Winston-Salem, NC was host to some of the top college and high school point guards in the country this weekend as the prestigious Chris Paul Elite Camp came to town. The former Wake Forest point "god" and current LA Clipper hold this annual camp to help teach the game the right way to those CP3 deems "next up." Some of the names that stood out this year were UK's freshman back-court of Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox, UConn's Jalen Adams and Rodney Purvis, but the name that stole the show was NC State freshman Dennis Smith Jr. (DSJ) Whatever concerns people may have had for the former number one ranked PG in the nation was erased this weekend. Smith came to the camp to show he is BACK and it was evident early on.
In 3-on-3 competition the first day, Smith was teamed up with Iowa State's Monte Morris and SMU's Shake Milton. The three combined to be a deadly trio, hitting shot after shot from deep led by DSJ. At one point during the action, Smith was able to hit 5 straight threes before his "heat-check" 5th attempt came off the rim. Fast forward to Day 2 and that was when we really saw him turn it on.
In the final 4-on-4 competition Smith used his signature "hesi" to get passed his defender, only to be met by newest member of the OKC Thunder - Victor Oladipo, at the rim for the emphatic block. After that exchange, Smith decided to pick up Oladipo the rest of the way on defense and more than held his own against the young budding NBA star. Smith was able to strip the ball from Oladipo as he tried to hit a fade-away jumper in the corner and proceeded to call Oladipo's drive "soft" on the following possession. It's no wonder why scouts are raving about the Fayetteville native as he seems to just possess that "dog" mentality to go after it no matter what. Look for the Dreamville product to make some NOISE this upcoming year with NC State Wolfpack. Life is all about how you handle situations and it seems evident that Dennis Smith Jr's knee injury has done nothing but added fuel to already pretty incredible fire. As he stated himself Saturday, his goal for next season "is to win a National Championship." Check out these raw highlights from the CP3 Elite Camp!