01x03 - Reading the Green

[bunniefuu]

[music]

[Smith] For a long time,
my purpose was basketball.

But some things
just don't last forever.

Perseverance is key
in growth.

Life is about relationships,
about connecting with people,

it's about, you know,
building people up

and helping people
get to that next level.

I try to tell our teammates,
no matter what,

there's no shortcuts
to greatness.

Ten to one!

[overlapping chatter]

[Ford] J.R. told us to come...
come to the basketball court.

And we was like,
"Basketball?"

J.R... uh-oh.

Oh, now.

[Williams]
To be on a basketball court

with somebody
that you watched

playing the NBA finals,
like, especially somebody

of his stature,
uh, to come in and...

just try to vibe
with the team.

I mean,
it's just mind-boggling.

- Oh!
- Stay talking! Stay talking!

[hip hop playing]

Aah... come on now!

Come on now!

[Smith] But I wanted to be
one of those people

who try to inspire them
as much as possible.

[Ford] I look at him
like a big brother,

like an uncle.

No!

We would call him stepdad.

He'd just...
whatever we need,

you know, we can go to him.

[man]
How could you not love somebody

stepping outside
of the comfort zone,

all of the spoils that
your work had afforded you,

casting all of that aside
to be vulnerable.

I just think it's such
a fantastic example to set.

Be visible.
Let these young people see you,

a grown man, a dad,
an NBA champion,

and I admire that.

[music slowing]

[theme music]

[theme music ends]

[soft music]

So, I've...
at this point,

everything
in England was, like,

they pretty much
ran America,

or America was Chesapeake...

- Yeah, yeah.
- Okay.

[Williams]
J.R. is doing a really,

really good job
of being able to balance,

you know,
golf and school.

He seems really,
really serious about school.

A lot more serious
than I had, you know,

kind of first thought
he would be.

We'll hit him up and be, like,
"Hey, what you doing tonight?"

He'll be like, "I can't... can't
hang out with y'all tonight.

gotta write a paper...
gotta do homework."

People might think,
you know, his tweets are

him trying to be funny, but no,

that man is actually
doing work and grinding,

so I'm very, very proud
of him for that.

[Burke] I think
J.R. is finding his voice.

He's becoming awake
in the world, as I call it.

Because of being
a professional athlete,

his narrative again has been
shaped by other people.

He is recognizing
he's a critical thinker

and his voice has value.

[Burke]
Indentured servitude could be

harsh in the tobacco colonies,
for masters sought

to get as much labor
as they could

from their servants
before the indenture ended.

Most indentured servants
died from overwork

or seized before
regaining their freedom.

I'm sorry, but really,
just, you're giving up

two to seven years
on some, like,

extremely brutal labor, and...
on top of being whooped

or whatever, that's
the same thing as sl*very.

I don't understand
the "indentured servant,"

that whole term, it's not...
doesn't really seem like

you know,
much different from a sl*ve.

Well, it wasn't.

The difference was, though,
that you had the hope,

or you had
the right to be free.

When you were enslaved,
you were given no...

- no rights.
- Man.

He's taking what he's learning
in his classes

and our conversations.

It's like, so I know
he's on a podcast

or a show
talking about that.

I think, for us, we get locked

into the...
that Euro-centric mindset?

I try to continuously pull

my Black brothers and sisters

into a unity...

more of a unity circle,

so try to continuously

influence as many of us
as possible to...

you know,
reach more, teach more.

To do things
that make sense.

You might be a genius, yeah?

- [laughing]
- You seem a little older, boy.

[chortling]

You seem a little wiser, boy.

I see why you got
the dreads now, boy.

[laughing]

He influence the class,

and then the class
influences him.

So I love that.

For my final paper in English,

I did systematic, uh...

racism in professional sports

and really
just highlighting on,

you know,
Black cultures and...

the harsher treatments
for African-Americans

and minorities compared
to our white counterparts.

So, I did, um...
I did research

on the CeeDee Lamb case

for him...
his untucked jerseys.

How he... was fined
more than Aaron Rodgers

for lying
about being, uh...

uh, having the vaccine.

Like, how...

I don't...
that didn't make sense to me.

[Dr. Dawn Murphy]
We love watching freshmen

from... from freshman year
to senior year,

and how they evolve and develop.

And we build students

to be better leaders
and be better themselves,

and I think
that's what we do at an HBCU.

So, we talk about

the Black experience in America.

HBCUs are one of the pillars

of that experience.

These institutions have
been around since 1837.

It's important to understand
that spaces like that

are epicenters...

for radical transformation
of American democracy

for over 200-plus years.

