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NBA Stars J.R. Smith & Dwight Howard Runs Camp in Neptune
Published in the Asbury Park Press 08/26/05
BY SCOTT STUMP
STAFF WRITER NEPTUNE - In the minds of J.R. Smith and Dwight Howard, if an 18-year-old can choose to join the military and get sent to Iraq , he should also have the choice of offering his services to an NBA team.
That's not a surprising sentiment considering Smith and Dwight Howard were in the next-to-last group of high schoolers who were allowed to enter the NBA draft before the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was put in place in June. Under the new rules, the minimum entry age for the draft is now 19, which would have made Smith and Howard ineligible had it been in place before the 2004 draft.
Dwight Howard was drafted No. 1 overall by Orlando out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, while Smith, a former Lakewood High School star, was taken by New Orleans at No. 18 out of St. Benedict's Prep in Newark.
"If you're 18, you can go into the Army and serve your country, but you can't play basketball," Dwight Howard said on Thursday while signing autographs at Smith's basketball camp at Rebounds.
"I'm just happy I got the opportunity to go before the rule change. I can be upset, but I think the NBA probably did what they thought was best for the kids coming out."
"I'm not for it," Smith said. "I don't think it is necessary. The other guys who came out of high school last year, with the exception of maybe one or two guys, made an impact on their team."
Dwight Howard and Smith were certainly in that group, as Dwight Howard averaged a double-double (12 ppg, 10 rpg) and Smith averaged 10.3 points and was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month three times.
"They're denying 18-year-olds jobs," said Earl Smith Sr., J.R.'s father. "Some guys are going to slip through the cracks now."
With top players' choices now trimmed down to attending college for a year if they are academically qualified, playing in the NBA Developmental League for meager wages or going to prep schools, it may be the latter that benefits the most from the new ruling.
"I think the New England prep school contingent in particular is going to blow up now," said Rebounds director Spencer Staggs. "They just want to take the NBA scouts out of high school environments, but all that means is that they're going to move somewhere else."
Smith is certainly supportive of the prep schools, considering that the J.R. Smith Foundation that he created goes to raising money to provide two or three scholarships a year to St. Benedict's and four each to Xavier Prep and St. Augustine , two prep schools located in New Orleans . J.R.'s younger brother, Chris, who starred for Lakewood last year, is now at St. Benedict's and has been re-classified as a junior, just like J.R. was after transferring in 2002.
"If it wasn't for St. Benedict's, I don't think I'd be here right now in my current situation," J.R. Smith said.
The week-long camp at Rebounds, which has 72 children attending, is being held to benefit Smith's foundation. He has brought in Dwight Howard, new teammate Chris Paul, Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas and Clippers point guard Shaun Livingston to instruct the campers.
Smith said that the influence of Dwight Howard and Livingston pushed him in the direction of spurning a scholarship offer to eventual national champion North Carolina and making the jump straight to the NBA. Smith and Dwight Howard were co-MVPs of the prestigious McDonald's High School All-American game, an event where one flashy showing often convinced players to jump to the NBA before this new age limit was introduced.
"I didn't get into his ear," Dwight Howard said before smiling.
"Yes, you did," Smith replied. "You started it. Then it was ( Portland 's) Sebastian (Telfair), then Shaun ( Livingston ) working on me. You were like, "You might as well go now.' "
If Smith and Dwight Howard had their way, they wouldn't have been one of the last groups of high school stars that could even have that conversation.
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