As J.R. Smith officially walked across the stage to obtain his degree from North Carolina A&T, he already had higher ambitions in mind. Per comments obtained by ESPN, Smith isn’t done with his education journey.
“I want to continuously get better at understanding and being a person of higher intellect.”
While he wants to grow his personal knowledge, he has a lofty goal that would put him in an amazing place to give back to his new alma mater: North Carolina A&T Athletic Director.
“I feel like I got a lot of knowledge in the games or in the sports and how to build really good teams,” Smith told ESPN. “I want to see the youth graduate. I want to see these young kids prosper and be amazing people. I think there’s so many intelligent minds there.”
Smith’s comments come after current athletic director Earl Hilton III announced his retirement after 15 years in the position. Hilton joined North Carolina A&T in 2011 and presided over immense success for Aggie athletics. During his tenure with the athletics department, the Aggie football program won 4 Celebration Bowls, including 3 straight Celebration Bowls from 2017 to 2019. While a lofty goal, Smith is setting his sights high as he looks to continue a rewarding educational journey.
J.R. Smith began his HBCU experience in 2021 when he enrolled at North Carolina A&T as a non-traditional student and joined the Aggies’ golf team. Smith quickly became a recognizable figure on campus, and his return to college life was later featured in the Amazon Prime documentary Redefined: J.R. Smith, which was produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter through Uninterrupted.
Now he enters the back into the real world with a degree and broader ambitions for success.
The post J.R. Smith has leadership goals after North Carolina A&T graduation appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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