TCU Basketball player Diante Smith transferring to South Alabama

Sophomore forward Diante Smith is moving on.

A native of Fort Walton Beach, FL, the bouncy athlete was a top 20 prospect in the state of Florida when he signed with the Horned Frogs as a high three star recruit in the 2019 class. As a freshman, he played in 31 games with five starts, averaging 2.5 points and two rebounds per game in about 13 minutes of floor time. He struggled to see the floor as a sophomore, though, finding himself buried in the rotation behind transfers Chuck O’Bannon and Kevin Easley, Jr, earning just 10 minutes over his last three games with the program after playing 18 in the team’s opener against Houston Baptist. He was just 3-7 from the field in TCU’s first four games and recorded six total rebounds.

Smith was a player that folks were excited about when he signed, and showed flashes of being a solid contributor in Jamie Dixon’s program. But Easley has been great on the boards and is a better defender, and O’Bannon is instant offense and equally as athletic. Between those two, and glue guy Mickey Pearson, there just weren’t many opportunities for a 6’7” that was struggling with his shot to break into the rotation.

Smith’s last game was the loss to Oklahoma just over a week ago; the Frogs bounced back from dropping back-to-back games at home to demolish Texas A&M Saturday at Dickies’ Arena. Next up for TCU Basketball is a road matchup with Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State Wednesday in Stillwater.