JaJuan Smith, a former Tennessee basketball player, joins Knoxville Catholic boys staff

Knoxville Catholic boys basketball added JaJuan Smith, a former Tennessee basketball player, to its coaching staff.

Smith will be an assistant coach for the Irish under new coach Gabriel Blair. Smith was the associate head coach at Speights Academy in Florida from 2021-23.

Smith was a 6-foot-2 guard at Tennessee from 2004-08 and appeared in 126 games. He averaged 11.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals for his career. He was named to the SEC All-Defense during his senior season and helped the Vols reach the Sweet 16 in 2007 and 2008.

Smith played nearly 10 years of professional basketball overseas in Indonesia, Croatia, Scotland and other countries. He spent his high school career at McMinn County where he was the school's second-all-time scorer with 2,074 points.

KNOXVILLE CATHOLIC TRANSFER:Deondrea Lindsey, Tennessee's No. 1 2025 basketball recruit, will transfer from Knoxville Catholic

Last season, Catholic had a 20-8 record and a Division II-AA state tournament first-round loss to Lipscomb Academy 73-70. During the offseason, it lost Deondrea Lindsey, the No. 1 player in the state for the 2025 class, who transferred to Oak Hill Academy.

Toyloy Brown III is a Knox News sports reporter. Email tbrown@usatoday.com. Twitter @TJ3rd_.