Jalen Smith Gives Pledge to Navy

The Naval Academy lands another football player from Ocean Lakes High School.

Rivals 3-Star wide receiver and defensive back Jalen Smith committed on Wednesday to the Midshipmen.

The 6-foot-1, 165-pound athlete from Virginia Beach had received other overtures from Virginia - before his sophomore year - Army and UVA-Wise. However, Navy made him a greater priority than everyone else and he didn't want to wait around.

"It's all love there and you get the best of both worlds, serving your country and playing football. I felt as if I was gambling by holding out," Smith told VirginiaPreps.com.

"They like how long I am, being that 6-foot corners are becoming the prototype, and think that I can play all coverages and tackle. It's a great opportunity and I didn't feel that any other school was pushing for me."

For Navy, it's the third commitment in as many years from Ocean Lakes, which signed his brother - running back Justin Smith - and defensive back Dakare Coston. Those factors didn't hurt their cause in recruiting Jalen.

"My brother was a plus. I basically went through the recruiting process with him. I've been up there a lot. But he didn't have much of an effect on my commitment," Smith noted.

"I felt that it was a great opportunity and I can still go to the NFL from there while serving."

"Jalen has all the tools,” says Ocean Lakes Head Football Coach Joe Jones. “He's an excellent athlete with a great frame that runs well and runs smooth. He's got the kind of frame where he's going to put on 10-15 pounds, get bigger and stronger, and it's not going to affect his speed or quickness either. He's going to be a big playmaker for us."

The younger Smith played mostly as a backup during his sophomore season on an Ocean Lakes team that went 12-1 overall. Even though older, more established players such as Levonta Taylor (Florida State), Tahj Capehart (Maryland) and Tylan McElhenie (Delaware) were ahead of him on the depth chart, he still managed to contribute with four receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns, plus 12 tackles on defense.

When Chris Scott left the Dolphins to become the Head Coach at Bishop Sullivan, several players followed. Smith left to go to Bishop McNamara in Maryland, but ended up returning midway through the 2016 campaign. It took some adjusting, yet Smith still made plays.

In five games with the Dolphins year ago, Smith caught 11 balls for 77 yards, only dropping two passes all season. Defensively, he was used sparingly, recording 10 tackles, one pass break up and an interception in limited action.

"Being gone the first half of last year got him a little bit behind. When he came back, it was a new system and he was still learning, and that happened to be the five toughest games of the year. Now he's got a whole off-season under his belt, That's going to help him tremendously. He's a good team leader for us, too," stated Jones, who sees the receiver duo of Smith and Vinny Jarvis enabling the Dolphins to do more damage through the air.

"That's going to be a great combination. Last year we averaged about 300 yards a game, but we were so run-heavy that around 260 of it was rushing. We've revamped our pass game a little bit and guys are really excited. If they give it to us short, they're guys we can throw it quick to and they can make things happen. If it looks like we can go down the field, they have enough speed."

It'll likely be at defensive back instead of receiver, the position most other schools recruited him to play, where Smith lines up for the Midshipmen. Smith was recruited by Navy assistant coach Napoleon Sykes.

Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a regular contributor to the ACC Sports Journal. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10AM on ESPN Radio 94.1.