No one is arguing that this kid would play heavy minutes or is Jabari Parker or Frank Jackson. It is about projection. BYU has minimal rim protection right now (Yes Yoeli...but Yoeli is maybe 6'7"...maybe. Excited about Baxter) We lack length and size. We are very poorly suited to play modern basketball. Nowadays if you're a "big", you either have to be able to protect the rim or stretch the floor. Preferably both...although a lot of those kids get gobbled up by bigger programs. Adding anyone that can help in these areas is important for our team even if they never play a minute in a game. They'll help in practice and they'll project into a modern system better. 

This past season BYU had Kur Kuath (Oklahoma commit) in SLCC and was late on offering him. Great athlete, great rim protecting instincts and timing. This Smith kid is certainly raw and is not Kuath, but he's 6'10 and has length. He has good athleticism to protect the rim. And his highlights show ability to create. He was the Hawaii Player of the Year, won two state championships, etc. 

Shaw and Andrus each only had offers from BYU (at least I haven't seen any recruiting site say otherwise) and there are tons of examples of kids that didn't get high level offers that shouldv'e (Eli Bryant being one.) So we can probably stop the Western Kentucky talk. 

Maybe the staff didn't think Smith moved the needle enough to warrant replacing someone else's scholarship...but in offering kids that can't rim protect, don't have elite size, and cant strech the floor (Shaw, Andrus, and Kolby Lee) it doesn't seem like they understand how basketball is changing. And that is what worries me.