By J.R. Smith always planned to attend college at a North Carolina school and after retiring from the NBA, he is finally doing so and may also be playing collegiate golf.
The former NBA first-rounder who committed to play basketball at UNC in 2003, but went straight to the pros after high school is enrolled as a freshman at North Carolina A&T, where he is scheduled to begin classes on Wednesday with hopes of playing collegiate golf.
“I’m trying to educate myself and do something important after basketball,” Smith said last week during a post-round interview session at the Wyndham Championship Pro-Am in Greensboro at which he announced his intention of joining the Aggies golf team.
“They always told me I could go back (to college) ‘whenever’ when I was coming out of high school. This is whenever.”
It’s not unusual for retired pro athletes to return to school in pursuit of the degree they put on hold while they were playing. It’s also not unprecedented for one to come back and play a different sport in college.
However, the one thing that sets J.R. Smith apart from other professional athletes that went back to school and played a different sport is that Smith didn’t grow up playing golf, he started playing only 12 years ago.
“Golf is one of those games that has you feeling really high and or can bring you down to your knees and humble you,” Smith said. “To have that feeling and knowing that all of the game’s pretty much in my own hands and I don’t have to worry about teammates passing the ball and receiving passes and playing defense, I can play my game and just have fun.”
Smith says he has been in talks with the NCAA in hopes that he will be eligible to play golf for the school’s team since according to NCAA rules, “an individual shall not be eligible for intercollegiate athletics in a sport if the individual ever competed on a professional team in that sport.”
This rule of course does not apply to Smith because he has never played professional golf and because he has also never attended a class at UNC or anywhere else after graduating high school.
To tighten up his skills, Smith has been playing with the university’s coach Richard Watkins and some of his future teammates while he waits for the NCAA to rule on his eligibility.
A&T spokesman Brian Holloway said the school is “just going through the normal process we would go through with any prospective student-athlete.”
Watkins is very hopeful that his highest-profile recruit will soon be cleared to play and begin his career in collegiate golf.
“It’s a big deal for A&T,” Watkins said. “It’s not very often that somebody in his position really has an opportunity to have a thought, a dream, an idea and to be able to go ahead and move in that direction.”
Choosing A&T to attend classes seemed to be an easy choice for Smith because of his “deep roots” in North Carolina. He was impressed with the school’s liberal arts program, the fact it is one of the oldest and largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the county also played into his decision.
“It’s very special to be part of the HBCU family and be embraced by everybody on campus,” Smith said.
Like any college freshman, he admitted he’s a little nervous about returning to school after such a long absence, but is excited nonetheless.“I can’t wait to see the students and start going to some of the football games and really being part of Aggie Pride.”
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