Fred Smith Jr. calls himself a “Memphis made” kid. Now, he’ll have a chance to make an impact on the hometown university.

Smith, a two-time Mr. Basketball winner who also led Briarcrest to two state championships, announced this week he intends to stay at home and play for coach Penny Hardaway and the Tigers.

He joins another local player, former FACS standout Cello Jackson, in Memphis’ incoming freshman class.

One of Smith’s classmates at Briarcrest is pitcher Phinn Beaird, who will play collegiately at Memphis. After a slow start to the season, the left-hander looked like his old self in a win against region rival MUS.

And as always, we need your help in recognizing our top high school athletes. Coaches and star-keepers can send in their scores, highlights and top performers from each game either by emailing jvarlas@dailymemphian.com or on X @johnvarlas.

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Briarcrest ace Phinn Beaird quiets MUS By John Varlas

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Daily Memphian boys basketball awards: Briarcrest standout repeats as top player By John Varlas

Bartlett pitcher voted athlete of the week By John Varlas

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