Two-time NBA champ JR Smith earned a college degree at age 40

While the two-time NBA champion JR Smith As she dons her cap and gown Saturday to walk the graduation stage at North Carolina A&T, her steps will mark the completion of a goal she’s pursued for years — to conquer her fear of education and earn her college degree. This moment will lead to the question almost every college graduate has heard: What’s next?

For Smith, graduation signals another beginning. He told ESPN that he is working on “stacking” degrees, with his sights set on earning a master’s next.

“I want to constantly understand and become a person of higher intelligence,” Smith said.

He said his goal is to become the athletic director at North Carolina A&T. The job has been held by Earl Hilton III for 15 years. The university announced in April that Hilton would resign this summer at the end of his contract. A national agency is conducting a search for his replacement.

“I think I gained a lot of knowledge in games or sports and how to build really good teams,” Smith said. “I want to see young people graduate. I want to see these young kids thrive and become amazing people. I think there are a lot of smart minds out there.”

Smith, now 40, made a name for himself by making deep 3-pointers and slamming dunks with an uber-confident playing style. It earned him two championship rings spanning a 16-year playing career with six different NBA teams. In 2021, he hit the books, enrolled at NC A&T and majored in Liberal Studies: Applied Cultural Thought.

He spent hours with a tutor three times a week to complete his assignments. Eventually his skills improved enough to launch them early. There were sleepless nights to submit assignments and papers leading up to the last week.

He also Walking on the men’s golf teamThat made headlines at the time, though golf was “secondary” to Smith, said Richard Watkins, the school’s recently retired golf coach.

“He came to school to graduate,” Watkins told ESPN.

And Smith wins. Five years after enrolling, he overcame his fear of education — rooted in a childhood diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia — to earn his degree and prove to himself and the world that he was capable of more than basketball. Former teammates eg LeBron James, Dwight Howard And Richard Jefferson Among the many players who have sent their congratulations.

Smith wants his journey to show others that they can do the same.

“I hope it inspires them to be better as a person, not just as an athlete,” Smith said. “I think being an athlete is a trait you have. You’re still a person at the end of the day and you can be good in all areas and aspects.”

Smith said Another former NBA sharpshooter inspired to attend college, Ray Allen.

While playing golf together, Smith noticed Allen going back and forth to his computer to work on his degree. Smith, who entered the NBA in 2004 out of high school, wanted to do the same.

“Ray Allen kind of believed in me,” Smith said in 2021. We had a short golf trip (Dominican Republic) and he was talking about some of the things he is doing about going back to school and challenging himself for our athletes. I really looked into it and decided to go back — and one of the best liberal studies programs is the A&T program.

There are other athletes Completed college degree later in life. At 82, tennis legend Billie Jean King graduating this year Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry And Shaquille O’Neal Among others in the NBA to complete a college education in later years.

They weren’t student-athletes then, though.

During a golf session with CJ Paul, brother of recently retired NBA star Chris Paul, CJ told Smith: “Man, you’re pretty good. Why don’t you go back and play college golf?” Smith initially took it as a joke. Growing up in North Carolina, Paul was serious. He called Watkins about Smith’s potential walk-on.

“Needless to say, you’re always looking for people who can help your sports team,” Watkins said. “And that’s just the way it went.”

Before declaring for the NBA draft in 2004, Smith committed North Carolina. He changed paths, but it played a role in his decision to attend North Carolina A&T.

He was drawn to the state, which he said felt like home, even though he grew up in New Jersey. The size of the school stood out to Smith on his visit; North Carolina A&T had the largest enrollment of any historically black college or university with 15,275 students in the fall of 2025.

But what stuck with Smith the most: He felt supported.

“When I first went there, it just felt like home. There seemed to be a lot of people who really wanted to see me do well and succeed,” he said. “It seemed impossible to fail.”

Such support is crucial for any student, but especially so for Smith.

From an early age, he said, he felt insecure around academics, knowing that he was not like other students when it came to classwork. Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD around age 8 or 9, she said taking in a lot of information was a challenge. She describes her reading as “terrible” and that tasks such as reading aloud or public speaking did not come as easily or quickly to her peers.

This, he said, led to a lack of confidence. He shied away from schoolwork and excelled quickly at sports, partly to mask the challenges he had in the classroom.

“I didn’t realize how the brain is actually a muscle and the more you work it, the stronger it gets,” Smith said. “And for me, because it was so hard, I gravitated a little bit to what was easier for me.”

He faced those struggles when he resumed his studies.

