Starting Five: Arizona's Ray Smith steps away from basketball

There was some tough news in college basketball this week as Arizona redshirt freshman Ray Smith suffered what looks to be a career-ending injury. Rivals.com National Analyst Eric Bossi discusses Smith and looks forward to some impending decisions during a Friday edition of the Starting Five.

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Tuesday night, I was sitting in my living room watching Arizona play an exhibition game against the College of Idaho. I was curious to see the Wildcats' freshman class, but most of all I was eager to see their redshirt freshman and class of 2015 five-star prospect Ray Smith make his long awaited return to the floor.

Smith lost his senior season of high school due to a torn ACL he suffered during July of 2014 and he missed his first season at Arizona after a second ACL tear. Tuesday night, I watched in horror as the 19 year-old suffered his third ACL tear in 30 months.

Thursday afternoon, Smith announced via his Twitter account that he plans to step away from the game of basketball for good.

Nobody likes to see any athlete suffer an injury. But, they are an unfortunate aspect of sports. However, on a personal level Smith's injury is a tough one.

In 17 years of covering high school athletes, Smith is one of the most engaging, friendly and thoughtful kids that I have ever covered. He is one of those kids whose smile brightened up any room, and he's a guy that even opposing fans can't help but like. The grace, poise and maturity he has displayed while dealing with injury over the past few years is the type from which people of any age can learn.

Ray Smith isn't going to get the chance to earn millions of dollars in the NBA like he dreamed of doing, but everything I know about him says that he's a winner who will be just as successful in whatever path he chooses to take from here on out.

The No. 19 player in the class of 2017, 6-foot-11 center Nick Richards of Elizabeth (N.J.) Patrick School, has set his decision date.

Via Twitter, Richards announced that he will choose among Arizona, Kentucky and Syracuse at 2 p.m. ET next Thursday.

A shot blocker with strength and athleticism who controls the glass and has a solid base set of skills, Richards hasn't publicly tipped his hand one way or another. However, over the past month or so, Kentucky has emerged as the heavy favorite.

Last week, five-star point guard Quade Green announced that he's down to a final five of Duke, Kentucky, Syracuse, Temple and Villanova. Now he's set a decision date.

The 6-footer from Philadelphia will announce his college decision on Nov. 19, which is three days after the end of the early signing period.

Green has been on the campus of each of his finalists and his recruitment has gone through some ups and downs over the past few months. However, most recently Syracuse has been considered the favorite with Kentucky hot on heels of the Orange as he nears a decision.

Though he is making his decision public after the signing period ends, it won't be a surprise if Green completes paperwork making his commitment official prior to the end of the period.

Having graduated from high school already, five-star shooting guard Hamidou Diallo should be eligible for the 2017 NBA Draft after completing this year at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut. Because of that, rumors have swirled that he could look to put his name into the draft next June.

However, sources have indicated to Rivals.com that the explosive athlete and slashing scorer has been telling college programs that he wants to play in college first and that he wants to be recruited as such.

In line with that, Diallo released a list of his final six schools earlier this week that included Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse. Diallo has been on the campuses of Syracuse and UConn multiple times but he has not yet set any dates for official visits and it's a safe bet that he will decide late.

Four-star power forward Rayshaun Hammonds will fit in his last official visit this weekend when he sees the campus of Georgia.

An athletic and mobile four-man with a developing mid-range game, Hammonds has a huge upside and could be an impact player in Athens once he adds strength.

With signing day fast approaching, Georgia can set itself up quite nicely with a strong official visit.