The halls of Red Bank High School were empty Tuesday morning. Just one day before the holiday break began, most of the students who showed up for class had little motivation to do much beyond making plans for the relaxing days ahead.
Except for Kobe Smith.
All alone in an upstairs weight room, Smith was already 45 minutes into a two-hour workout before noon.
"I figure if I don't work out, somebody else might be out there getting a step ahead of me," Smith said.
It is that work ethic, which also shows up with his relentless style on the football field, that helped Smith earn numerous college scholarship offers. On Wednesday, surrounded by family, coaches and friends, he stayed true to his original commitment to Duke University, made last summer, by signing with the Atlantic Coast Conference program.
"His level of play has always spoken for itself," said Red Bank coach Ted Gatewood. "There's only one speed with Kobe and that's full-speed. He trains that way and plays that way and it's how he approaches everything in life."
Smith committed to Duke last summer and never wavered in that decision despite the Blue Devils undergoing a head coaching change when Mike Elko, who guided the team to a 7-5 season, stepped down to take over the program at Texas A&M in late November. Duke named Manny Diaz — former University of Miami head coach who had spent the past two seasons as defensive coordinator at Penn State — as its new head coach on Dec. 9.
"That was pretty stressful, honestly, during the coaching search," said Smith, who is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and 247Sports.com. "It was hectic because I was researching a lot of coaches who were rumored to be taking over during that time. A big part of what helped was my position coach (Harland Bower), who had been recruiting me all along, stayed on the staff and kept me posted. It all worked out how it should."
The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder, who plans to major in business, did not take any visits to other schools.
"When the coaching change happened, Coach Bower and the Duke staff were tremendous in how they communicated," Gatewood said. "Coach Bower came back down for an in-home visit and laid everything out, which made everybody feel a lot more comfortable.
"Kobe and his family approached it in a manner where, once he made his mind up that Duke is where he needed to be, he stayed by that. His level of commitment is a testament to how he was raised and who he is as a person."
Projected to play outside linebacker in college, he chose the Blue Devils over offers from Stanford, Vanderbilt, Cincinnati and Appalachian State.
As an edge-rushing defensive end for the Lions, Smith made 62 total tackles, including 37 solo stops, nine sacks, seven quarterback pressures, forced four fumbles and also blocked four punts. He finished with 20 sacks in his last two prep seasons and blocked six kicks.
Although he won a Class A wrestling state title as a junior, pinning 56 of his 58 opponents, Smith has elected not to wrestle this season.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Bradley Central's Kaleb Martin (12) is brought down by Red Bank's Kobe Smith (12). Smith signed with Duke University Wednesday.