Watkins said Smith spent “a lot of time” at the Center for Academic Excellence. Smith said getting started was the hardest step, but it proved to be the most important in overcoming her insecurities.

He worked with two tutors, usually meeting with them on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for about four or five hours per session. Once the schedule is solid and he commits to it, everything becomes easier.

Smith often posts about her school experience on social media, emphasizing her commitment with one post.

Coming to video conference meetings and breaking down assignments has become part of the process. Six hours would pass without realizing him. He remembers feeling exhausted at the end of that session, something unfamiliar to him when he arrived at school.

“It was kind of a chore,” he said. “I literally had to make it day by day and obviously stay consistent with it.”

Been up since 5am LA time working on my teaching assignments. One bad week won’t ruin the semester. Lace up your boots, put your head up and go to work. #StuccInMyGrind

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 30, 2021

Smith said she chose her major because she wanted to learn to think efficiently. As her major describes, the cultural studies concentration “gives students a background in how culture and society work and how they change.”

One of his favorite classes was “African-American Culture Through Sports.” He learns things from a different perspective, and it provides insight that he gravitates toward.

“I wish I could start as a rookie now knowing what I know now,” he said. “Just the level of admiration for the people who came before you and how you want to really impact the world and the game and how you want to leave it. It means so much more.”

He also chose that major because he wanted to see things from another person’s point of view. No wonder the class became her favorite.

Growing up, Smith said he had a narrow perspective. He wanted to expand it.

“It was very directed at where my opinion is right, and this is what I feel and this is it,” he said. “And it doesn’t even have facts or basics. So for me, I felt that was very important. I guess at the end of the day, it’s empathy. Being able to empathize with other cultures and other people’s perspectives without compromising your own.”

Her classes were mostly online and she lived off campus or in a hotel for her freshman year. He moved to Florida the following year before moving to Texas. As a result, he used to lag behind on campus.

All this was mixed in golf. Smith walked onto the team in 2021 and qualified for seven tournaments over four years. He fit in “great” with teammates, Watkins said. Smith even performed freshman duties like fetching sports drinks and carrying bags.

“It was fun, man,” Smith said. “I laughed at it because it started.”

Still, Smith didn’t deviate from his main goal: getting his degree.

Watkins, who retires in 2023, has worked in higher education for 45 years and served as an advisor to student-athletes at the school. Unconventional students who returned later in life proved overwhelmingly successful, he said, because they were on a mission.

Many people asked Watkins: “What is JR going back to school for?” From Watkins’ perspective, he knew Smith would succeed because he was doing it for himself.

“One of the things I always thought about was JR, just from the standpoint of being an advisor and working with academics and athletes,” Watkins said. “I always felt that he was going to be successful and that at some point he would reach his goal that he would walk across the stage.”

with a diploma On hand, Smith said that in the short term, he will take some time off and relax with his family. He and his partner, actor Candice Patton, welcomed a baby boy in September 2024.

Golf also fits into the equation. Smith said he hopes to help make it a more inclusive sport.

As for the North Carolina A&T athletic director position, Smith said: “Man, I want to be an AD at A&T. I want to be an overseer of college sports and bring some championships to Greensboro.”

The university launched a national search after Hilton’s departure was announced in April and said Hilton would remain in the role “until a successor is identified and installed.”

A job description for the position describes the university as “the nation’s largest HBCU and a growing national powerhouse in Division I athletics” and says the university “seeks a visionary, nationally respected leader to serve as the next director of intercollegiate athletics (chief athletics officer).”

In a statement to ESPN, the university said the athletic director is a member of the chancellor’s cabinet, so hiring decisions at that level are made by the school’s chancellor, who “will have substantial input during the search by others involved in the process.”

Chancellor James R. Martin II said in a statement to ESPN that Smith “showed the world what lifelong learning means.”

“JR shows what college can be like in our 30s and 40s as we all participate in an economy where the average American will hold about 12 different jobs over their lifetime,” Martin said. “I am among the many who look forward to JRK crossing the stage and receiving his diploma this weekend. He has certainly earned it.”

There is no timeline for the search for a new athletic director, but university officials said they expect to begin initial interviews in the next few weeks.

As this chapter of Smith’s life closes, her biggest hope is that other people can try to overcome their own fears.

“I think that’s the biggest thing. Stepping outside the box and doing something you’re not good at,” he said. “You want to be a well-rounded person. I think you have to tap into that and overcome and overcome those insecurities as a person. And the only way you do that is to face it.”