Former Auburn star Jabari Smith Jr. says he always wanted to go to Kentucky

Jabari Smith Jr. is one of the most talented men’s basketball players to ever come through the Auburn program. The 6-foot-10 stretch forward possesses a smooth shooting stroke and is an elite-level defender. He was a consensus five-star prospect from the ’21 class, picking the Tigers over several other SEC programs. Smith later won the conference’s Freshman of the Year award and was tabbed as a Second-Team All-American before being drafted No. 3 overall last month by the Houston Rockets.

He also always wanted to play for the Kentucky Wildcats.

In a live interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks on Tuesday, Smith sat down to discuss a wide array of mostly basketball topics. At one point, the discussion shifted towards Kentucky and Smith’s childhood desire to play in Lexington. He went as far as to say that he “always” wanted to go to Kentucky growing up, but the program’s lack of attention until late in his recruiting process turned him off from the Wildcats when it came time to make a decision.

“When I grew up, I was always watching Kentucky,” Smith told Rooks. “Like Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, De’Aron Fox, Malik Monk, all of those people, I was always watching them like that was where I wanted to go. When I was younger I was always saying I wanted to go to Kentucky, that’s the school I’m gonna go to. But when I got older and teams started recruiting me — like I had offers from Georgia, Auburn, LSU, when I started getting offers like that I’m like ‘Kentucky, where you at?’

“They haven’t offered me yet but people tell me that Blue Bloods come in late, they don’t really offer this early and I’m like why? You know what I’m saying? What are ya’ll not seeing? So when my decision came, it was like I’m gonna go for someone who seen my potential early and really, really, really want me. I don’t want somebody who just saw my ranking and saw all this and was like we’re gonna recruit him now. Nah. I want somebody who’s been watching me since I was in 10th grade, 9th grade. So the loyalty part came into it a little bit.”

“When I was younger I always said ‘I want to go to Kentucky.’”@jabarismithjr on how Kentucky was his first college choice growing up

Imagine 🤯 @brhoops pic.twitter.com/En1EG6qumK

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 12, 2022

In the end, Smith never received an official scholarship offer from Kentucky, although the staff did show interest beginning his junior year of high school. He ultimately stuck true to his word and signed with Auburn, which offered him in April 2019, before the likes of Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina all came calling.

What could have been…