JR Smith enrolls at NC A&T, petitions to play golf

Published

3 years ago

August 11, 2021

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6:43 PM ET

Former NBA standout JR Smith has enrolled at North Carolina A&T and intends to join the historically black university’s men’s golf team if he gets cleared by the NCAA, the university confirmed on Wednesday.

North Carolina A&T athletics spokesman Brian Holloway told ESPN that Smith is officially enrolled in the school and has petitioned the NCAA to be eligible to play. Smith’s clock to compete as a collegiate athlete has not yet started since he went to the NBA after high school. Athletes, in most cases, get five years to complete four years of eligibility.

At the pro-am at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, Smith told reporters Wednesday he decided to go back to school after a conversation with Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen.

“Ray Allen kind of convinced me,” Smith said Wednesday at the golf event. “We had a little golf trip in [Dominican Republic] and he was talking about some of the things he was doing, about going back to school and challenging yourself for us athletes. I really took heed to it and decided to go back — and one of the best liberal studies programs is at A&T.”

Holloway said the next step in the process is navigating 17 years since Smith’s senior year in high school (2004), which complicates the search for his academic records. But Smith is actively working to gain his eligibility, he said.

“We’re just going through the normal process we would go through with any prospective student-athlete,” Holloway said. “But this one is just a little different.”

Per 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.” But the laws do not ban a former pro athlete from competing in a different sport. Multiple collegiate athletes have played professional sports before returning to school to compete in Division I athletics.

Chris Weinke was 25 when he enrolled at Florida State after six seasons of professional baseball. Weinke led Florida State to a national title in 1999. He won the Heisman Trophy a year later, when he was 28.

Smith, a McDonald’s All-American in high school, originally committed to play for Roy Williams and North Carolina before he decided to hire an agent and enter the 2004 NBA draft. The New Orleans Hornets selected Smith with the 18th pick. Smith won two NBA titles as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers (2015-16) and the Los Angeles Lakers (2019-20). He also won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award during the 2012-13 season.

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NHL 4 Nations Face-Off Central: Schedule, rosters, news, how to watch

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2024

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NHL 4 Nations Face-Off Central: Schedule, rosters, news, how to watch

Dec 4, 2024, 02:15 PM ET

Instead of having an All-Star Game this season, the NHL and NHLPA are staging the 4 Nations Face-Off, which will run from Feb. 12 through Feb. 20. This is a round-robin tournament that will feature four national teams — Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States — with NHL players from those nations filling the rosters.

Read on for full coverage of the event, including rosters, schedule and broadcast information from the opening round games all the way through the championship matchup.

More: Schedule
Roster grades, snubs
Everything you need to know

Game schedule

Note: All times Eastern.

Wednesday, Feb. 12: Canada vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. | TNT
Thursday, Feb. 13: USA vs. Finland, 8 p.m. | ESPN
Saturday, Feb. 15: Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. | ABC
Saturday, Feb. 15: USA vs. Canada, 8 p.m. | ABC
Monday, Feb. 17: Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. | TNT
Monday, Feb. 17: Sweden vs. USA, 8 p.m. | TNT
Thursday, Feb. 20: Championship game, 8 p.m. | ESPN

Rosters

Note: Players are listed alphabetically by position. These are not projected lineups.

Finland

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Grading the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters, plus snubs and surprises

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2024

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Grading the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters, plus snubs and surprises

Greg Wyshynski, ESPNDec 4, 2024, 02:15 PM ET
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The first-ever NHL/NHLPA 4 Nations Face-Off is many things.

It’s a midseason exhibition tournament that replaces the NHL All-Star Game for a change of pace. It’s an antipasto of international hockey ahead of the Italian feast of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. It’s also the first time that a generation of Canadian and American superstars get to battle for bragging rights and a championship — although Sweden and Finland will have something to say about that.

On Wednesday, those four nations reveal their rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off, taking place from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. The U.S. and Canada will announce their rosters at 7 p.m. ET, while Finland’s and Sweden’s reveals arrived earlier in the day. Some of the names are very expected, and some of the selections are a bit surprising.

Here’s how the rosters grade out — at each position group and overall — and which NHL players might be feeling snubbed by their home nations after these roster reveals.

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National signing day live: Commits, flips, rumors and best moments

Published

12 hours ago

December 4, 2024

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National signing day live: Commits, flips, rumors and best moments

College football’s national signing day has kicked off with the early signing period. Class of 2025 high school recruits are now able to sign their national letters of intent to lock them into the colleges of their choice.

With 16 ESPN 300 commitments, Georgia starts the signing period with the No. 1 class in ESPN’s rankings. However, the top spot has not been locked down completely and has changed hands a few times this cycle. Most programs will sign the majority of their class this week, but recruiting is far from over. If a prospect doesn’t sign a national letter of intent by Friday, the next national signing day for this cycle begins Feb. 5, 2025.

We’re tracking the latest news, analysis, class rankings movement and more throughout Wednesday, with latest updates at the top:

coverage:
Class rankings: Top 50 schools
Last-minute intel, flips to watch