The Scout: Winthrop - Anthony Smith III
Breaking down the game of Winthrop point guard Anthony Smith III
The ninth installment of The Scout is here, this time breaking down Winthrop’s newest transfer guard from North Dakota, Anthony Smith III.
Without further ado, let’s get right into the breakdown.
Player Bio:
Before transferring to Winthrop, Anthony Smith III spent 1 season at North Dakota.
2025-26 (Freshman Season):
In 34 games, Smith averaged 7.8 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG, including making 8 starts for North Dakota.
Ranked 2nd in the Summit League for Assists by a True Freshman this season.
Had a career high of 6 rebounds against Winthrop last season.
Film Review:
Playmaking Ability:
One of the best aspects of Anthony Smith’s game is his ability to play make and create for his teammates. Last season, Anthony Smith had an Assist Percentage of 25.1% with a 1.6x Assist/Turnover Ratio, both being in the top 1/3rd of D1 guards last season. In the Summit League last season, Smith finished 2nd in Assists by a True Freshman and 4th for all freshmen. Of those 4 freshmen, Smith played less than 2/3rd of any of their minutes with similar APG numbers. Smith also turned in the 3rd best Assist/Turnover Ratio for any freshman, and only ranking behind Nick Janowiski in both APG and Assist/Turnover Ratio.
Anthony Smith’s playmaking threat makes him a perfect fit in the Big South Conference. Last season, Anthony Smith’s season was comparable to two Big South guards in Triston Wilson and Jacoi Hutchinson, along with now Longwood guard TJ Robinson. Alongside those Big South player comps, Smith also holds comparisons from Nik Graves, TO Barrett, Ace Buckner, Zoom Diallo, Budd Clark, and many other P5 and MM stars.
This addition also fills a hole that opened for Winthrop after Kareem Rozier’s departure after his senior season. The one main crossover point in both Rozier’s and Smith’s abilities is that they are elite playmakers. Last season, Rozier had an Assist Percentage of 20.7% with an unreal 3.3x Assist/Turnover Ratio. While Smith doesn’t control the ball as well as Rozier, they both are able to convert and set up their teammates and be the leader of an offense.
Strong Attack:
The biggest reason for Smith’s offensive success, including his playmaking, is his ability to get down and attack the rim. Last season, Smith ranked in the 93rd percentile and 97th percentile for Rim Attack and Attack and Kick plays on Hoop Explorer. Nearly 58 out of every 100 plays with Smith on the floor involve an attack of some kind, most of which involve him. Anthony Smith also takes 53% of his shot attempts at the rim while shooting nearly 58% from the rim. Smith was one of 8 freshman to shoot over 100 close 2PT’s and shoot over 55% from that range, including his own teammate from last season, Greyson Uelmen.
Last season, one of Winthrop’s biggest issues was making shots at the rim. Some of that was due to fouling, but Winthrop had 3 main guard pieces that shot in the bottom 5th percentile at the Rim last season, according to HoopExplorer. In the 24-25 season, Winthrop was not a stellar 2PT shooting team, but Kasen Harrison and his 52.6% at the rim helped Winthrop shoot 56.4% at the rim compared to the 321st-ranked at the rim with 53.3%.
Once again, comparing to the 2024-25 team and their PG, Kasen Harrison. During that 24-25 season, Kasen Harrison ranked in the 99th and 96th percentile for Rim Attack play and Attack and Kick play frequency, very similarly to Anthony Smith III. The comparisons don’t just stop there between Smith and Harrison. Before transferring to Winthrop from Lamar, Harrison, much like Smith, was not a good pick-and-roll passer, with Smith ranking in the 3rd efficiency percentile, and Harrison ranking in the 18th and 27th efficiency percentile on pick-and-roll passer plays. At Winthrop, those percentiles saw an immediate jump for Harrison, with him having 2 of 3 seasons in the Top 70th percentile, with one season at the 31st percentile, and 79th percentile for frequency.
Roster Shift:
While taking a more outward look at the roster as a whole, I do believe Smith encompasses the idea as a whole of a roster shift having occurred at Winthrop. Last season was the first season during Mark Prosser’s tenure at Winthrop that the Eagles ranked outside the Top 100 in 2PT Percentage and the Top 110 in Effective FG Percentage. While Kareem Rozier was an elite PG who kept the ball safe, leading to the lowest team turnover Percentage under Prosser’s tenure. Rozier was a different kind of PG than what Coach Prosser has had his entire career.
This season’s team is more similar to past Mark Prosser teams, and that begins with Anthony Smith III. Both Harrison and Smith are higher-level playmaking guards who primarily score and create by attacking the rim. Smith and Harrison also have similar sizes, similar player profiles when entering Winthrop’s system, and will have similar tools around them. Harrison had Talford and Doucet as a two-headed monster down low to feed the ball into. This season, Winthrop has George Natsvlishvili, whom Smith played with at North Dakota, and Eeshar Singh Sarai joining Seifeldin Hendawy and Tai Hamilton down low for Smith to feed into.
Jump Shooting:
The one big concern is that if Anthony Smith III doesn’t take many jumpers, and when he does take them, he doesn’t really make them consistently. Last season, while at North Dakota, Smith shot a total of 42 3 Pointers and 19 mid-range 2’s. Smith went 10-42 on 3’s ranking in the bottom 11th percentile in 3 Point attempt rate and the 13th percentile from behind the arc. While the attempts were limited to 23.8% from 3, which is concerning, especially when you consider the shocking fact that Smith went 0-11 on Open Catch-and-Shoot Attempts past season.
There are two things that I think give optimism about these shooting numbers improving, or not even creating an impact. The first being that last season seemed to be an anomaly, shooting-wise, for Smith. During conference play, Smith averaged 30% from behind the mark; in his final 8 conference games, his shooting rose to 33%. Smith was also an 83% free-throw shooter and a 42.1% mid-range shooter. The second part that gives me optimism is that Winthrop doesn’t rely on their PG’s to shoot the ball. During all 3 of Kasen Harrison’s seasons at Winthrop, Harrison never ranked higher than the 30th percentile in 3PT Attempt Rate.
Final Thoughts:
This addition just screams that Mark Prosser is going back to what worked in 24-25: getting a strong attacking PG who can play make. From 22-23 to 24-25, it was Kasen Harrison, and now in 26-27, Winthrop hopes it is Anthony Smith. The comparison is nearly perfect, similar shooting percentages entering the portal, similar play style compared to what succeeded for Harrison at Winthrop. Smith’s stats might not pop on the paper, but the stats look better with the context of being behind another stellar freshman in Greyson Uelmen.
If you have to rebuild a roster like Winthrop did this offseason, getting a high-level PG is a MUST. Anthony Smith III seems to be Winthrop’s stab at getting that, and personally, I do like the addition. Mark Prosser has had success with guards like Smith, as seen in Winthrop’s success when Kasen Harrison was the PG. Kasen Harrison earned Big South HM, so I believe you can expect similar from Anthony Smith.