Former Laney receiver Jared Smart ready to shine with Hawai'i

(Courtesy KHON-TV, Hawaii)

HONOLULU - For University of Hawaii wide receiver Jared Smart, the long road to realize a lifelong dream will be realized at Aloha Stadium.

Smart and the Rainbow Warriors will open their 2019 season next Saturday against Arizona, providing as the FBS debut for the junior pass-catcher.

After playing two seasons at Laney College in Oakland, California, he earned first team all-league honors in 2018 helping capture the school’s first-ever CCCAA state championship.

In 2018 he appeared in 13 games as a sophomore, hauling in 53 receptions for 634 yards and seven touchdowns, before transferring to UH and quickly finding himself taking the lion-share of first team reps at wide receiver, opposite returning starter Jojo Ward.

“The excitement coming in seeing how good they did last year, seeing how well we can do this year, and to be able to see how well we molded in the Spring was definitely eye opening. Not just for me, but for people around and people that know me, they know that this offense is a good thing for a receiver, so definitely excited about it,” Smart told KHON2 Sports Director Rob DeMello.

No stranger to capitalizing ‘in the moment’, Smart, is the son of New York Knicks assistant coach, Keith Smart, who is best remembered for hitting the game-winning shot in the 1987 NCAA basketball championship for Indiana. The younger Smart has taken the approach of supreme confidence in his ability to reach his goal of playing FBS college football. Although that goal didn’t come easy, he’s embraced the grind that it took to accomplish it.

“I never really had doubt, I just always knew that there has been times in my journey that I didn’t know what was going to end up happening, you know I just always knew I had to keep my head down, keep working and just wait for the opportunity, and that’s going to come soon.”

Smart and the ‘Bows will soon hit the field, and when asked what he thinks about in anticipation of that moment, Smart says he’s just counting down the days to run out of the tunnel, and make an instant impact on Hawaii’s mission to capture the program’s first Mountain West Conference championship.

“Ten days is pretty much the thing that I’ve been dreaming about the past two years is going to happen. So, the long years of days of working hard and just not knowing of what’s really gonna happen. Now I know that in ten days we’re going to see what really happens.”