Former NBA player Josh Smith at the NBPA HBCU Top 50 Camp
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 >> Hi Josh, what does it mean to you to be a part of the MVPA,
00:03 HBCU Top 15?
00:05 >> It means a lot, man.
00:06 Coming from a player that didn't get an opportunity to play in college and
00:13 be able to get an opportunity to be able to see these kids,
00:16 get an opportunity to be seen, be heard.
00:20 It's a great platform for the HBCU kids.
00:23 >> How have you been involved with MVPA since you started playing full time?
00:27 >> I've been involved a little bit.
00:29 I have different passions that I have now.
00:32 Going into the next chapter of my career and the next chapter of my life,
00:36 I wanted to be coaching.
00:38 So the MVPA has great programs for
00:41 us to be able to reach the needs that former players need to be reached.
00:48 >> Absolutely, now you kinda just mentioned it.
00:49 How have you kinda been involved with coaching so far?
00:51 What are you planning to do going forward?
00:53 >> Well, I got a couple of AAU teams.
00:56 I got an A grade, I got a fourth grade.
00:58 And I help out with some of the high school, the grassroots kids.
01:02 Moving forward, helping me, is that what you're asking me?
01:07 >> Yeah, you know, you plan to coach high school, college, pro?
01:10 >> Yeah, I plan to go pro for professional.
01:12 I was a professional, so I plan to eventually coach that one day.
01:16 That's definitely one of my dreams to be able to accomplish.
01:20 And I think I'm taking the right steps in order to get to that direction.
01:25 >> Actually, last question for me.
01:27 One thing about Black College Athletics in general,
01:29 they plug in such a disparity between HECs and everybody else.
01:32 From what you've just seen, just the eye test,
01:34 what do you have to say about the talent you've seen on the court
01:36 in the past couple days?
01:37 >> I mean, they're just as talented as the guys that play in those power five
01:41 schools.
01:42 They just don't have the resources and the necessities to be able to get seen.
01:46 But like I said, this Top 50 camp is giving them a great opportunity to be
01:51 able to get seen and get heard.
01:57 I kinda feel like the bridge, the gap between the big colleges that you hear,
02:04 like Duke, North Carolina, and the colleges that you kinda know here,
02:09 like Bethune-Cookman, I kinda feel like facilities.
02:15 They have better facilities, better opportunities to be able to get
02:18 themselves conditioned and ready to be able to play on the court at a high level.
02:24 I think that can mean the gap a little bit.
02:27 - Thank you so much.