Columbus North’s Tucker Smith competes in the shot put during the Boys Track and Field State Finals at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Friday, June 4, 2021. Smith won the state championship with a state meet record of 67 feet, 11 1/4 inches.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
If he would have waited for the offers to pour in, Tucker Smith likely could have had his pick on schools to continue his throwing career, but he figured, the “Sooner,” the better.
The state champion shot putter from Columbus North and Indiana’s Gatorade Boys Track and Field Player of the Year is headed to Oklahoma. He committed on Wednesday night to throw for the Sooners beginning next year.
“The campus is just really nice, and then the program is really good,” Smith said. “I knew it was a place I wanted to be and could get better.”
Smith connected on a Zoom call with Oklahoma coaches in early September and set up a visit for Sept. 25. That day, he attended the Sooners’ football game against West Virginia and met some of the other track athletes.
Since then, the husband-and-wife duo that was coaching the Oklahoma throwers have moved on to Michigan. Andrew Ninow is the Sooners’ new throwing coach, and Smith has had a couple of long phone conversations with him.
“There was a coaching change out there, so I had to wait on that,” Smith said. “But it’s nice to get it done with.”
Smith, who plans to major in conservation science, also had visited Indiana University, Arizona and Kennesaw State, but Kennesaw State was the only one of those that had offered a scholarship prior to Oklahoma.
“Once I got that offer, other teams kind of laid back a little bit,” Smith said. “I talked to other, bigger schools, but I kind of narrowed it down. Location was a big choice. I like the town it was in (Norman, Oklahoma), how hot it was all year and how the people were in general.”
In the spring, Smith broke the all-time state record in the shot with a throw of 69 feet, 7 inches and the state meet record with a 67-11 1/4. He also finished threw 167-9 in the discus and finished 12th at state in that event at 155-1.
This summer, Smith won the shot at national meets in Ohio and Georgia. Since then, he’s mostly been lifting.
“I’m back in offseason training,” Smith said. “I’ve been lifting since July ended, and I’m getting back into throwing now.”
Smith has been working with Danielle Wynne, who has been coaching him since he was 8 years old and with Jase Robinson at Deathproof CrossFit. Smith also credited Jordan Sharp, his high school throwing coach at North, with his development.
At Oklahoma, Smith figures he will throw the discus and probably the hammer, along with the shot. He has some lofty goals for his senior season at North.
“I want to hit 75 feet in shot and 200 in discus,” Smith said.
