January 16, 1999
BERKELEY - Donte Smith, a 6-2 point guard from Washington, D.C., has won an appeal from the NCAA and been ruled eligible immediately for the remainder of the 1998-99 season. Smith will be enrolled in classes at Cal when the spring semester begins Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Smith and Cal head coach Ben Braun have already discussed the probability of Smith redshirting this season, which would give Smith four full years to play beginning next season.
Smith was the 1998 Washington, D.C., Player of the Year after averaging 28.3 points, 6.2 assists and 5.7 rebounds at Anacostia High School in '97-98. He was rated the nation's No. 52 prep recruit overall by recruiting expert Bob Gibbons, while he was ranked the No. 21 point guard in the nation by The Sporting News.
A strong student in high school, Smith graduated last May with a 3.4 overall GPA and a 3.64 GPA in his core courses. However, he fell just shy of qualifying under NCAA standards on his ACT. Cal made an appeal to the NCAA Eligibility Committee on Smith's behalf, and the request was granted.
