J.R. Smith was last in the NBA during the Bubble, where he was on the bench for the Los Angeles Lakers as they won a title. Now, he’s going to college and may play a different sport.
In an interview he gave to the PGA Tour’s official website, the 35-year-old Smith revealed that he is enrolling to take classes at North Carolina AT&T University and pursue a degree in liberal studies. Smith also said that he may play golf for the school’s men’s team once the NCAA sorts out his eligibility. He is supposed to begin classes in a week.
North Carolina AT&T is an HBCU located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Per the article, he says he decided on going back to school after talking to Ray Allen while both were in the Dominican Republic on vacation and Chris Paul, who is currently working on his college degree at another HBCU, Winston-Salem State. Smith went straight to the NBA out of high school, so he never played in college or took any classes. He’s also a 5 handicap golfer, has been golfing for over a decade, and co-hosts his own golf podcast that has featured guests like Allen.
“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 the interview. “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.”
