Aucs basketball star makes a transition

Mullins Auctioneer All-State point guard Eric Smith has transferred to Christ School, a private boarding school outside of Asheville and will spend time during his senior year preparing for the college level.

The school is a national powerhouse basketball program and was ranked 22nd in the nation this past year and won the North Carolina private school state championship.

Smith makes the transfer along with his cousin Trevonte Dixon, a star player at Wilson High School.
“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to play with and against the elite players of the nation,“ Smith said. “This is really going to give me a great advantage going into to USC next year. Having TD here with me is great because we are coming from close to the same place and both of us are here to get better. I already knew four of the players pretty well prior to coming to Christ School so that really made my transition a whole lot easier.“

Smith was one of the top-returning players in South Carolina and has verbally committed to play at USC next year, and he still plans on honoring that commitment. 

His father and AAU coach Steve Smith says that this move will help prepare Eric for the SEC competition.

“He will get to play against Division 1 competition while he’s still in high school,” Smith said.  “When Eric made this decision, he was thinking about the big picture,” Smith added it’s a difficult decision because the entire family graduated from Mullins schools or local schools. His grandfather was an administrator in the Mullins school system and his grandmother was a Mullins educator and the young point guard loves his team and classmates.

Smith added that the school has fewer restrictions on coaching, a full-time training staff, and the experience of being away from home for a year before he goes to college. 

Christ School competes in a schedule that features the nation’s top basketball programs with games played in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and the Carolinas.

Smith’s father is a Mullins High School graduate and he said his son loves his former school.  However, looking at the big picture the point guard is doing what’s best for his future with eyes focused on improving as a player.
After an undefeated regular season his sophomore year, Smith led Mullins to a lower state basketball championship and state runner-up finish in the 2009 Class AA state title game. He garnered All-State and All-Region honors along with being listed among the top 100 players in the nation. Smith was also awarded the 2009 WPDE Mr. Hoop Zone award in recognition of being the top player in the region.

It’s been a great ride for E-Wade as he joined the varsity team while in the seventh grade and played alongside his older brother Toney during his career. He averaged 20 points per game this past season for the Auctioneers and was named to the All-Region and All-State team every year since his freshman season, including Region Player of the Year. As a student, Smith maintained a 3.9 GPA through high school and was named a Junior Marshall along with being a member on the Math Team and National Junior Art Honor Society.

Eric Smith going to the hoop in this past year’s Class 2A state championship game against Southside plans to take it to the competition for another championship run. However, this year Smith will be playing for a new program at Christ School in North Carolina.