April 17, 2006

University of New Mexico men's basketball coach Ritchie McKay announced the signing of Jamaal Smith to a National Letter-of-Intent today. Smith, a 5-9 point guard from Las Vegas, Nev., led his Indian Hills Community College (Ottumwa, Iowa) squad to a 25-6 record and was a Junior College All-American last season. Smith will join incoming freshmen Sean Imadiyi (a-MAH-dee), Derek Oestricher (A-striker) and Roman Martinez and junior college transfer Jeffrey Henfield as newcomers to the Lobo basketball program in the fall.

Jamaal Smith • 5-9 • 175 • G • Las Vegas, Nev. • Indian Hills (Ottumwa, Iowa) CC

High-scoring point guard who led Indian Hills to a 25-6 record...Averaged 20.2 ppg, 2.9 apg, 2.0 rpg and 1.5 spg last year for head coach Jeff Kidder...Led IHCC and Region XI in scoring...Shot 44.5% from the field last season...1st Team NJCAA All-American...Ranked the 16th best junior college player in the nation by JucoJunction.com...Named Player of the Year in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference...Named first team All-Region XI by the NJCAA...Set the Indian Hills single-season record for three-pointers with 95, shooting 45% from behind the arc...Tied the single season mark for free throws with 177, hitting 85.2% from the line...Played his freshman season at the College of Eastern Utah where he was an All-Region XVIII honorable mention player, averaging 14 ppg...Father, Robert, played basketball at UNLV (1974-75) and spent seven seasons in the NBA with seven teams from 1977-85.

Head Coach Ritchie McKay on Jamaal Smith:
"Jamaal's signing represents the completion of what I think is our best recruiting class since we've arrived at New Mexico. He is a point guard that can score, penetrate, defend and play either tempo. He played for a tremendous junior college coach and I think he will be ready to make an impact immediately."

For a complete list of the 2006-07 New Mexico men's basketball recruiting class click here.