Before rising through the college ranks, Kavosiey Smoke was a star running back at Wetumpka High School in Alabama. About an hour to the east, Jake Bentley was making headlines as four-star quarterback at Opelika High School. Playing in the same region, the two eventually crossed paths.
“I played against him his junior year, his last year in high school,” Smoke recalls. “He’s a good player. We lost by like two touchdowns something like that.”
Smoke’s team lost, but he grabbed Bentley’s attention. The quarterback told his father, South Carolina tight ends coach Bobby Bentley, about the bruiser from Wetumpka.