J.R. Smith is recognized for many things, but student-athlete isn’t one of them.
As of this week, that is no longer true.
On Tuesday, the NCAA deemed the two-time NBA champion eligible to play golf at North Carolina A&T. This comes on the heels of Smith’s enrollment at the university.
“It was probably one of the most exciting feelings I’ve had in a while,” said Smith in an interview with The Undefeated. “I really didn’t know how it was gonna go. I hear so much about the NCAA all the time how they’re doing this, and they don’t know what they want to do with that, but to be able to actually call myself a student-athlete is a great feeling.”
Smith, 35, is a New Jersey native who made the jump from basketball powerhouse Saint Benedict’s Prep in Newark to the NBA.
He was selected by the then New Orleans Hornets with the 18th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.
Smith moved on to play for the Nuggets, Knicks, Raptors, Cavaliers, and Lakers. He won titles with the latter two (2016, 2020, respectively).
Over his 16-year career, J.R. Smith averaged 12.4 points and 2.1 assists.
Now he’s officially a college student-athlete at one of the top-ranked and most popular HBCU institutions in the country.
“My favorite class I think right now in my life was African studies is liberal studies,” said Smith.
Not only is he a student, but Smith is also an avid golfer. Something he’ll be doing for the Aggies now that he’s been ruled eligible.
“One of my biggest goals is to get more kids into golf,” said Smith. “I would love to be able to teach them educational things about life as well because I’m very passionate about mentorships. At the end of the day, my goal is probably to create almost like a STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] school, but around golf for kids. I got four girls myself, and they started to pick up the game. They really love it. So that would be fun.”
HBCU golf entered the mainstream’s focus when Warriors’ star, and avid golfer, Stephen Curry, agreed to sponsor Howard’s inaugural golf team two years ago.
The team played its first season last year and last month it held the first annual Bison at the Beach Inaugural Golf Classic, where the budding program raised over $3 million.
As a student-athlete, Smith is paying his own way at NC A&T, so he’s not taking a scholarship away from anyone.
J.R. Smith’s love of life has allowed him to do things his way, right or wrong.
He’s in the next phase of his career and he’s chosen education and another sport he loves.
Part of his motivation comes from Ray Allen.
On Friday Gulliver Prep in Miami announced the 10x All-Star and Basketball Hall of Famer as their new director of girls and boys basketball and head coach of boys basketball.
Smith and Allen had a post-basketball life discussion that helped point JR in his current direction.
“Ray Allen kind of convinced me. We had a little golf trip in DR (Dominican Republic), and he was talking about some of the things he was doing,” said Smith in an interview with WFMY2. “About going back to school, and challenging yourself, for us athletes. And I really took heed to it and I decided to go back.”
J.R. Smith is showing adults that it’s never too late to pursue their education goals.
Or their athletic pursuits.
