Sixteen year NBA veteran J.R. Smith is getting ready to make his collegiate golf debut next week for North Carolina A&T State University.
Smith, who is 36 years of age, enrolled at the university in Greensboro, N.C. over the summer. He joined the golf team as a freshman walk-on. The Aggies are set to take part in the Phoenix Invitational hosted by Elon University, at Alamance Country Club, October 11-12.
Smith, who bypassed the opportunity to go to college after being drafted in the first round, No. 18 overall, in the 2004 NBA draft by the New Orleans Hornets, enrolled in school following his NBA retirement. He was granted a waiver by the NCAA to play on the golf team at the end of August, and was driven to North Carolina A&T because of his interest in HBCUs.
Earlier this summer Smith said he was excited for his new challenge in life having missed out on college after going straight to the NBA from high school.
“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 in August. “And to have that feeling and knowing that all of the game’s pretty much on my own hands and I don’t have to worry about teammates to pass the ball and receiving passes and playing defense so, I can play my game and just have fun.”
Even though Smith, a two-time NBA champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers, certainly is not your traditional college student or athlete, he still had to go through the qualifying process just like all his other teammates. All team golfers must qualify for each tournament in practice unless they finished first or second in the previous tournament. Smith barely made the cut for the Phoenix Invitational, qualifying by just one stroke according to the university.
“He has a good enough golf game to put up some good numbers,” N.C. A&T coach Richard Watkins said on the school’s website. “But this is what I tell people. If you want to find out how good a golfer really is, put the word tournament or money in front of the round.
“Playing when there is nothing on the line is one thing. But, put meaning to it, and the heart rate changes. The grip on the club changes, and we get to see who you really are.”
As for his game, Smith has been playing golf for over ten years and said earlier this summer his handicap hovered around 5.
