Ex-SSA Saint Smith Headed to Prep School

Ron Bailey, Publisher

SSA's Ramon Smith, at the foul line. He will be attending prep school in North Carolina, where polishing his point guard skills will be a primary on-court focus.

July 15, 2006 – Ramon Smith, a 6’2”, 190lb student athlete, formerly of St. Stephen’s – St. Agnes (SSA), has decided to attend Charis Prep school next year. The senior, spent some time with i95Ballerz.com those intentions, as well as his skill development tract during the recently completed D.C. Pro-Am.

Last season at SSA, Smith, a resident of Dumfries, VA, was instrumental in the team finishing 19-9, including a ten game, late season winning streak. Given it’s status as an Arlington, VA-based private institution, that record earned SSA an invitation to the Virginia Independent School Tournament, where the Saints progressed to the quarter-final round (click here for coverage). For the season, Ramon shared approximate per game averages of “between 18 and 20 (points), five or six (rebounds), probably two or three assists, and like three (steals)”.

Smith (23), prepares to attack the rim in a VIST quarter-final loss to O'Connell. Ramon finished with 11 points.

Having just returned to AAU/travel team action with the GC Ballers at the Pro-Am due to a knee cap injury, Smith noted even though he played “straight wing (forward)” at SSA, in college his goal is to function as a “one (point guard) or two (shooting guard)”. Ramon then honestly assessed his development needs as “I need to work on my ball handling for point guard”, and as such he’s presently better suited for a shooting guard role. To effectuate his position change, Smith stated “I work out with coaches in my area”, and engages in cardio work, such as “jogging by myself”.

Ramon Smith, here at the D.C. Pro-Am, in GC Ballers silks. Known as a good shooter who plays hard, Smith is attempting to migrate to the point guard position.

Even though he couldn’t work out with the GC Ballers – given that organization’s Western, New York base – and open period participation with that team is prohibited by NCAA statute, Smith still feels playing with GC has been beneficial. “It’s good” revealed Ramon, who then shared the origins of his attachment to the team as “The reason I’m on the team, is that last year in South Florida, I was on the team a little bit. Coach Allen, of the (New York) Gauchos”, recommended him to Jeff Bishop, GC Ballers’ coach, “and I’ve been on the team ever since then”.

Bishop feels that the proverbial ball is in Smith’s court, regarding success in college hoops. “It’s up to him, there are some things he has to learn how to do” shared GC Ballers’ head coach. “He has to work on his handle, and he has to work on his decision making. He can shoot the ball very well. But if he wants to learn how to play the point...a year at the right prep school will give him an opportunity to…play more with top level talent”.

In light of the aforementioned NCAA mandate, Smith is currently playing with Baltimore Select. Reached early this morning after having arrived home from playing in a tournament in New Jersey, Smith shared he recently “played the one, two, three (small forward) and four (power forward) this past weekend”. He also opined that his migration to more of a point guard is progressing, though the biggest obstacle is his “scorer’s mentality”.

Select’s seven year coach, Keith Goodie, has been impressed with Smith during their short time together. “From what I see so far, he’s real solid, smart and can shoot”, he said. Goodie looks forward to monitoring Ramon’s development during their up coming trip to Las Vegas, but also presently thinks Smith “is not a bad defender, who has a chance to a (defensive) stopper”.

Check back with i95Ballerz.com for Ramon Smith updates. With a year of prep school – for which he departs in late August/early September, Ramon will certainly continue to work on his lead guard/perimeter skills, and garner a high profile scholarship.