JeyQuan Smith Returns Home; Signs with USF
Manatee County native JeyQuan Smith “returns home” after committing to play college football for the University of South Florida. JeyQuan played high school football in California and was the top recruit in his 2023 class, receiving over nine D1 offers. His decision to go to USF was based on his love and passion for his home state and his desire to bring his talents back to Florida. He will play at USF on a full D1 scholarship in football and track.
JeyQuan grew up in Bradenton and attended Louise R Johnson Middle School until the 6th grade when his parents decided to home-school him. He is the youngest of four children of Lawrence and Shaqauanda Smith; wanting a change in scenery and a new beginning, the family decided to move to California after vacationing there in 2017 and 2018. JeyQuan finished middle school at New Vision Middle School in Highland before beginning his storied football career at Cajon High School in Bernardino, California. He was a three—star wide receiver and was the No. 768 overall prospect and No. 104 wide receiver in the weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 72 wide receiver and No. 59 player in the state of California.
During his freshman year at Cajon, JeyQuan broke the 100m record and attained the most kickoff and punt returns in history as a freshman athlete. He was moved up to varsity in both football and track early in both seasons because of his outstanding accomplishments. From his sophomore to senior years, he broke both school and meet records in the 100m, 200m, 400m, along with the 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400 relays. He never lost a race at a dual meet in his high school career at Cajon and made history on the track and field team winning the CBL league championship title that dated back to 1976. He was also the CBL league champion for football. A three-time MVP, JeyQuan was also a three-time Athlete of the Year, and three-time All League First Team for both track and football. He was in the Top 10 in the State for track and field and was nominated for the Ken Hudson award for outstanding athleticism and great sportsmanship. With all of that, he was on the honor roll for the duration of his time at Cajon, maintaining a 3.2 to 3.5 GPA.
JeyQuan will major in Kinesiology studies at USF
