When the clock strikes midnight Friday, many people will already be in bed. In Fairbanks, Alaska, they'll still be at the ballpark, where the lights never come on.

Since 1906, the "Midnight Sun Game" has been held in Fairbanks, a city with a population just under 95,000 people. First pitch is typically at 10 p.m. and lasts past midnight. The catch? It takes place on the summer solstice, when the sun doesn't fully set for 24 hours.

"Here's this really crazy just contrast of a very American ballgame with all of the pageantry and flyovers of the military and singing, kids running the bases," said Dr. Katherine Ringsmuth, Alaska state historian, to ESPN. "Yet you look at your watch and it's midnight."

And of course, the lights at Growden Memorial Park, which hosts the game, don't work. They haven't since 2003.

"It's really not that much of a nuisance to not have them," Alaska Goldpanners general manager John Lohrke told ESPN. "... But they're pretty old, you know, before LEDs and all that. So I'm afraid what would happen if we turn the switch on and see what might take place."

The Goldpanners, a summer baseball team in Fairbanks, has hosted the game since 1963. This year, they play the Utah Yaks on Friday. Through the years, future Baseball Hall of Famers like Dave Winfield and Tom Seaver have played for the Goldpanners, the latter of which started in the Midnight Sun Game.

It's one of baseball's oldest traditions, a bucket list item for fans traveling from as far away as Japan and Australia. Attendees from at least 40 states and two to three countries are the norm for the crowd.

F-35s fly over following the national anthem. Once midnight comes around, members from SingUnited take the field to perform the Alaska flag song. It's all about building a fun, family atmosphere that would be challenging to replicate anywhere else. Alaska is one of the few places in the world to have the "midnight sun" phenomenon.

"You can't really describe it because it's just unique," Lohrke said. "We've had coaches and people come to our organization and ... they'll say, 'John, I've been involved in baseball a long time and I've never had an experience as cool as this.' There's really nothing like it."

The game began as a bar bet between miners searching for gold.

Following the California gold rush in the middle of the 19th century, the Klondike region in northwestern Canada had its own rush near the end of the 1890s. Then it was Nome in south Alaska before reaching Fairbanks, which brought miners, like Eddie Stroecker.

Deemed the "Father of the Midnight Sun Game," Stroecker was a ballplayer from California. Like many others, he came to Fairbanks to find gold. Stroecker worked for the California bar and, according to local legend, made a bet with the Eagle's Club involving a baseball game.

The gold rush is a key component of its origins. However, there are additional layers to the game's continuation early on.

"Yeah, it's this bar bet. Yeah, it's a reflection of the American society at that time moving into Alaska. But it's also a promotional thing, right? They're trying to get people to come to Alaska," Ringsmuth said.

Media began covering it, including the New York Times in 1914 and 1945, only adding to the impact for Fairbanks. Before the Goldpanners became the hosts, there were various participants. Local leagues kept the unique event alive, and during the two World Wars, military teams became part of them. The popularity increased decade by decade.

Stroecker was a key player, appearing in the game until 1918. Local sports aficionados credit him as a driving force behind it. The game is now appropriately named the "W.G. & Eddie Stroecker Midnight Sun Game" after Eddie and his son William George, who was also involved in the game.

In 1960, future Fairbanks mayor Red Boucher founded the Goldpanners. He focused his efforts on further promotion, taking the team to Wichita for a national tournament. That resulted in Boucher bringing a squad from Wichita to play in the Midnight Sun Game in 1963.

"That kind of created the whole kind of promotion around and aura really continued that legend of the Midnight Sun Game and filling the stands and making it into just an extraordinary global event, which it really is today," Ringsmuth said.

During Lohrke's tenure, he estimates that not too many players knew about the game before joining the team. But once they did, they thought it was cool and wanted to be there, he said. It has always been "a special night in Fairbanks," Lohrke added.

Growden Memorial Park typically holds 1,800 fans. It expands to 2,500 for the Midnight Sun Game with only about 130 seats reserved and the rest available for general admission. Reserved tickets for this year's contest sold out within an hour, Lohrke told ESPN.

Lohrke has been the general manager since 2016. The demand for the game has intensified every year. He said the game is "as much of a social experience as it is a baseball experience."

"It's almost like a concert. It's like people look for it. They look at our website and they get a feel [for] when are they available? When are they available? And it's just a frenzy," he said. "We're just sitting there watching our phones and it's you know, bing, bing, bing, and just it's pretty nuts."

This year's game will purposefully be played a day before Alaska's summer solstice. Fairbanks hosts a midnight sun festival on Saturday from noon to midnight, and there's a 10K run that begins at 10 p.m. the same day. Therefore, they avoid Saturday to not compete with each other.

Gates for the game open at 8 p.m. and more tickets will be sold 30 minutes before it starts, with the expectation that there probably won't be open seats.

