STATESBORO – Georgia Southern men's basketball coach Mark Byington announced today that Caleb Byrd (Covington, Ga./Newton) and TK Smith (Memphis, Tenn./Richard King/Polk State) have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Eagles, beginning in the 2020-21 season.

Caleb Byrd, 6-2, 170, G, Covington, Ga./Newton
Highlight Video
Averaged 35 points a game as a junior at Rome High School to lead the state in scoring • Scored 51 against Forest Park during the War Eagle Classic at Woodward Academy last December • Named first-team all-state for Class AAAAA and Region Player of the Year in 2019 • Named first-team all-region and second-team all-state as a sophomore • Netted over 1,000 points in two seasons at Rome High School • A Rivals.com three-star recruit and the No. 4 ranked guard in the state • Transferred to Newton High School for his senior season • Mother, Felicia Jackson, played at Georgia Southern in 1995.
Byington on Byrd: "Caleb is the fastest and quickest player that has been in our program since I have been here. Last year, he was an elite scorer who was able to get to rim and shoot it from deep. My favorite thing about him is that he is fearless and always in attack mode. Caleb has an elite work ethic and fits right in our program with his high character. He comes from a great family and has had high level coaching in AAU, at Rome High School and now at Newton High School."

TK Smith, 6-4, 180, G, Memphis, Tenn./Richard King/Polk State College
Highlight Video
Averaged 19.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists a contest in 31 games in his freshman season at Polk State last season • Shot 44 percent from the field, 39 percent from long distance and 77 percent from the free-throw line • District 30-5A South Zone Offensive MVP at Richard King High School • All-South Texas first team selection after averaging 17 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 4.5 steals per game • TABC All-Region selection.
Byington on Smith: "TK is an extremely important young man in this recruiting class.  He is extremely focused on basketball and will be a really good player for us. He is an elite shooter with deep range but can make plays around the rim as well as midrange. He has the ability to play on and off the ball, which makes him perfect for our system. I love his maturity, and he should make an immediate impact in our program. TK has chip on his shoulder that will drive him to excel. He comes from a very good junior college program that has done a great job with his development and should make his transition to Division I easy."

Georgia Southern opens a two-game homestand Friday night, when the Eagles play host to Radford at 7 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. GS also takes on Mercer Tuesday at 7 p.m.