Antoine Smith Jr. does a lot of reading. 

And it's not just the typical reading required of the average college student, but the kind where he purposefully reads a 1,100-page book on Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant before eagerly moving on to a biography detailing the life of Mao Zedong, China's idiosyncratic emperor of the Cold War era. 

Consequently, it should come as no surprise the University of the Incarnate Word sophomore power forward favored historical documentaries over the wildly popular Disney and Nickelodeon shows as a child. 

"Growing up, I used to watch the History Channel a lot," he said. "That's what I liked watching, much more than cartoons."

Many of those documentaries covered Civil War history, which sparked an interest in the young Smith to further explore that fascinating period of American history all the way through his sophomore year of college, when he noticed his basketball coach reading Ron Cherrow's Grant on a road trip and decided to grab a copy for himself.

"I had been reading it for several weeks and gave Antoine a quick take," UIW head coach Carson Cunningham said. "A few weeks later, he mentioned he'd gotten a copy. We started talking about it and I soon realized that he'd already read much further along than I was, even though he'd only recently started it. And he knew it in and out. That's how he rolls."

It's only fitting Smith Jr. is a history major, but the Westerville, Ohio, native has ambitions to continue his education in a slightly different field after he graduates from UIW.

"The plan right now is to go to law school," he said. "That could change, but I'm pretty confident in that. The goal would be to get into UT-Austin or, I mean, call me crazy, but even Harvard."

But to those who spend even a small amount of time with Smith Jr., it's self-evident the sophomore is entirely capable of gaining admittance to and thriving in the country's most prestigious law school. His background of two parents with master's degrees or better aside, Smith Jr. is a determined and intelligent individual in his own right, and Cunningham believes the 6-7 post's potential has no discernible limit.

"Antoine will likely have his pick of grad schools," he said. "For some, it might seem crazy to think about law schools like Harvard, which receive about 7,500 applications and accept just over 10 percent. But for Antoine, these types of law programs are quite realistic."

Smith Jr.'s academic ability was one of the key traits that drew Cunningham to recruit the dynamic athlete.

"Antoine's lecture-hall prowess was very compelling during the recruiting process," Cunningham said. "His mom is a lawyer, his dad a businessman, and he was raised in a tight-knit home with strong Christian values, too. He's a fine young man."

Smith Jr.'s mother, Gloria, holds a law degree along with a doctorate in ministry, while his father, Antoine Sr., earned his master's degree in business administration. As a kid, Smith Jr. recalled helping his parents with their coursework as they worked to implement what they learned in class in real-world situations.

"I used to help them with their schoolwork sometimes," Smith Jr. said. "Obviously, I didn't always know what was going on, but I was their test dummy. My dad would come home and he would get me and my mom together, and he would have to role play through a business situation or scenario, and he would use me to help him through it. Seeing them go through that process definitely made me the way that I am."

With three years of eligibility remaining, Smith Jr. has time to continue reflecting on where he wants to go next. His roommate, sophomore guard D.J. Murray, said he wouldn't be surprised if Smith Jr.'s career will take him well beyond the courtroom and into the White House one day. 

Wherever Smith Jr. does end up—and with his talent and abilities, it can be just about anywhere—his mission will remain the same: to glorify God through his accomplishments.

"Any success I have, anything I do that can be considered good, it isn't just me," he said. "It comes from God, and the gifts He's given me. So everything I do is for Him. That's the one thing I want people to know about me."