He was the 2019–20 Ivy League scoring champion and holds the Big Ten men's basketball tournament single-game assists record (15).

[4] He led Fenwick to the Chicago Catholic League (CCL) championship, scoring a game-high 27 points against St. Joseph High School in the final.

[5] In his senior season, Smith averaged 19.3 points, 4.0 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, helping his team to the Class 3A sectional final and a school-record 28 wins.

He finished second in Illinois Mr. Basketball voting to Charlie Moore and left Fenwick with 1,800 career points, the second-most in school history behind Corey Maggette.

[11] He finished the season averaging 17.6 points, which led his team and ranked second in the Ivy League, and a conference-high 4.6 assists per game.

[15] On December 12, it was announced that he would miss the remainder of the season with a torn meniscus suffered five days earlier against Bryant.

[21] Smith was ranked the 11th best graduate transfer according to ESPN and chose the Wolverines over offers from Gonzaga, Arizona and Seton Hall.

[24][25] On March 12, Michigan opened its 2021 Big Ten men's basketball tournament play with a 79–66 victory over Maryland in the quarterfinals.

On April 7, 2021, Smith declared for the 2021 NBA draft, forgoing the additional season of eligibility the NCAA granted in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He became close friends with NBA player Jimmy Butler after meeting him at his high school team's Jordan Brand apparel unveiling presentation in 2016.