Grant Ramey with 247 Sports has a great feature on the surprising maturity of incoming 5-star offensive tackle Trey Smith. Smith talked to the media after Tuesday’s practice and answered a question about the reason for his maturity by speaking about his mother, who died when he was 15. That experience accelerated Smith’s growth, and he’s devoted to making her proud by becoming the kind of man she would have wanted him to be.
It’s what caused him to enroll early, to maintain his humility in the face of fawning college coaches, and to remain both competitive (he’s an absolute monster, don’tcha know) and coachable. If you have a bit of time, go check out the article at the link above. It’s worth the time.