The civil rights movement would
not be what it was

without the leadership,

many of whom were
graduates of HBCUs.

February 1st, 1960,
we have four young men

who help lead
a very, very powerful movement,

which reverberates
throughout the country.

The A&T Four were

four young freshmen,
17, 18 years old.

These young men would go
to their dormitories,

they would talk
about the experiences

of growing up
as a Black person in America.

The injustices that define
their daily lives

and the lives of their friends.

[Murphy]
Brown and Black people were

not allowed to sit
at the lunch counter.

Back then, it was
white only and Black only.

February 1,
the four freshmen

sat down at the lunch counter
at Woolworth's

to start a movement,

to start integration
of the Woolworth counter.

They were brave, courageous.

[Favors]
Their actions inspired

their fellow Aggies.

For them to cross
that river of fear,

it was critical,
it was essential.

That's what A&T has
represented for years.

A space and a place
where, again,

the freedom dreams
of Black people could run free.

A lot of them come with...

already with that
social justice background

and wanna continue
our rich history

of doing something
to advocate.

[music]

[Smith]
I'm not as quick of a learner

on the golf course
as I thought.

I thought I would've
got it by now.

I thought I'd've been...
way further than I am.

In basketball,
I put the time into it.

I haven't done that with golf.

It's starting
behind the eight ball,

but it's discouraging, because
I'm not playing well enough,

sh**ting the scores I want to,
there's nobody here

to work on my game with.

So, it's, like, frustrating.

if I'm not running
the right play,

tell me
what play to run.

If I'm hitting the ball

out of bounds,
show me how not to hit

the ball out of bounds.

I come
from a standpoint

where I've tried to learn

from the highest
of highs,

and for me,
I have access to that.

I'm gonna take
advantage of that.

I know Tony Finau,
I know Justin Thomas,

I know D.J.

I know all of these dudes

who do this at...
the highest level

of what I did
in another sport,

but at the sport
that I'm playing now,

on a collegiate level,
so why wouldn't I go ask them?

Why wouldn't I go spend time
practicing with them

and trying to figure
my game out doing that?

Yeah, I mean,
if you think about it,

I played college
basketball too, so,

you think
about a jump shot, right?

That last thing that really
kind of makes the shot is this.

- Yeah.
- You know? You think

about coming in this way,

- you don't do it left, right?
- Right.

And that's your dominant hand...

[Smith] For me,
in basketball, when I was

working on my shots
and working on, you know,

lot of those threes,
when people see me

fade away to the corner
or something like that.

"Oh, my God,
how did he make it?"

I practiced that shot.

You know? It was...

As crazy as it may sound,

I literally
practiced that shot.

[music]

And in golf, it's like,

I haven't had the swings...

to be able to, you know,

have something to go to
when things aren't working.

In basketball, you know,

it's like getting
to the free throw line.

In golf, if you don't have
that base in your...

something you can rely on
in your game,

it's gonna be...
you're really gonna struggle,

especially in competition.

So, it's a lot of grinding,

range time
for me as well.

You know, that's the beauty
about the game.

Because you can
always get better,

there's always room
to improve.

There you go.

[Smith] I'm taking
advantage of the resources

I have access to.

I just wish my teammates
and the other HBCU athletes

had the same kind of
opportunities

and support
to grow their games.

We don't have funding.

Sometimes we literally get
an Enterprise 16-passenger van

to ride five, six hours,

and other teams have
Sprinters

and everything else
and all these resources.

[Watkins]
Here at North Carolina A&T,

you know, there are things

that we don't have.

I think there have always been

a lack of funding issue

with historically
Black colleges.

A lot of the people
that we're recruiting against

have these nice,
shiny things.

They have the nice equipment.
They have the nice gloves,

the nice shoes;
you know, when it's raining

they have the indoor facility.

Those things make
a difference

when young people are choosing
where to go to school.

Oklahoma State, Arkansas,

in their facility,
it's something crazy;

They got, like, a big barn

with putting greens,
tipping greens, radars,

TrackMan, FlightScope,
everything.

I wish we...
we could have that.

[Todd Simmons]
Athletics cost money,

and that has been
one resource that has been...

uniformly deprived
of a great many HBCU's,

A&T certainly included in that.

We don't generate
any revenue

from people coming
out to the golf course

to watch us play.

We don't have
the same budgets

that men's basketball...

that football...

we don't have
the same budgets that they do.

Let's go, man!

Are there some things
that I would love to have?

Absolutely, but, you know,
who wouldn't?

