Florida commit Grayson Smith ‘battle-ready’ for next level
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – To make it as a pitcher at the collegiate level, you must bring a certain type of vigor to the mound. This is something Grayson Smith has. It’s something he’s had since he was five years old, when he would yell at his basketball teammates for not dribbling.
“I’ve always been an intense dude,” Smith said. “Growing up, my mom and my dad would have to reign that in.”
The high school junior at McCallie High in Chattanooga, Tennessee still relies on that mentality every start, which is part of what makes him appealing to the coaching staff at the University of Florida.
“In pitching, you get seven innings in and you’re on your 105th pitch,” Smith said. “If you can’t maintain the intensity from pitch one, you’re not going to make it.”
The primary source of Smith’s competitive edge comes from his grandfather, who was so determined to play everyday, that he would hitchhike to the baseball field and back when he was a kid. He’s helped coach Grayson every step of the way.
“He’d stay until the lights came on and you’d hit ’till you’d have blisters on your hands,” Smith said. “He’ll throw until you’re done.”
While his grandfather can still throw some pretty good batting practice, he can’t quite match the heat that his grandson can throw. Grayson has a repertoire of a low 90s fastball, an 11/5 curveball and a developing changeup.
Once Smith started to play more travel ball to gear up for high school, he received his first recruiting encounter with a phone call from the coaching staff at Penn State.
“I remember setting alarms to make sure I got the call at the right time,” Smith said. “After that, I thought maybe this is the real thing. And that was exciting because that has been the goal since I started playing.”
While the recruiting process is always enjoyable, it is typically stressful as well. So it is a bit of a relief for Smith to be done with it and be committed to a school like Florida.
“You look at the guys that go into Florida and the guys that come out of Florida and it just looks like they are battle-ready dudes,” Smith said. “Florida is a step to the next place.”
Before Smith heads to Gainesville, he still has two more years in Chattanooga. He is just one piece of a special 2023 class at McCallie, along with Hudson Calhoun, an Ole Miss commit, and Olin Johnson, a Washington State commit.
“It’s exciting,” Smith said. “We just ran into a bunch of talent in this class and in the class in front of us, we have a lot of dudes that can really go out and ball.”
Despite already earning the chance to play baseball for the Gators, Smith is not one to cruise and wants the best for himself and his team.
“I didn’t earn my parents being able to send me to McCallie, I didn’t earn the ability to throw hard,” Smith said. “My thought process is I was given all of these things, so I might as well do all I can to take advantage.”
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