 "Photo: Courtesy Louisville Courier-Journal")
It's been a whirlwind spring for DaMarcus Smith.
It all began on Feb. 4 when Smith spurned his hometown of Louisville, Ky., by choosing to sign with the Knights over hometown school Louisville to play football.
At the time, Smith cited signing with UCF as a "business decision."
Then, on March 28, Smith's mother, Daytonya Ward, called Knights head coach George O'Leary asking for a release of Smith's signed National Letter of Intent with the Knights.
O'Leary, who said Ward told him "her son really just wants to go to Louisville" at the time, declined the request.
"With my situation, I've been getting a lot of media attention here back at home," Smith said. "There's been a lot of pressure."
The pressure is finally starting to dissipate for Smith.
Smith will fulfill his signed NLOI and will be a Knight. The Elite 11 quarterback will arrive on campus at UCF in time for the summer B session.
The Central Florida Future has confirmed that Smith will be arriving on campus June 17, and will start taking classes June 22.
"I'll be at the Towers hopefully in two weeks; I'm counting down the days," Smith said. "My classes start June 22. I'm ready to get on campus. I should be there June 17."
If Smith did not fulfill his signed NLOI and opted to transfer, he would have had to sit out of football for a year.
Ward had filed an appeal with the NCAA's NLOI board last month appealing Smith's signed NLOI with the Knights, but the thought of sitting out of football a year was too much to keep Smith away from UCF.
Smith will immediately compete with Blake Bortles for the backup quarterback spot and is expected to be Jeff Godfrey's successor under center once Godfrey graduates.
To say he's excited for the opportunity with the Knights is an understatement.
"Oh yeah, no doubt; I can't wait," Smith said.
"This is what I've been waiting for, for so long. I can't wait to get back to school again. As awkward as it sounds, I kind of miss school."
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