[soft music]

[Smith] For me, I really,
you know, truly care

about my teammates for one,

so, if creating
partnership between...

TaylorMade,
HBCUs, N.C. A&T,

it's very important.

I'm fortunate enough
to have been awarded

different things in my life

just because
of who I am and my status.

[music]

[Michael Barbuti]
Today came together

in a pretty interesting way,
it started...

with me basically
sliding in J.R.'s DMs

and saying, hey, you know,

we'd love to come get you
fitted at the Kingdom.

We see that you're playing
a lot of golf, we would love

for you to play our club,
and I thought, well,

why don't we just fit
the whole team?

So then TaylorMade

flew them out here,
got them hotels,

today is the big day.

[Smith]
Being able to do this

and being able to...

use my resources for them,

that's what really...
makes me happy.

[overlapping chatter]

- Ooh.
- Wait, what?

Ooh.

[music]

[gasping]

Mama, we made it.

I look like
I belong up there, dog.

[laughter]

[music]

It's crazy, it's crazy.

- I can get used to this.
- Yeah, for real, though.

[Barbuti] For us,
it's an initiative that,

you know, we believe everyone
should be equipped the same.

And I think that
sometimes those opportunities

lack for certain schools,

and that's where
we wanted to step up.

They'll get fit today,
get all new clubs,

obviously golf ba*ls,
golf bags,

golf clubs,
and then beyond that,

we also reached out
to the women's team,

and we're gonna equip them too.

[Smith] For me,
it was important to try

and get these guys as much
technology as possible

to just being at the same
starting point on the race.

You know, leveling
the playing field a little bit.

Got our rich stepdad over there,
he balling right now.

He got all his kids
over here eating, so...

[Gonzalez]
What was that?

[Smith]
Oh, that ain't gonna cut it.

- Getting warmed up.
- We heard it.

Yeah, I don't wanna hear
no more trees clatter.

You know what that was?
Next time I'm gonna

- leave your a*s home.
- [laughter]

Getting fitted
for the right club

for the swing you got,
is day and night.

[music]

One-eight-four ball speed.

One-eight-four, 184...

339.

You watch Diego from Venezuela,

and it's just, like,
185 ball speed?

That is Brooks Koepka,

Dustin Johnson,
McIlroy quality.

You can't get that...

I could go in there
and bench press for a month,

squat for a month,
and I'm not getting that.

That kid has it.

And I literally said
to him, like,

why aren't you...
what's happening here?

What's the problem?
And he starts to talk to me

about a miss,
and it's the wrong answer.

You need to practice
your short game

because your levels are extreme.

[laughter]

Then you look at J.R.

You've got someone
who is extremely coachable.

- [voice] Okay.
- Who is going to take

that small nugget
of information

and make it into a feast.

- [Trott] How good's that?
- [Smith] Oh, that felt so good.

[Trott] Yeah, money.
Absolute money.

Whoo!

[Smith]
Hook and ladder or one.

Hook and ladder or one.
See it?

[Smith] There's someone else
that showed him that

they actually care
about how they perform

and how they do and how
they achieve their goals.

Especially as a big,
you know, company

like TaylorMade is important.

One-seventy-five, 325.

[Smith]
Especially HBCUs 'cause of

currently how much they matter,
how much they matter

to our culture,
to communities.

To show that
they're not forgotten about.

[Williams]
To have this experience

with my teammates,
I feel like I've said

"thank you" a thousand times,
but it's all been

a very, very surreal experience,
but, you know,

I... cannot
thank him enough.

[Ford] I can't wait to go home
and use what I learned

and really apply it
to my game, I can't wait.

Maybe for these guys,
it's just a day of work,

but for us, it's one
opportunity in a lifetime.

[Smith]
One of my old coaches say,

at the end of it all,
what is your obituary gonna say?

Is it just gonna say
you were a basketball player?

Is it just gonna say you were

kicking around sports
all your life or whatever?

What impact did you leave?

And, for me, I wanted to leave
the impact on these young kids

to how important it is
to get your education.

It's more to it
than just playing golf

and just playing basketball
and just playing the sport.

[soft music]

My first tournament,
a little nerve-wracking.

I definitely put
too much pressure on myself.

So, last night, man,

I get my clothes out,

I have my golf bag
and my golf clubs,

but I'm going through my bag,
trying to figure out

what clubs I'm gonna hit,
what clubs I'm gonna use,

what divot utensil
I'm gonna use,

what ball marker I'm gonna use,

what color ba*ls
I'm gonna use,

what ball markers
I'm gonna use on my ba*ls.

