JR Smith Goes Back to College - and Wants to Play Golf?
Source: Two-time NBA champion JR Smith heads to college with eyes set on playing golf (link)
JR Smith may be 35 years old, but that doesn't mean his athletic dreams are extinguished.
Smith, a 16-year NBA veteran, has enrolled at North Carolina A&T State University with the intention of joining the university's golf team. He is primarily pursuing a degree in liberal studies -- his classes start on August 18 -- but he is waiting for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to work out his eligibility before he applies for the team of one of the nation's top historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Smith skipped going to college and went straight from high school to the NBA in 2004 but said he began thinking about going to college during a trip to the Dominican Republic with Hall of Famer Ray Allen. Additionally, Smith can often be seen among the gallery at PGA Tour events -- and he says he plays to a five handicap.
He has petitioned the NCAA to be eligible to play but it is not clear on how long that process will take. According to NCAA rules: "An individual shall not be eligible for intercollegiate athletics in a sport if the individual ever competed on a professional team in that sport."
It does not ban a former professional athlete from competing in a different sport.
