COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL: Edwardsville’s Smith leaving Illinois - “I just don’t fit the system” Smith will be one-and-done with Illini

Illinois’ Mark Smith (13) seals off Purdue’s Grady Eifert (24) while waiting for a rebound during the first half a Big Ten Conference game Feb. 22 in Champaign. On Monday, Smith requested and received his release from Illinois and will transfer after completing the semester in Champaign. less Illinois’ Mark Smith (13) seals off Purdue’s Grady Eifert (24) while waiting for a rebound during the first half a Big Ten Conference game Feb. 22 in Champaign. On Monday, Smith requested and received his ... more Photo: Associated Press Photo: Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL: Edwardsville’s Smith leaving Illinois - “I just don’t fit the system” 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

More than 200 fans and another 20 media members were in Edwardsville about 10 months ago when Mark Smith announced he would play college basketball for the University of Illinois.

Only his parents were again by his side Monday when Mark Smith ended his career with the Fighting Illini.

“I just don’t fit the system,” Smith said of his reasons for leaving first-year coach Brad Underwood’s program. “I wish all the players the best of luck, but I just don’t fit the system. Coach Underwood, he’s going to get people that fit his system.

“I love the University of Illinois. I love that I was excited going there. It just wasn’t meant to be. I wish the program the best of luck. I wish coach Underwood and his staff, all my teammates, the best of luck.”

Smith, joined by his dad Anthony and his mom Yvonne, met with Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman, who granted a scholarship release that should be finalized by mid-week. Smith moved off campus Sunday and will finish the semester as a student at Illinois while making a decision on his next school.

“I don’t have any timetable set,” Smith said. “I really haven’t talked to any schools yet because this just happened. … I’m just going to make sure I get the right fit this time, the right system.”

Despite a disappointing freshman season with the 14-18 Illini, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Smith will have multiple options for finishing his career after sitting out next season. Smith said Whitman placed no restrictions on the transfer options.

“He didn’t block any schools from me at all,” Smith said of the Illini AD.

As a senior with the Edwardsville Tigers, Smith averaged 22 points per game while leading the Tigers to a 30-2 record and a No. 1 ranking in the season’s final Class 4A state poll. His 1,477 career points rank No. 3 all-time at Edwardsville.

The 2017 Telegraph Player of the Year’s recruiting stock soared while his play as a senior earned Smith honors including Associated Press first-team all-state as the top vote-getter, Champaign News-Gazette’s Illinois Player of the Year, Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and the state’s most prestigious accolade, Illinois Mr. Basketball.

Kentucky and Duke made April sales pitches to land Smith, but allegiance to the home state made Illinois the winner in a final five including Michigan State, Ohio State, Kentucky and Duke. Smith was the first Mr. Basketball to sign with the Illini since Waukegan’s Jereme Richmond in 2010.

“I want to make my state proud,” Smith told the crowd at his signing last April, “and join likes of Dee Brown, Brian Cook, Deon Thomas, Frank Williams and other Mr. Basketballs that have chosen to stay in state. … I just had that love for Illinois.”

But love was not enough and the dream of joining those Illini luminaries officially ended Monday. Smith was the fifth Edwardsville Tiger to sign with Illinois and first since Tom Dezort in 1968. EHS graduates Don Ohl (1954), Mannie Jackson (1956) and Gov Vaughn (1956) were all starters and All-Big Ten performers for the Illini in the ‘50s.

Smith, who does not turn 19 until August, was an immediate starter at Illinois and scored in double figures in four of his first five games, including a season-high 21-point outing against DePaul. Hampered by a stomach virus he had trouble shaking, Smith’s production and playing time waned as the season progressed.

Smith made 19 starts, but none in the Illini’s last nine games. He averaged 5.8 points and 19.1 minutes per game while shooting 34 percent from the field, including 23 percent from the arc, and 80 percent from the foul line. Those are not the numbers Smith and Illini fans envisioned from the recruit cast as the face of the future for Illinois basketball.

“A little bit,” Smith said of disappointment in that stat line. “But I know I have a new chapter coming somewhere else. I’m going to go to a school where I fit in better than I did here.”