North Carolina A&T’s Star Freshman Walk-On Gets His Shot

J.R. Smith is making his collegiate golfing debut today at the Phoenix Invitational hosted by Elon University.

For those who have not been keeping up with one of the year’s best sports stories, here’s a quick update: The former NBA All-Star enrolled at North Carolina A&T this summer and joined the golf team as a freshman walk-on. Smith briefly had to wait for the NCAA to grant him eligibility, but now he’s been cleared and is ready to start competing on the links.

The course at Alamance Country Club is a par 71. Smith qualified for A&T’s five-man lineup in the tournament by one stroke.

For those who have been waiting for footage of Smith’s golf swing, we finally have some:

You can even tell Smith is excited for his debut since he took to Twitter and fired off a Tiger Woods gif to start the day.

The best of SI

Jack McCallum asks a series of “What If” NBA questions that could’ve impacted the timeline of the sport ahead of the league’s 75-year celebration…Tom Verducci examines all of the historical oddities that took place during the White Sox’s Game 3 victory over the Astros on Sunday night…If you’re an Alabama or Penn State fan, Pat Forde says there’s still some hope for a playoff run.

Around the sports world

Kenyans swept the Boston Marathon men’s and women’s titles in a rare race held in October…Ben Simmons could report to the Sixers this week…Ryan Tepera implied that the White Sox may have been stealing signs during Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS…Max Vertsappen retook the F1 championship lead after finishing second to Valterri Bottas at the Turkish Grand Prix

You Can Feel the Silence In This Clip

Over the weekend Texas A&M took down No. 1-ranked Alabama with a 28-yard field goal by Seth Small as time expired. Although it would be hard to tell what happened if you listened to the Alabama radio call. There was only silence as the Crimson Tide’s 19-game winning streak was snapped.

Imagine the Traffic This Will Cause

Not sports

Here’s Kim Kardashian’s monologue from SNL this weekend…Judge Judy’s longtime bailiff Petri Hawkins Byrd says he was not invited to be a part of her new show…Blue Origin has postponed William Shatner’s space flight by a day due to weather.

A good song

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