AJ Smith, who led The Citadel in scoring this past season, didn’t have to go far to find a new home.
Smith’s new basketball team will be only a few miles from his old one as the 6-4 guard will transfer to crosstown rival College of Charleston.
Smith averaged 16.2 points and shot 35.4 percent from 3-point range for the Bulldogs, starting all 29 of the games he played and averaging 32.1 minutes per game.
Smith scored 18 points against the Cougars during the Bulldogs’ 86-71 loss to CofC on Dec. 14 at TD Arena.
Smith becomes the fourth transfer for new College of Charleston basketball coach Chris Mack.
St. Louis University point guard Djordje Curcic, Xavier big man Lazar Djokovic and Lipscomb guard Derrin Boyd have committed to Mack last week.
The 6-2 Curcic, a freshman, broke his foot midway through this past season and played in only games 18 for the Billikens.
Curcic averaged 2.9 points and shot 43 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
Boyd, a 6-3, 210-pund graduate transfer, was among the Atlantic Sun Conference’s top scorers, averaging 17.6 points a game while earning second team all-league honors.
Boyd recorded nine 20-point games, including a season-high 38-point performance against Florida Gulf Coast in January.
The 6-10 Djokovic, a freshman, recorded seven starts for the Musketeers during the 2023-24 season. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.9 rebounds a game for Xavier.
Djokovic and Curcic played for U19 and U18 Serbian national youth teams, respectively, this past summer.
Djokovic averaged 14.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steal for Serbia in seven games at the FIBA U19 World Cup. Curcic helped lead Serbia to a bronze medal in the FIBA U18 European Challengers, where he averaged 12.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
Smith was one of five Bulldogs to enter the transfer portal since the season ended, including No. 3 scorer Madison Durr.
Reserves Tony Carpio (Georgia College) and Levi Birkholz (Minnesota State-Moorhead) have announced destinations, and Quinn Nielsen is in the transfer portal.
