Colorado added more depth to its tight ends room Friday morning, as 6-foot-5, 235-pound prospect Austin Smith committed to the Buffs' Class of 2021.

Coming out of Tidehaven High School in Elmaton, Texas, Smith reeled in offers from Brown, Fordham, Georgetown, Northern Colorado and others, but ultimately opted to commit to Independence Community College in Kansas.

For Smith, the decision was rooted in a desire to bet on himself and work up to a point where higher-level offers would come across his plate.

“I really had a lot of great offers and great opportunities but they just didn't fit me right," he said. "I felt like I could play at the biggest level there is and I wasn’t going to settle for anything else. I feel like God had a plan for me to play at the biggest level so I took a chance, took a leap of faith and now we’re here.”

Since Karl Dorrell and his staff got settled in Boulder just over a year ago, there has been speculation as to who would be the first Independence player to make his way up to Boulder on scholarship.

After all, Indy head coach Jason Martin is the younger brother of CU cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin.

The way Smith put it, when the wheels started turning in terms of him wanting to join the Buffs, Jason Martin was far from upset or bitter about it.

“I signed to Independence Community College on Feb. 3 but college coaches were following me and I think it was coach (Jason) Martin from Indy — he retweeted a picture and his brother saw it," Smith said.

"(Colorado) then started following me on Twitter a month ago, maybe two, and they started recruiting me. It’s been up ever since then.”

In fact, Martin was a big help in making it all happen.

“He’s a great guy," Smith said. "He did a lot for me in that aspect of getting me into Colorado. There was no resentment towards me or whatever when I tried to get out of my letter of intent. He was cool and is a great guy who wanted to do the best for me.”

Smith mentioned that years ago, he and his family took a vacation up to Colorado, where he was awestruck with the state's natural beauty, so much that he thought to himself the Centennial State would make a prime place to relocate to later in life when it came time to retire.

It was that admiration of Colorado that greased the wheels when the Buffs came calling.

He named tight ends coach Bryan Cook, Dorrell and recruiting assistant Andy Wang as the major players who recruited him to CU.

Interestingly enough, despite his big frame and position on the gridiron, Smith also runs track, where he recently posted a 11.01 100-meter dash time.

He may not be catching current Colorado multi-athletes Mark Perry and Dimitri Stanley given that he's 235 pounds, but Smith spoke highly of how his time on the track field has helped him better his abilities as a tight end.

When he arrives in Boulder, he'll have some former Pirates to converse with, including one in his position group, walk-on Kanaan Turnbull.

He also joins fellow Independence alums Jaylen Striker and Jamar Montgomery.

Smith will be the 13th tight end added to Colorado's expected fall 2021 roster but despite a near overflow of tight ends to compete with, Smith is excited to get to Boulder June 14 and compete.

“The opportunities I think are endless," he said. "It’s just about how much work I want to put in and I won’t ever stop.”