Gamecocks, Tigers target OrTre Smith wraps up visits

Wide receiver OrTre Smith of Wando made all of the necessary visits to his favorite schools this summer, and now he's immersed himself in his upcoming senior season. He still has Sept. 11 down for making his commitment and is now going through the process of checking and rechecking his notes on South Carolina, Clemson, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida.

"It's been a very humbling and growing up experience for him," said Smith's mentor and trainer Ramon Robinson. "He went about it the right way visiting every school and seeing what each had to offer and establishing those relationships with those coaches. The biggest thing with him is that relationship with that coaching staff and the head coach of that school. He's going through that process to see who is going to make him better and who can he contribute to, whether it's now or later. The big thing with him is relationships."

Smith had good visits to all five schools and he's developing strong relationships with each head coach and each of his recruiters so there's not much difference between the schools. Smith has not stated a favorite through the process, but Robinson believes Smith has an inkling about where he would like to go.

"I think he has a feeling," Robinson said. "He goes off of feeling. He has felt his way through the process of the schools and what he feels comfortable with and what he doesn't feel comfortable with. I know South Carolina is one he's established a relationship with. He's established a relationship with coach Tony Elliott at Clemson. Now, it's just a matter of who."

Robinson added that recruiters at Georgia and North Carolina have also built strong ties to Smith while Florida, because it came in later than the others, probably trails the rest. So, the top four are all pretty close with Smith at this point as he hits the final stage of the process.

"Right now it's just a process of getting through the season, narrowing down and getting in the right mindset of where he's going to go to school," Robinson said. "I send him a text every week. Where we at in recruiting? 'Coach, I'm almost there, I'm almost there.' That's where it's at. No one is rushing him. No one is pressuring him to make a decision."

Robinson said Smith has made multiple visits to all his favorites and has seen all he needs to see so he does not expect any more visits before Sept. 11 . Smith plans to graduate in December and enroll at his school of choice in January.