"And they will not care," Lohrke said. "They will say, 'We want to be there. It's fun. We'll go to the beer garden and hang out or we'll be wherever, but we just want to be there.' They just want to be a part of it. The demand is greater than ever. It's really amazing."

A key result of that demand? For the first time, a jumbotron and five instant replay cameras will be in the park Friday provided by a production company from Anchorage.

So far, obstacles haven't gotten in the way during its 121-year history. It has been played through world wars and global pandemics. Over 200 major league players plied their trade with the Goldpanners.

Last June, Growden Memorial Park was added to the National Register of Historical Places, making it available to apply for funds. The Goldpanners are now financially strong enough where they could explore renovating the lights, Lohrke said.

Mother Nature has helped sustain the game for more than a century, and there are few signs of that changing anytime soon. All one has to do is listen to the famous lyrics of the song "Tomorrow" from the musical 1977 musical "Annie": "The sun'll come out, tomorrow." And with it, Fairbanks' summer solstice will include the Goldpanners shining on the field.

LOS ANGELES -- In the 63rd minute of their opening match of the 2026 World Cup on Monday, Iran midfielder Mohammad Mohebbi leapt into the air to meet Ramin Rezaeian's wonderfully whipped cross and guide his header in off the far post, giving New Zealand goalkeeper Max Crocombe no chance. The goal was decisive, the fourth goal in a 2-2 draw, and it sent shock waves through the 70,108-strong crowd at SoFi Stadium.

Just over 9 miles from where the match was being played in Inglewood, Iran fans at a watch party near Westwood were just as jubilant. They were gathered hosted at Meymuni Cafe to watch Iran's first match, cheering, chanting and coping with all the drama that comes when you watch your team in the World Cup.

Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran, and this part of the city is appropriately nicknamed "Tehrangeles." Iranian Americans have found themselves in a conflicted position due to circumstances around the team. The U.S. and Israel began a war against Iran on Feb. 28, and the national team's participation in the World Cup had been in doubt ever since. But, as Team Melli played its opener in L.A., watch parties in the area felt a little closer to home.

"I always remind people: Persians are a very, very important part of the fabric of Los Angeles' society," Shaheen Ferdowsi, founder of Meymuni Cafe, told ESPN. "I don't even know what L.A. would look like without Persians.

"I think something that's really cool is that here in L.A., we're so proud of being Iranian and other Iranians who come to L.A. from other parts of the U.S. are always so happy to see this different pride and being Iranian."

Meymuni Cafe, known for its lavashak (Persian fruit leather) smoothie, sold tickets for reserved seating and walk-ins with a maximum capacity of about 75 people. Ferdowsi is no stranger to hosting events in his bustling space, and will do the same for each of Iran's World Cup games. Their next is on Father's Day, deemed as "BYOB -- Bring Your Own Baba."

"My main goal and my main mission has always been to serve as a unifying symbol for the Iranian community," Ferdowsi said. "And just given everything that we've been through this year and how devastating things have been, I think Meymuni Cafe has kind of served as that hub for the majority of people who follow us and are fans of us."

Iran is the first team to participate in a World Cup hosted by a country with which it was at war. The team has had to face unique and ongoing challenges due to this unprecedented situation.

The team requested to move its three group matches outside of the U.S. -- it has two in L.A. and one in Seattle -- but was denied. Iran's base camp moved from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, weeks before the tournament. In a last-minute change to its travel plans, the team was forced to travel back to Tijuana immediately after the New Zealand match instead of the following day.

It set up a unique atmosphere in L.A. with several hundred Iranian Americans protesting the Iranian government prematch outside the stadium. The national anthem prompted cheers and boos from those in attendance, while some even actively cheered against the team during the game. Flags of Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution could be seen within the stadium, despite FIFA's efforts to ban them. However, once the game kicked off, a vast majority of the noise turned to supporting the team.

"It was an incredible atmosphere in the game, all 90 minutes," Iran striker Mehdi Taremi said postmatch. "It was like at home for us."

At the café watch party, fans rallied behind the players and acknowledged the challenges they face.

"It's great to host them. I wish it was under better circumstances. I wish they felt more welcome, you know," Benyamin Dabiri told ESPN. "It sucks that they can't stay the night. That four-hour bus drive, I mean, I can tell it's f---ing with them psychologically. It's messing with them a little bit."

Dabiri was born in Tehran and moved to the U.S. at 8 years old. He feel a connection with the Iran players. "Those are our cousins, our brothers," he said.

That was the prevailing sentiment among those watching, and it spread beyond its walls as the game progressed. A group fitness center is attached to the café, and workouts began at kickoff and halftime of the match. Occasionally, people would push their faces on the glass door to peep the score -- often after yells were heard following big moments.

By halftime, only some standing room remained. The chance to support Iran while it played in their backyard became too good to pass up for Iranian Americans.

