J.R. Smith, former NBA Sixth Man-of-the Year, has officially begun his journey into collegiate sports. Smith made his debut for the North Carolina A&T men's golf team on Monday. Smith's first round in college athletics was not as productive as he had hoped.
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J.R. shot 10 points over 81 Monday at the Elon Phoenix Invitational Tournament, Burlington, N.C. Smith has a long and successful professional basketball career, winning two NBA titles in 16 seasons. It must have been difficult for Smith to transition to college basketball and begin a new sport.
This is not a publicity stunt, in case you were wondering. Smith is determined to win as a golfer and will go after the challenge. J.R. qualified for Monday's tournament as any other player, and made the cut by one stroke.
Richard Watkins, A&T men's golf coach, stated that he has a great enough game of golf to put up good numbers. This is what I tell people. Put the word tournament or money before the round to see how good a golfer is. It is one thing to play when there is nothing at stake. If you put some thought into it, your heart rate will change. We get to know you better when we loosen our grip on the club.
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Smith was only playing in his first college tournament. It will be interesting to watch his progress over time and see if he can make it in another sport. Smith's efforts are not less complex or admirable just because he is playing at the college level. I also support J.R. getting back to school. This can be overlooked in all this.
J.R.'s goal is to be a better college golfer than Michael Jordan, who was a minor league baseball player. Although he knows the bar is low, he's still fighting an uphill battle.
