'Iolani School senior Jamie Smith, a two-time Advertiser Girls Basketball All-State first-team selection, signed a national letter of intent yesterday to play for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Smith said she chose UNLV over Northern Arizona, Hawai'i and Utah, and also was recruited by Cal State Northridge and San Francisco.

"I visited four other schools and I wasn't super excited about any of them, but when I went to UNLV (May 9 through 11) I loved it," said Smith, a 6-foot post. "I really liked the coach (Kathy Olivier) and the players and the facilities, and I think Las Vegas is a great place to go to school because family will be visiting all the time and I won't get too homesick."

Smith, a four-year starter at 'Iolani, averaged 20.2 points per game in the regular and postseason this past winter, including totals of 17 vs. Sacred Hearts and 22 against Kamehameha (with nine rebounds) while playing with a broken nose.

She led the Raiders to their first Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship since 1996 as a junior and to the state title game this past season. Smith was named ILH Player of the Year in 2007 and shared the honor with Punahou's Shawna-Lei Kuehu as a senior.

UH offered Smith last fall but she passed on the early signing period in the hopes of taking more recruiting trips. But the offers were slow to come until recently.

"Definitely in the beginning it was tough because things weren't coming in like I would have hoped," said Smith, who carries a 3.3 grade point average. "I was a little nervous."

Olivier was hired April 22 after 15 years as head coach at UCLA.