Find The Dallas Morning News’ top 20 boys basketball rankings here.
DESOTO — When DeSoto basketball star Sa’Myah Smith tore her ACL midway through her sophomore season, she was worried that schools might stop recruiting her.
The opposite occurred after that devastating injury in December 2019, even though it took Smith eight to nine months to rehab.
“It actually picked up. When I first got hurt, I picked up an offer from Baylor,” Smith said.
At the time, Kim Mulkey was the coach at Baylor, a school she led to three national championships. But by the time that Smith was ready to make her college decision as a senior, Mulkey — a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame — had changed jobs and taken the head coaching job at LSU.
Smith decided to follow Mulkey to LSU and committed there in October. The 6-4, four-star forward will get a chance to play for the only person in college basketball history — men’s or women’s — to win national championships as a head coach, assistant coach and a player.
“Coach Mulkey is a great coach. She’s going to develop me and help me get to the next level,” Smith said.
Smith, who chose LSU over Baylor, eight-time national champion Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas Tech and Arizona, is ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the Dallas area, the No. 5 player in Texas and the 57th-best player in the nation in the Class of 2022, according to ESPN’s HoopGurlz. She averaged a double-double (13 points and 12 rebounds) last season, along with 4 blocks and 3 assists per game, and was named the MVP of the Class 6A state championship game after leading the DeSoto girls to their first state title.
“Her versatility makes her very difficult to deal with on both ends,” DeSoto coach Andrea Robinson said. “Her ability to protect the rim, her ability to score, to handle the ball ... she is hard to reckon with.”
Smith’s favorite player is Candace Parker, who won her second WNBA title in October and led the Chicago Sky to the first championship in franchise history. With Mulkey as her college coach, Smith might someday reach the WNBA herself.
Mulkey helped Baylor produce nine first-round draft picks and 19 players who were drafted into the WNBA.
The top 20 for the Class of 2022
| Player, school | Position | Height | College |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sa’Myah Smith, DeSoto | F | 6-4 | Committed to LSU |
| 2. Amina Muhammad, DeSoto | F | 6-4 | Committed to Texas |
| 3. Tionna Herron, DeSoto | C | 6-5 | Committed to Kentucky |
| 4. Alisa Williams, Denton Braswell | G/F | 6-2 | Committed to LSU |
| 5. Kayla Cooper, Plano East | PG | 5-9 | Committed to Oklahoma |
| 6. Jazzy Owens-Barnett, Frisco Liberty | G | 5-7 | Committed to Rice |
| 7. Jade Masogayo, Keller Fossil Ridge | C/PF | 6-4 | Committed to Missouri State |
| 8. Breanna Davis, Red Oak | PG | 5-6 | Committed to North Texas |
| 9. Jasmyn Lott, Frisco Memorial | PG/SG | 5-9 | Committed to UNLV |
| 10. Ja’Mia Harris, DeSoto | G | 5-7 | Committed to Kansas State |
| 11. Kiersten Johnson, Duncanville | P | 6-3 | Committed to Oklahoma |
| 12. Ayanna Thompson, DeSoto | G | 6-0 | Committed to Mississippi |
| 13. Cambridge Mathews, Keller | PG | 5-6 | Committed to Tulsa |
| 14. Donavia Hall, Plano East | SF | 5-9 | Committed to SMU |
| 15. Kyla Deck, Frisco Lone Star | PG | 5-9 | Committed to Stephen F. Austin |
| 16. Desiree Wooten, Mansfield Timberview | G | 5-7 | Committed to North Texas |
| 17. Michayla Gatewood, DeSoto | G | 5-5 | Committed to Kansas State |
| 18. Ayen Angoi, Bishop Lynch | F/P | 6-0 | Committed to Louisiana Tech |
| 19. Jiya Perry, DeSoto | G | 5-11 | Committed to SMU |
| 20. Jahcelyn Hartfield, South Grand Prairie | G | 5-9 | Committed to North Texas |
***
Find more high school sports stories from The Dallas Morning News here.
To view subscription options for The News and SportsDay, click here.
