J.R. Smith proves it’s never too late with upcoming HBCU graduation

This spring, former NBA champion J.R. Smith will graduate with a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina A&T State University at 40.

J.R. Smith, a former two-time NBA champion, is about to add a whole new credential to his name. This spring, Smith will walk across the stage at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to receive his Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies–Applied Cultural Thought from the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

The 40-year-old New Jersey native joined the Aggie family in 2021, enrolling as a student and joining the HBCU’s golf team after hanging up his NBA jersey. And like any graduation, this moment is particularly special when you understand what Smith had to overcome to reach this point, part of which is documented in his Prime Video docuseries “Redefined.” 

Before scoring for the New York Knicks, the LA Lakers, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Smith was a young boy dealing with the weight of a diagnosed learning disability. In addition to bullying, the former NBA star explained how that experience ignited a fear of education. 

“For me more than anything, [this journey is] not just looking at it as an athlete switching over to do something another athlete can do. Mainly, I think for me, [it’s about] overcoming fears and insecurities. The younger version of me in elementary school and middle school is so insecure and intimidated just by education, because I felt like I wasn’t smart as the rest of the kids,” he told Uproxx in 2023. “I know I was pretty decent athletically compared to everybody else in growth and stuff like that, but just mentally, how I function and how I focused and how I couldn’t read as good or just comprehend as good as the rest of the kids.”

Smith entered the league straight out of high school, and went on to build a 16-season career. Despite all his professional accolades, the former athlete says going back to school unlocked a different form of gratification. 

“For me, it’s like, it gave me an instant gratification within myself that I never knew I needed and desired — not that that’s what I needed, [but] I didn’t realize that I desired it as much. That sense of accomplishing something that’s been an insecurity for so long… it really hit home with me,” he added. “Obviously, I’m appreciative of it, but at the end of the day, I’m not doing it for anybody else’s pat on the back. So for me, it’s really gratifying just knowing that I’m able to continuously accomplish different feats that have overwhelmed me at times in my life.”

And Smith is not the only athlete to pursue their education after building a successful career. Here are a few of many others.

Michael Jordan

While attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 NBA Draft. However, this did not stop him from going back to school to complete his degree in 1986. 

“My father used to say that it’s never too late to do anything you wanted to do,” he told The New York Times. “And he said, ‘You never know what you can accomplish until you try.'”

Stephen Curry 

Thirteen years after leaving Davidson College to enter the 2009 NBA Draft, Curry made good on a promise he’d carried for over a decade: finishing his final semester of coursework in spring 2022 to earn a Bachelor of Arts in sociology.

Venus Williams

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, earned an associate’s degree from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in 2007, then a bachelor’s in business administration from Indiana University in 2015.

“I’ve learned so much,” Williams said in a statement from Indiana University. “It was always my dream to have a business degree and I ended up going to art school so many times, but in the back of my head I felt like I needed the tools to be a better leader, to be a better planner, to be better at all of the things I wanted to do in my businesses because I’m so hands-on.”

Shaquille O’Neal 

After leaving LSU early for the NBA, O’Neal returned to the university eight years later to receive his bachelor’s degree. In 2012, he earned his doctorate in education from Barry University in honor of his mother.

“This is for my mother, who always stressed the importance of education,” he told CNN. “I am proud to have achieved a doctoral degree and wish to thank my professors and Barry University for helping make this dream a reality,” he explained. “I’m smart enough to know that, even at my tender age, my pursuit of education is never finished.”