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In today’s day and age, it’s rare to find a college basketball program that does not use the transfer portal. Regardless of what people feel about it, it’s given programs a pathway to add talented players outside of the standard high school recruiting. Not only can programs add players from other Division 1 schools, but they can dip into the transfer portal and get players from other NCAA levels as the Stanford Cardinal did with Jeremy Dent-Smith.
Jeremy Dent-Smith hit the transfer portal this offseason, committing to Stanford after playing three seasons at Division 2 Cal State Dominguez Hills. This past season, he helped Dominguez reach the NCAA Division 2 national championship game for the first time in program history.
With one season left of college basketball eligibility, the Southern California native opted to stay on the West Coast and take his talents to Stanford in the ACC. But for him, it wasn’t just the basketball program that led to his decision.
“Just everything about it. The education obviously, the education is great, but I think it was more just like a family. A lot of people that I was around trust Coach [Kyle] Smith. So getting to talk to him, him being a man of faith, I think that was just a big decision,” Dent-Smith told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “Being able to go on campus, meet the guys, I really appreciated it. They welcomed me and I feel like it’s a place I can grow and get better everyday. And obviously in the ACC, playing top-level basketball.”
Jeremy Dent-Smith will be the only incoming player out of the transfer portal for Stanford. The team’s other four newcomers are all incoming freshmen with guards Jaylen Petty and Ebuka Okorie highlighting the Cardinal’s 2025 class.
This upcoming season will also be head coach Kyle Smith’s second year at the helm. In his first season, the Cardinal finished 21-14 and reached the second round of the NIT. With an upperclassmen-heavy roster, aspirations might be higher than that. Dent-Smith is confident that he will be able to mesh his game with the returners.
“I’m a worker, I’m a competitor. I think I’m just bringing that competitive energy every day,” Dent-Smith said. “Obviously I can score the ball at a high level. I can shoot the ball, but I want to be an all-around player for them. Obviously they brought me in to score the ball and just do what I do best. So just bringing that, but also growing my game and bringing some more as well.”
Jeremy Dent-Smith’s journey to Stanford
Dent-Smith was certainly an elite scoring guard while at Cal State Dominguez. During his junior year with the Toros, he averaged 19.0 points per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from the three-point line. The year prior, he averaged 17.6 points and shot 46.8 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from the three-point line.
During the Toro’s narrow 74-73 loss to Nova Southeastern in the D2 championship game, Dent-Smith dropped a game-high 27 points while shooting 9-of-16 from the field. It’s that elite scoring game that led Stanford to reach out in the transfer portal. An elite scoring game that was crafted and fine-tuned during the past three seasons of playing Division 2 basketball.
Like many young high school hoopers with aspirations of playing in college, Dent-Smith wanted a Division 1 opportunity immediately. Despite being one of the top guards in the Los Angeles area as a senior at Serra High School, it didn’t quite work out that way. But looking back on the past three years, he’s glad he made the decision that he did.
“It was probably the best decision I’ve made in a while. I think at the time I didn’t really notice it, like what it was doing for me. Being young I had that same mentality too, I wanted to go Division 1. But I think playing Division 2 just helped me really grow my game and my confidence,” Dent-Smith said. “Being able to work every day, seeing my teammates work, seeing the hours they put in every day and just wanting to be great and always just setting high goals for myself.”
“God just had a different route for me. I think just putting my faith in Him and my trust in Him kind of helped me through all this time. I didn’t see it my first year, but I can see it my last two years,” Dent-Smith continued. “I’m everywhere I wanted to be. I didn’t get it on my time, but I got it on God’s time. . .I think these are probably the three best years of my life. I’m definitely grateful.”
Jeremy- Dent-Smith’s arrival at Stanford will be the Cardinal’s second season in the ACC since the dissolving of the Pac-12. He’ll be going up against some of the top college basketball programs in the country. For him, his journey has been all about faith and hard work.
And for players who might be in a similar situation, with goals and dreams of reaching a certain level but aren’t quite there yet, the road less travelled might end up being the best road.
“Just stay the course, just work every day. You might not see the results right away, but you’re going to see results if you’re doing the right stuff every day,” Dent-Smith said. “If you’re in the gym, if you’re being a good person, all that stuff counts. Don’t ever let anything bump you off. . .when everything starts to seem like it’s going bad, just stick to it. Keep going, keep putting yourself out there, everything will fall into place.”
