Baron Smith Jr. - Local Prep Standout Signs With Mean Green

[Jonnyeagle]

DENTON – One of the state's best rebounding prep standouts Baron Smith Jr. has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the UNT men's basketball team.

The consensus three-star 6-foot-9 forward led all of Texas high school 6A boys basketball in rebounding in each of the last two seasons. He set the Haltom High School record for career rebounds (855), single season rebounds (353) and single-game rebounds (26). This past year he averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds per game for Haltom who won 21 games and made a seven-win improvement from the year prior behind Smith's growth. He was named first team all-district after this season.

The Haltom City native posted 10 or more rebounds in 20 games last year including the program record 26 versus Lake Country Christian (Fort Worth) in a 14-point win on Dec. 12. Smith was an efficient scorer too as he shot nearly 60 percent from the floor as a senior at Haltom and stretched the floor occasionally as he hit 10 3-pointers over the 33-game schedule. He averaged better than a block per game and had four versus A&M Consolidated High School (College Station, Texas) in a 24-point win.

A three-year letterwinner at Haltom High School, he averaged 10.0 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game over his three seasons with the Buffalos.  

Smith, who was rated as a top 30 player in the state of Texas by 247 Sports, chose the Mean Green over American Athletic Conference foe East Carolina, Utah State, San Jose State and others.

With the addition of Smith, North Texas will have the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex's leading prep rebounder and scorer from last season on its 2024-25 roster. Smith joins fellow incoming freshman Tyran Mason from Plano High School who led the entire DFW area last year in points per game (25.3) and signed with UNT last November. 

 

For more information on UNT men's basketball tickets, contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 or at ticketoffice@unt.edu. Fans can visit the UNT Athletics Ticket Office located at Gate 2 of DATCU Stadium between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.