I was literally like
a kid in a candy store.

I couldn't... I ain't go
to sleep till, like, 3:00.

And I had to be up
at 5:45, 6:00.

What's up, brother?

Come on, bro.

Huh?

You didn't see the picture?

What... oh, the shorts.

Bruh.

[soft chatter]

And the shirt... ay, yo.

Our freshy.

I saw him with the blue pants,
and we wear all white.

And I was like,
hey, you gotta find a way

to get some white pants.

These freshmen, bro.

Like the first day of f*ck' school.

So, do I need to go back
and get the white shorts?

I mean,
if you can, yeah.

See ya.

[music]

Second men's tournament.
J.R.'s first.

[Gonzalez]
It was serious.

It was the first time
I've seen him serious

on a golf course,
and that tells a lot

about the importance
that he's putting into it.

[Williams] This fairway has
definitely been a lot different.

A lot of cameras everywhere.

I think it's gonna be
like this all year long,

having eyes on us...

but I think that we are

very, very much welcoming that.

Found it.

[distant shouts]

[man] On behalf
of Alamance Country Club,

I wanna welcome you guys
to our course.

I hope you guys have
a great tournament this week.

We're really excited
to have you.

[soft music]

[Smith]
The anticipation was there.

And once it happened,
when I got my first birdy,

it was just like, "Oh,
you can play with these dudes,"

like, you got it, like,
you got... what it takes.

And you just gotta
stick with it.

[birds tweeting]

And then, of course,
sure enough,

the very next hole,
I double.

First few holes...

nerves,
and then there's...

there's just
a competitive part

about the game

that J.R. is now learning.

[Smith] It's a lot different
than playing around

with your buddies
around a public course,

so now we're thinking
a lot more,

trying to land the ball
in specific spots,

and, through that,
I think I actually played

better than
what I'm accustomed to playing.

[Joey Morganti]
I'm a big NBA fan,

so it was pretty fun
for all of us.

Started off a little,
like, a little awkward,

but then it ended up...
we started talking

about golf courses, and...

he seemed
like a big golf nut,

so we got along
pretty quickly.

I asked him
some questions about...

how normal golf events worked,

just, and he was like...

is there usually
this many spectators here?

I was like, no, not usually.

[Smith]
Tomorrow is the finale.

We play 18 tomorrow.
Everybody come on,

put their hard hats on, man.

I gotta bring it.
If I bring it tomorrow,

it's gonna be something.
I'm telling you.

[Watkins] I figured
that the first 18

would be a struggle, you know,
getting used to things.

Getting used to the competition,
being out there by hisself.

After that first 18 was over,
I just, you know,

I knew he was gonna
play better that second 18.

[Smith] I started off on ten,
and my shot went right,

hit a tree,
and I came back out

to the fairway,
made par on that hole.

And I had
a really good shot on 11.

But I get
to the 12th hole...

pull out a driver again,
thinking I'm about to crush it

down the fairway,
I hit it right,

hit a tree, hit it...
hear a huge thud.

We were looking for it
for a while, and he only had

about 30 seconds left
on the clock before he had

to go play
his... his second ball,

because we couldn't
find the first one.

To find it,
it was embedded into the ground.

So I go get my cart,
I have to find my ball.

It wasn't good.
[laughing]

Oh...

Is that ants?

...Bees!

They biting you?

Hell yeah!

[Smith] And roll my cart

right over a hornets' nest.

I have bees all over my feet,

hornets or whatever you wanna
call 'em, all over my feet,

and I wear a 15,
so that's a lot of bees.

[music]

Double check
they're not in the shoe.

I took off his shoe,
and they were still in there.

He's over here like,
"Oh, my feet, my feet."

I don't have Zyrtec,
but I might have some Allegra.

Just my luck.
Second round ever.

In the NCAA.

And I get stung by hornets.

He's got...
15 minutes on the clock.

He didn't start the clock
till she got here.

Once again,
like I was telling you,

still y'all's call.

- [Smith] What?
- How are you feeling

about continuing your round?

Oh, for sure.
I can move it.

- What happened?
- I got stung by hornets.

[Watkins] I got you.

- Like, a lot?
- A lot.

Like, "Candyman" sh*t, bro.

They was everywhere.

Alright, get your s*** together
and go play.

Oh, for sure.

[Williams]
I've never really seen,

you know,
a situation like that before.

Uh, never seen
somebody get stung by...

[laughing]
...by bees before

on the golf course.
It's kind of, like...

really?
Like, come on, like...

