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Former NBA star player JR Smith has signed up for North Carolina A&T and intends to join the historically black college men’s golf team if he is NCAA cleared, confirmed university on Wednesday.
North Carolina A&T athletics spokesman Brian Holloway told ESPN that Smith was officially enrolled in the school and asked the NCAA to be eligible to play. Smith’s clock to compete as a college athlete has yet to start since he went to the NBA after high school. Athletes, in most cases, have five years to complete four years of eligibility.
At the Wyndham Championship pro-am in Greensboro, North Carolina, Smith told reporters on Wednesday he decided to return to school after a conversation with Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen.
“Ray Allen kind of convinced me,” Smith said Wednesday at the golf event. “We took a little golf trip to [Dominican Republic] and he was talking about some of the things he was doing, going back to school and challenging himself for us athletes. I really took it into account and decided to go back – and one of the best liberal studies programs is at A&T. “
Holloway said the next step in the process is to go through the 17 years since Smith’s last year in high school (2004), making it difficult to find his academic records. But Smith is actively working to secure her eligibility, he said.
“We’re just going through the normal process that we would go with any potential student-athlete,” Holloway said. “But this one is just a little different.”
According to NCAA rules, “an individual will not be eligible for intercollegiate athletics in a sport if the individual has previously competed on a professional team in that sport.” But the laws don’t prohibit a former professional athlete from competing in a different sport. Several college athletes participated in professional sports before returning to school to compete in Division I track and field.
Chris Weinke was 25 when he signed up for Florida State after six seasons of professional baseball. Weinke led Florida State to a national title in 1999. He won the Heisman Trophy a year later, at the age of 28.
Smith plays with a handicap of 5, according to PGATour.com. North Carolina A&T golf coach Richard Watkins told the site on Wednesday that having Smith on the team would be “a big deal for A&T.”
“It’s not very often that someone in their position really gets the opportunity to have a thought, a dream, an idea, and to be able to go ahead and go in that direction,” Watkins said. . “He’s a former professional athlete, but [it’s] a unique set of circumstances. He didn’t go to college, never enrolled, the clock never started. “
Smith, a McDonald’s All-American in high school, had initially committed to playing for Roy Williams and North Carolina before deciding to hire an agent and make the 2004 NBA Draft. Orléans selected Smith with the 18th pick. Smith won two NBA titles as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers (2015-16) and Los Angeles Lakers (2019-20). He also won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in the 2012-13 season.
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