Is He the Next Big Thing?

The search is always on for the next John Elway, Mark McGwire or Jerry Rice.

Gifted high school athletes often get caught up in the hype, finding themselves labeled as phenoms before they’re old enough to drive.

Steve Smith of Woodland Hills Taft High has crossed the threshold, carrying great expectations each time he touches a football.

Last season, Smith caught a school-record 94 passes for 1,595 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also made seven interceptions, returning two for touchdowns.

In basketball, he averaged 26.4 points and 9.3 rebounds.

In track, he tried the triple jump for the first time and reached the state championships with a best mark of 46 feet 2 inches. He ran leadoff on Taft’s 400-meter relay team that won the City Section championship with the state’s fastest time.

College recruiters can’t wait for the chance to make their pitch. Opposing high school coaches have turned Smith into a standard for excellence by comparing their own best receivers to him.

What does it all mean?

Let Smith put it in perspective: “I’m only 16,” he said.

And that’s the stunner--he’s only a junior, with one season of varsity football experience.

So the question going into this season is whether he’s a one-year wonder or a player for the ages.

“He’s got a long ways to go to live up to the hype,” Taft Coach Troy Starr said. “He did a lot of good things last year but was sloppy. The goal for him is to be the best in the country and if you use that standard, he has a lot to improve.”

Smith seems up for the challenge.

“I was always told, ‘There’s somebody out there better than you, working harder than you, trying to be faster than you,”’ Smith said. “I’m working to become that one person.”

Adulation for Smith isn’t new. From the time he started playing sports, he has stood out. He dunked a basketball for the first time when he was 12 in a YMCA game. “It was an unbelievable feeling,” he said.

He was too young to play varsity football as a freshman-he was 14 and needed to be 15--so he played junior varsity and scored 27 touchdowns. Everyone who saw him play said he was a special player, leading to high expectations for his varsity debut last year against Banning.

Smith’s father told him it would be “a statement game,” and what an impression Smith made.

All he did against Banning, a team that would go on to win the City championship, was catch nine passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-14 victory.

“I was confident and knew I could play varsity,” Smith said.

Smith is 6 feet 1 and 190 pounds, 15 more than last season. He lifted weights seriously for the first time, increasing his strength. Running track added to his speed.

But no matter what a stopwatch says or how much weight Smith lifts, what separates him is an uncanny ability to elevate his game, and his body, at decisive moments. Somehow, either by adrenaline surge or instinct, he obtains an extra burst of speed when he needs it.

“I guess seeing the ball makes me go,” Smith said.

Smith is most dangerous when he leaves the ground. That’s when he has a distinct advantage over an opponent because of his ability to control his body at all times.

Starr calls it a “kinesthetic awareness.”

Smith is under tight supervision by his parents, Audrey and Steve Sr., who are divorced but watch over him closely. They’re disciplinarians, they’re protective, and they’re sticklers for making him follow rules.

“Sometimes I want them to leave me alone,” Smith said. “Sometimes I want to get away, but I think about the future and how much they are helping me out. I know one day, I’ll say thank you.”

He’s considered gifted academically but doesn’t go out of his way to get A’s when he easily could. He had one A and the rest Bs on his spring report card.

One test he intends to go all-out on is the SAT in October. He understands its importance in providing him with college options.

He once was enamored of Florida State, but don’t be surprised if next summer doesn’t turn into a recruiting battle among UCLA, USC, Tennessee and Big Ten schools (Smith has family in the Midwest).

Smith recognizes the responsibilities he must assume.

“It’s like a job for me now,” he said. “I need to be serious because I think I have the opportunity to go far.”