The NCAA is giving J.R. Smith the opportunity to light up the green.
The former Knick was granted eligibility to play golf for North Carolina A&T, where Smith is attending college this year after his NBA career ran its course. There were questions about Smith’s amateur eligibility, but the 35-year-old was only a pro basketball player, not a pro golfer, and received approval.
“It was probably one of the most exciting feelings I’ve had in a while. I really didn’t know how it was going to go,” Smith said of his eligibility. “But to be able to actually call myself a student-athlete is a great feeling.”
Smith Jr., a New Jersey product, never attended college because he was drafted in 2004 out of high school. He earned over $90 million in a 16-year career, joining John Starks and Anthony Mason as the only Knicks to win Sixth Man of the Year.
His career highlight was winning the NBA title in 2016 with the Cavaliers as one of LeBron James’ sidekicks, but there were also some low moments: a five-game suspension after multiple positive marijuana tests, an accusation from Rihanna that he was hungover in the playoffs, a Twitter DM about his pipe, a $50,000 fine for untying opponent’s shoelaces, a suspension in the playoffs for slugging Jae Crowder and, perhaps most infamously, dribbling out the clock of a tie game in the NBA Finals.
Smith Jr. is a walk-on at North Carolina A&T, a historically black institution, and said he started golfing 12 years ago. The Aggies’ first match is Sept. 24-25 at the Black College Golf Coaches Association Invitational in Georgia. They finished second in their conference last season. Smith is listed on the roster as a freshman and one of five players on the team.
“Obviously different environments from playing in front of 20,000 people to playing in a college golf gallery,” Smith Jr. said. “But it’s still as nerve-racking as shooting a free throw in front of 5,000 instead of making a 5-foot putt in front of three. So it all correlates the same for me.”
Smith Jr., who attended high school nearly 20 years ago at St. Benedict’s in Newark, N.J., has already begun his academic courses at North Carolina A&T.
“It’s not even a week yet but as I get into it, I keep getting eager to learn more, and join study groups and try to understand and try to really embrace the lifestyle,” he said. “Because if I’m going to give it a shot, that’s the only way it’s going to work.”
