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Smith receptiveto redemption

October 16, 2009 12:36 am

BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

When Torrey Smith attended Colonial Beach Elementary School, he and physical education teacher Steve Swope shared a tight bond.

Swope said he recognized early on that the kid known as "Mouse" had special athletic talent.

So whenever Smith's mother couldn't afford to send him to one of Swope's camps or place him on a parks and recreation team, Swope allowed him to play free.

"Coach Swope knew me before I knew myself," Smith said in a telephone interview this week. "Every kid who's athletic in that town goes through coach Swope."

Still, there's one thing that would've threatened the bond between Smith and Swope--had Smith decided to attend the University of Virginia.

The Cavaliers' football program recruited Smith out of Stafford High School but didn't offer a scholarship. Smith is now a sophomore star wide receiver and kick returner for Maryland.

Virginia head coach Al Groh said on Monday that if he projected Smith's talent correctly, he would be a Cavalier now.

Swope, a Virginia Tech graduate, said not so fast.

"I would've never talked to him again, and he knows that," said Swope, who served as Colonial Beach High School's basketball and baseball coach for 30 years before taking a one-year break this year. "That would've been the end with us.

"Maryland, I can stomach. With the U.Va. thing, it would've been over. We'd have no more contact. I think he knew better after all those trips [to Virginia Tech football games] with me to never consider U.Va. I'll be very point-blank on that."

'GRUDGE' AGAINST CAVS

Smith will help lead Maryland (2-4, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) into tomorrow's 4 p.m. ACC clash with the Cavaliers (2-3, 1-0).

Smith said Virginia's coaching staff questioned his speed after he suffered a broken leg playing basketball and missed the first half of his junior season at Stafford.

He said the Cavaliers told him if he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds the following spring, they would extend an offer.

But after he did so at the Nike camp at Clemson University, Virginia coaches asked him to do it again on its campus. By then, Maryland had offered a scholarship, and Smith accepted.

"I kind of hold a grudge against U.Va. a little bit. I'm not afraid to say it," Smith said. "I kind of want to show them that they questioned my speed and whether I was going to get it back. I want to show them that I'm all healed up."

Smith has no lingering effects from that injury.

He leads the nation in all-purpose yards (236.7 per game). He ranks second in the ACC in receiving yards per game (86.7) and third in catches per contest (5.2). He's already eighth all-time in kickoff return yards (1,926) in ACC history.

Smith said he was a Virginia Tech fan growing up, but would've had to consider Virginia if it offered a scholarship because of its strong academics. Groh has no doubt he would've accepted.

"Clearly if we foresaw him being the type of player he is now, he would be returning kicks for Virginia," Groh said. "So we're not above admitting that there is a player that certainly has turned out to be superior to what many people thought, including ourselves. Regardless of what the circumstance was in the past he's a superior college football player."

'MICROWAVE KING'

Those who know Smith well say he's a caring person, too.

His mother, Monica Jenkins, said he was forced to mature early because he's the oldest of her seven children. Jenkins, a former Colonial Beach basketball and softball player, gave birth to Smith when she was 16 years old.

"He became my best friend," Jenkins said. "I grew up with him because I was a child myself."

Jenkins named Smith after a boyfriend, who later became the father of two of her kids and a father figure to Smith.

But Jenkins was still a single mother, and Smith had to be responsible. He helped his mother cook and clean, while he maintained honor roll grades.

When Jenkins attended Rappahannock Community College in the day and worked in home health care at night, Smith took on the responsibility of feeding his siblings the following mornings.

"When he was 3 or 4 years old, he was a microwave king," Jenkins said. "He could cook an egg in the microwave. A lot of times he would make sure they had breakfast, whether it was cereal or if he had to throw a piece of bologna in the microwave. He was just a very responsible person. If it wasn't for Torrey, I don't know what I would do."

Maryland coaches have a similar affinity for Smith.

Terrapins head coach Ralph Friedgen said Smith refused to quit when the Terrapins were losing 35-10 to Wake Forest at halftime last week.

They eventually lost 42-32, but Smith had a career-high 10 catches and a touchdown.

"The type of individual he is, I would be proud to have him as my son," Friedgen said. "He's just a great human being. He's very popular on the team. He's a very caring person. He's very special to me."

SURPRISING SUCCESS

Smith's family left Colonial Beach for Pipestone, Minn., when he was in sixth grade. They returned to Colonial Beach briefly when he was in eighth grade before moving to Stafford County. The family now lives in King George County, but Smith considers Colonial Beach home.

"I'm kind of carrying that on my back," Smith said of the town of 3,000 people. "A lot of kids in the town look up to me. I've got to put that on my back and do the right things out here, and be an example to a lot of kids in my area."

At Stafford High, Smith was a Free Lance-Star All-Area selection at kick returner after his sophomore season. He was also a standout quarterback and defensive back.

Still, not many projected him to be a collegiate standout this early in his career. Swope, Jenkins and even Smith himself admit to being taken aback by his success.

"To be honest," Smith said, "things have happened a lot faster than I thought it would."

Smith is already drawing comparisons to former Maryland star receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who was the seventh overall pick in the NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders this past spring.

Opposing coaches have taken notice.

"This kid is probably a better receiver [than Heyward-Bey]," Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said. "He catches the ball better, he's got great foot speed. He can hurt you running the ball or catching it Everywhere you look, he's a problem."

Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com