winning team and reach the NCAA tournament.

With those observations, Smith decided he wanted to enter the transfer portal. He described the process as a fairly straightforward one.

"You have to sign some papers saying ... you want to be open to new suggestions," Smith said. "After that, (the coach has) to sign off on that. ... You have a choice: Do you want to give it to him to sign it, or give it to compliance (department officials) for him to sign?

"It takes a few hours, and you're in the portal."

Smith said his mindset isn't affected by the thousands of other men's basketball players who have made the same choice as him in the last month-plus.

"I don't really care about other people in the portal because I know my abilities and I know what I can do," Smith said. "I just see it as people who want me are going to reach out to me, and I'm going to take the opportunity to talk to them and see how I fit."

Smith doesn't intend to re-enter the transfer portal after he makes his impending decision on a new program.

"There are a little nerves because I don't want to go to another school. I want this to be my last place," Smith said. "I want to go to the NBA, so I just want to go where I can grow the most and win and showcase my talents."

Smith has confided in his parents and Danville boys' basketball coach Durrell Robinson, among others, when it comes to fleshing out his thoughts on transferring schools.

Robinson's message, according to Smith: Go somewhere he can "be happy and feel comfortable, and somewhere I can grow and develop as a player and as a person."

Despite hopping around in the past week to visit UIC, Cleveland State and SIUE, Smith still attends classes at Denver.

That side of being a student-athlete hasn't changed for him, as he'll finish out the school year's classwork while on scholarship.

What has changed is how he puts in basketball-related work, either on or off the court.

"The coach gets to pick if you can work out in the (school's) gym or not," Smith said. "Unfortunately, with me, he didn't want me to do that."

Smith is spending time at off-campus gyms in Denver. He said he also plans to work out with Denver Nuggets small forward Michael Porter Jr. whenever that team's NBA playoffs run wraps up. Porter's younger brother, Coban, formerly was a Pioneers teammate of Smith.

"I haven't worked out with (Michael) yet," Smith said, "but it will be fun to watch and work out with him."

Smith maintains good relationships with the individuals who soon will be his former Denver teammates. All the while searching for a new college program to call home.

"They know that I'm leaving. We're doing more things together, especially now in the spring since we have time off," Smith said. "Really, just trying to stay in the moment."