J.R. Smith is set to receive his Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies-Applied Cultural Thought. He will join a new class of North Carolina A&T alumni during commencement in Greensboro.
For many, the moment is still hard to believe.
Smith spent 16 seasons in the NBA. He won championships with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers. He played with LeBron James. He became one of the league’s most recognizable personalities.
Then he chose a different path.
After his NBA career, J.R. Smith enrolled at North Carolina A&T. He also joined the HBCU’s golf program. The move shocked fans at first. Then it became one of the most meaningful second acts in sports.
Smith says North Carolina A&T saved him
Smith has been clear about what the HBCU experience has meant to him. North Carolina A&T did more than give him a degree path. It gave him a community.
“Walking through the airports. Seeing people who have kids here, cousins here, went here, family here… when I speak the name of A&T, it comes with such pride and joy,” Smith said via WFMY.
That pride became personal for Smith.
“I don’t want to sound cliche, but it saved me from a point to where I was going to distruct from the inside-out,” Smith said. “It came at the perfect time. That’s why I feel like for me, I can never really be done here at A&T. Even with graduation. It’s just so much that they’ve given me that I have to give back. I don’t know how I’m going to repay it, but it will be tenfold over.”
Those words give this graduation a deeper meaning.
Smith came to North Carolina A&T after the NBA spotlight faded. He found a new routine and a new team. He found a new version of himself.
HBCU journey becomes part of J.R. Smith story
J.R. Smith’s time at the HBCU has already been well documented. His return to school became the focus of the Prime Video series Redefined: J.R. Smith. The series followed his move from NBA veteran to college student and golfer.
But Saturday’s commencement is a milestone, not a closing scene.
North Carolina A&T will welcome Smith as one of its newest alumni. That matters because he has embraced the school beyond celebrity appearances and headlines.
For Smith, the HBCU gave him something he still feels called to repay.
North Carolina A&T, gets another high-profile alumnus who understands the power of the Aggie experience.
Smith may be finished with his degree. But by his own words, he is not finished with NC A&T.