What the Hokies are getting in Adam Smith

Hey, look! The words "transfer" and "Virginia Tech basketball" are in the same sentence and it's NOT about a player leaving Blacksburg!

As first reported by CBS' Jeff Goodman earlier Wednesday, Virginia Tech has added UNC-Wilmington transfer Adam Smith to its basketball program. Smith is a 6-1, 160 pound point guard from Jonesboro, Ga. and just finished his freshman season with the Seahawks.

While Smith won't be able to play until the 2013-14 season, he will have three years of eligibility remaining at that time. His arrival means there are seven players in the program who are schedule to be on scholarship in the season after next. Despite losing Dorian Finney-Smith and (reportedly) Montrezl Harrell, new head coach James Johnson is still working to bring more talent into Blacksburg.

Let's take a look at the type of player the Hokies' are getting in Smith.

Smith started 29 of 31 games for the Seahawks, who are a part of the Colonial Athletic Association — probably the second best mid-major league in the country last season (behind the Mountain West). He averaged 13.7 points per game, which was the 11th highest mark in the league.

In the first game of his career, Smith dropped 22 points on Maryland, including a 5-of-9 effort from three-point range. In mid-December, Smith scored 33 points against Wake Forest. He shot 7-of-12 from long range in that game. He finished the season as a 33 percent shooter from beyond the arc. In games that he attempted at least six three's, he shot better 38 percent from that range.

He's not much of a distributor, though, with only 1.6 assists per game and an assist-to-turnover ratio of almost exactly 1-to-1.

There remains work to be done defensively as well. Smith managed just 0.5 steals per game, a number far below expectations for a lead guard playing 30 minutes per game, no matter the level of competition.

He was a two-star recruit by ESPN.com, which scouted him as a "catch and shoot guy with range out to 22 feet...showed the ability to come off screens and knock down shots, as well as making three's in transition."

It's pretty evident that Smith is a shooting guard in a point guard's body, but his ability to score from the perimeter will certainly add value to the Hokies' bench in a few years. Think Hank Thorns, except a tad bigger but less efficient.