EMMITSBURG — Julien Smith did not transfer to Mount St. Mary's, a fact that, in this present era of Division I college basketball, is becoming more notable.
He is a true freshman guard for the Mountaineers. Having grown up on the basketball-rich plains of Indiana, where he scored more than 1,000 points in high school and helped lead Cathedral High to a state championship earlier this year, he was immediately struck by how unique his opportunity at the Mount could be.
"Just the culture," Smith said. "I remember coming on a visit here and how important [head coach Donny Lind] talked to me about relationships, how big he is with his relationship with his players. That's immediately what stood out to me, that he cares about his players and that he has the best interests of his players. He'll do whatever he can to lead us in the best way possible."
Even more so, Smith saw the chance to make a pretty early impact for the Mountaineers on the court.
"He made it very clear," he said of Lind. "There are going to be a many times when I play a lot, and there might be times where I don't play at all. But take full advantage whenever I do get in and really use that opportunity. I love this game, and whenever I get out there, I am going to give it my all the whole time."
On that front, he is already off to a great start.
The 6-foot, 180-pound Smith played 18-and-a-half minutes off the bench in Wednesday night's home exhibition game against Navy, and he scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting — 2-for-4 from 3-point range — in the Mountaineer's 66-59 win at Knott Arena.
Only junior Abdou Khadre Kebe (20 points), the Mount's leading returning scorer last season, and redshirt senior forward Wilguens Junior Exacte (12 points), a transfer from Drake, finished with more points for the Mountaineers.
Junior guard Redd Thompson Jr., a transfer from Longwood, also finished with 11 points for Mount St. Mary's.
"Ju has done what every freshman should do," Lind said of Smith. "He showed up to college physically strong enough to be able to play. A lot of guys, that's the biggest thing that stops them. And he has, every day, made it really hard for me to not put him in the game. And his number got called today.
"He only played three minutes in our scrimmage the other day. And we talked afterward. And I said, 'I don't know. I don't know. We've got a lot of really good guards. But he had extra opportunity today with some injuries and some guys being out. So, he took advantage of it. Now, he has made it hard on me again to decide who plays those minutes."
Mount St. Mary's, which opens the season at 7 p.m. Monday at Xavier, was picked to finish eighth in the Metro Conference — renamed July 1 from Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference — in a preseason poll of the league's coaches.
And getting regular contributions from a player like Smith could help them exceed expectations.
The Mountaineers have had several players make an instant impact as freshmen. De'Shayne Montgomery was named the MAAC Rookie of the Year in 2023, and fellow guard Damian Chong Qui, Junior Robinson and Elijah Long all made significant contributions in their first season on campus over the last decade or so.
Smith is hoping to add his name to the list if given the opportunity.
"My preparation, it's been something since I was young," he said. "It's been something that has been engraved into my head ever since I started playing basketball. It's something that has always kind of set me apart. So, I always took it very seriously to prepare myself and, whatever opportunity is present, to take full advantage of it."
