N&O: Dennis Smith Jr. Denies Getting Paid to Attend NC State

According to Joe Giglio of the News & Observer, Dennis Smith Jr. denied he or his family was ever paid any money to attend NC State in an interview back in April by the school’s compliance office.

NC State was served a Notice of Allegations by the NCAA, and the strongest accusations are that former Wolfpack Assistant Coach Orlando Early gave Smith $40,000 that was provided to him by former Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola.

According to the interview, Smith claims the first he heard of the allegations was after a game in which the Mavs played the Lakers during his rookie season. He implied that if he had been paid any money, he wouldn’t have been driving his grandmother’s car while he was on campus. Smith said that he never wavered in his commitment to run with the Wolfpack, while the notice of allegations claims that was why he was paid.

According to the interview, while Smith hasn’t been interviewed by the NCAA, he would doing so, and wants to help NC State.

Also of note, according to the memo, NC State’s response to the notice has been delayed from October 27th to November 20th.

Check out Giglio’s full piece here.