Smith is O'Leary's diamond in the rough

Click on the pic to go to the link

ORLANDO -- It didn't take long for UCF coach George O'Leary to realize he had something special in Kevin Smith.

From the first few days of preseason practice in Smith's freshman season in 2005, O'Leary was impressed with the Miami native, who was part of O'Leary's UCF second recruiting class.

"Kevin did some things in pre-season practice that year that some freshmen just don't do," O'Leary said. "He didn't act like a freshman, and he seemed very mature for his age.

"The first thing that caught my eye about him is that he has great vision. He makes great cuts that are hard to teach. He makes cuts after he hits the hole, not before it, and he has a great knack of seeing things. Those were some of the big reasons why we recruited him."
SHAWN A. AKERS: Daytona Beach News Journal