When Chris Smith was a kid, he dreamt of playing football at Florida State University.

However, he soon realized he wasn't destined, or fit for college football. So the three-sport standout at Wantagh High (Wantagh, N.Y.) began dreaming of playing collegiate baseball. But in his wildest dreams, he never imagined he would be recruited by FSU.

"I was a nobody up in New York, I was going to go to a junior college," says Smith. "Then I went to the Mike Martin baseball camp, and three days into the camp they offered me a scholarship. It was the greatest feeling ever. I was shocked. I didn't even think I deserved being there." The numbers he has put up since show he did.

	Major League baseball seems a likely option for Smith after college.

The sophomore right fielder started 45 games during his freshman season and has started all but one this year. He leads the No. 2-ranked Seminoles (37-7) with 11 home runs and 50 RBI this spring. He is batting .404, second highest on the team, and has just two fielding errors on the season.

Last week, he was announced as one of the first 20 players invited to try out for the 2000 USA national baseball team in Tucson, Ariz., in June.

"Chris Smith is putting together an outstanding sophomore season. When you look at the improvement he has made from his freshman year, it's amazing," says Florida State head baseball coach Mike Martin. "That is a direct result of Chris' hard work and the dedication he made to becoming a better baseball player during the off-season. He is a big reason why we are where we're at at this point in the season."

Keith Sachs, Smith's former high school baseball coach, notes that while it's very unusual for a player from the northeast to get recruited by a strong southern program like Florida State's, he wasn't surprised to see Smith go.

"He did everything, and your best athlete tends to do everything," says Sachs. "He doesn't have any weaknesses. He's got speed, arm strength and now he's hitting for power. For someone who was clearly the best athlete in the school, he was very humble."

The four-year varsity starter, who was named Player of the Year for the Northeast, Nassau County and Long Island after his senior season, played centerfield and pitched for the Warriors before moving on to Florida State.

Smith doesn't spend a lot of time on the mound anymore, though he did record a 96 mph fastball versus Arizona State.

"I haven't pitched much this year," says Smith, who admits that fact doesn't really bother him. "I'm just going to play defense for them and hit for them. Whatever they want from me, I'll do what's best for my team. " Florida State wasn't the only flattering alternative for Smith after high school. He was an 11th round draft pick as a pitcher by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Smith and his team were playing in the Long Island championship the day of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, when he learned he was selected right after Wantagh won the game.

"I said, OK, I have to sit down with my family and talk this thing out. We talked for a few hours," explains Smith. "The next day, the Pittsburgh Pirates guy came in and thought he would sign me right there. But college just looked a lot more appealing."

"I was just weighing my options and college was the best thing for me to try to get an education first," adds Smith, who is majoring in sports management.

Major League baseball seems a likely option for Smith after college.

"Hopefully, I'll try my chances at the major leagues, like anyone else,"says Smith. "If not [baseball], then [I'll be] somewhere in the business world. I'm just trying all kinds of stuff right now."

But Smith isn't really thinking that far ahead. His focus is on returning with the Seminoles to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series. In 1999, Florida State was one game shy of the national championship, losing to the University of Miami in the final.

"It was the greatest experience of my life, 25,000 people up in the stands It's just great baseball, being around the best teams in the nation," says Smith. "We're all thinking College World Series again. Hopefully this year we can win it for the first time in Florida State history."