Plainsman's Choice 2022 Best Male Athlete: Jabari Smith

Jabari Smith racked up a lot of honors and awards during his freshman season on the Plains, and he has added another one as he was voted as the Plainsman’s Choice for best male athlete.

Smith, having already been named a consensus second-team All-American, NABC Freshman of the year and First-team All-SEC, can now add the Plainsman’s Choice award to his trophy case.

This season, Smith led the Tigers in scoring averaging 16.9 points per game while also grabbing 7.4 rebounds per game. He also shot 42% from behind the arc.

Coming in as Auburn’s highest-rated recruit ever, expectations for Smith were sky high before the season started, yet despite this, he was able to meet and arguably exceed expectations this season. 

It didn’t take Smith much time to show what he was capable of as he posted 23 points and 10 rebounds in his second game of the season against Louisiana Monroe.

From there on, Smith continued to consistently pace the Tigers in scoring with only three games where he scored under 20 points after the first three games of the season.

Smith was the player that Auburn could turn to whenever it needed a bucket as he has the ability to get the ball anywhere and rise up for an unblockable shot. His shot-making ability seemed unfair at times.

“Sometimes, it’s just that we have No. 10 and you don’t,” said head coach Bruce Pearl.

While Smith was good all season, he really upped his play toward the end of the season as he averaged 21.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in Auburn’s final nine games of the season. He also shot 46.8% from behind the arc during that stretch.

Smith is going to enter his name in the 2022 NBA draft where he has been widely projected as a top-three pick and has a real chance of becoming the first Auburn player to ever be selected first overall.

In only one season on the Plains, Smith left his mark on the Auburn basketball program and will be remembered as one of the best players to ever play at Auburn.