[Smith] I've played
through a lot of things.

Hands broke,
finished the game.

Fingers jammed.

Concussions.

And I'm a football player
at heart.

I wear that with pride.

When toughness comes
into... injuries

and stuff like that,
to fight through

and persevere through it.

Um... fortunately
I was able to do that.

I still shot 78,
which is really good for me.

I knew that he was capable
of doing it, and he did.

[soft chatter]

[Smith]
At the end of the day, I mean,

I'm just glad I was
able to bounce back

from adversity, you know?

Being thrown into the fire
for the first time.

- One down, a bunch to go.
- One down.

[Smith]
I'm obviously frustrated.

I'm not gonna lie.
I obviously wanna play better.

I just wish I had
the day to day support

to get me
to the next level.

[music]

They should help the players
get into amateur events,

encourage them to play individual events.

Even if the whole team isn't going...

There's no reason why they should be able

to send one or two of ya'll
out to numerous events...

...throughout the year.

It don't make sense.

It's an issue I'd say
I always kind of have had,

especially, you know,
when you put so much time

and effort and energy
into this, as we do.

You just expect
certain results,

and you know,
when you don't always

see those results necessarily,

it can... it can be
a little frustrating.

Yeah, in the summer.

We can't even practice
at Bryan Park summers.

- No?
- Yeah.

Why?

Because the contract is by season.

Not a year long.

Like, I've never been
a part of a team,

sports team,
from three years old

to 36 years old,

that our coach,
the coach don't come to practice.

Like, that's never been a thing.

I don't think
there's a worse feeling.

Like, you've got a coach
that you feel like

don't wanna help you, especially
if you wanna get better,

you got...
gotta get better.

We're hitting the ball
every time,

and we don't have nothing.

Coach, last tournament,
he was talking to other coaches,

meanwhile I was putting.

Instead of being there with me,
trying to read this green.

Or even ask,
"Hey, you need help?"

"I... I'm here, if you need me."

Even if you were
to pick a director, who?

You probably better
at that than actually

doing what your title is.

[Smith] Listen, this is
where I get in trouble,

because I played
professionally, you know?

I played at the highest
of highest levels.

Any- and everything
that was being done

was pretty much...
it was supposedly

predicated towards winning
and being successful.

In the professional setting,

the coach was always there.

There's a big difference

on a golf coach
and a golf player.

My dad, he's a golf coach.

You rarely see him
in the golf course.

I haven't played with him
in eight years, seven years.

Because he doesn't play.
He teaches golf.

Then, like, about
the whole situation, like,

he kept trying
to bring it up, like,

though he did bring
the program to school.

Like, okay, cool, great,
I understand that.

I was, like,
not knocking you, but,

but that's over with.

You gotta stop
being happy with being...

allowed to be invited in.

[music]

[Burke] It's the last day
of the semester,

and it's the last day of finals,

most of which are online,
so, as you can see,

on campus,
it's pretty quiet.

You hear
a lot of praying going on,

that's why
it's probably so quiet.

Yes, sir.
Look at the alum.

It's finals week,
everybody going home, you know.

You can see people moving out,

so it's not
too many people out there,

but, you know, it's still
heads up here, that's for sure.

I got finals,
couple finals I gotta take.

J.R. really does set
high goals for himself.

He's very competitive.

There's nothing
like being around

and talking to the professors,

talking to your advisors,

talk to people
and have that experience,

Feeling like, again,
a true college kid.

And I did ask if he was
prepared for the onslaught

when the public finds out

he didn't get a 4.0
this semester.

[Smith]
My goals are four-oh.

Obviously the work gets
a little harder or whatever,

but for me,
it's just figuring out,

you know, budgeting time.

How are my studying hours?
And just gotta work smarter.

The first time I seen him
was right there, today.

- Today.
- I seen him most of the time,

but I didn't see him today.
He said... no, he said,

"I don't got
a 4.0 this semester."

It's okay, though,
he can stay with a 3.8.

Um, I got a B
in nutrition, so...

[sighing]

Trying not to lose
my sh*t about,

because I did the class...
I did the assignment,

but at the time,
I didn't understand

how to work blackboards,
you know, I turned it...

I submitted it
in the wrong place.

She hasn't graded it yet.
She said she was gonna do it,

but that's the only thing
that's really holding me back

from... a B and an A.

'Cause I just wanna get
my grade, man.

I'm not doing this
to prove nobody else wrong.

I'm not doing this to prove
to somebody else that I'm smart.

It's like, I'm really proving
to myself that I can do it.

[music]

[music continues]

[music ends]