"L.A. has the biggest Iranian population outside of Iran," Pourya Banaee, who moved from Iran to Los Angeles at 9 years old, told ESPN. "So it's just honestly a surreal experience supporting them and watching them play. It's super cool."

Banaee's friend Nima Malek emphasized how surreal it is to have Iran play in Los Angeles, while presenting it as a huge opportunity. He wished Iran's participation in the region came under a different situation, but posited that the team would come out more motivated because of it. The results could be surprisingly positive -- especially in L.A.

"A majority of the time, they're underdogs and no one really expects anything out of them," Malek, who was born and raised in L.A. and visits Iran every four or five years to see family, told ESPN. "But I think with Tehrangeles here, it's a rare opportunity."

Tehrangeles made its presence felt at Meymuni Cafe. Rezaeian's opening goal led to an "insane" energy, Dabiri said. When Mohebbi scored, the place was filled with cheers and chants. As the match remained in the balance for the final half-hour, that excitement turned to tension. All that mattered at the moment for those there was supporting Team Melli.

"These guys are just trying to play soccer," Dabiri said. "It's a different thing than any political thing.

"They don't have control over whatever political circumstances they're under. They just have to deal with the cards they're dealt with and play the best football they can. So, as Iranians, I think we should all just be supporting them and hoping for the best."

Banaee called it "amazing" to have the local support of Iranian Americans in Los Angeles. Rooting for the sports teams is "part of our blood," Malek said.

Following the team is a way for the community to stay connected to their homeland. That's something Ferdowsi -- and surely other Persian cafés hosting watch parties across Tehrangeles -- hopes to encourage.

"As a small café here, founded by someone Westwood born and raised, we're just happy to bring the community together," Ferdowsi said. "I hope that people just come together because of this game."

With group matches against Belgium and Egypt to come on June 21 and 27, Tehrangeles have at least two more chances to unite behind Team Melli.

The Knicks' NBA Finals run has touched every inch of New York City. From Coney Island to the Bronx to Central Park, watch parties have become as much a part of the postseason as a Jalen Brunson clutch bucket.

And in some cases, watch parties held in venues that you would never expect ... even in New York.

Erica Hill, the founder of Sparrow, a funeral home in Brooklyn, is hosting one for Game 4 of the Finals (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC). But its origins come from a place deeper than a typical watch party.

Hill was inspired by Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, who has said that he feels the presence of his late mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, during the series.

"In a way I felt like I was seeing her in the stands and it was just fun. It was really fun. It was really comforting. ... I don't know," Towns said. "It felt like a certain presence was here that was very comforting and very loving."

Cruz-Towns died in April 2020 due to COVID-19 complications. Towns lost six other family members in 2020 because of COVID.

Towns' comments spread on Instagram in the "end of life world," Hill told ESPN.

"Because all we do here is deal with people who are and support people who are grieving," Hill told ESPN. "So that's really, he was the impetus. We would never be having a watch party if he hadn't been so open and talking about his mom."

Following an 18-point, 12-rebound performance in the Knicks' Game 1 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Towns spoke about a sense of calm and peace that "had to come from the woman above."

With the Knicks needing a stop to win Game 2, Towns said he prayed to his mother. When Knicks center Mitchell Robinson stopped Victor Wembanyama to secure the victory, Towns said he saw it as a sign that his mother was there.

He expanded further to ESPN's Malika Andrews in an interview Monday, saying that he feels his mother's presence "a lot."

"It's kind of unexplainable. I'm always looking for signs. I pray, I go to sleep and I have a dream with her or just something that resonates with her," Towns said. "And I always feel her presence."

Hill says both of her parents have passed, and she'll "still sort of talk" to her father, who died in 2001. She opened her funeral home four and a half years ago and has worked with families who look for signs of their loved ones, similar to Towns.

The six-time NBA All-Star's comments really resonated with her, she said.

"I thought a lot about that, and just how, here's this guy who is arguably one of the best athletes in the country, being very open and vulnerable about wanting his mom with him," Hill said. "And to me, that's basically ... he's talking about his grief, and that's not really a common thing, especially for men."

On Sunday afternoon, two days after the Knicks won Game 2, Hill texted her colleagues to get thoughts on a potential watch party before deciding to go for it. She posted information about the watch party Monday on Instagram, prompting a widespread reaction.

"It's been pretty bananas," Hill said.

She thought it would be 15 people at most to RSVP, most of whom she probably already knew. As of Tuesday afternoon, 60 people had reached out about attending. Hill admitted they'd likely have to cap the invites to 120 people.

Neighbors are stopping by, as well as families the funeral home has served, which is particularly special for Hill.

Hill has a feeling that naturally conversations will hover to family members who loved the Knicks, like Hill's own father. She hopes to put together a board for people to share who they are watching for in honor of the Knicks center.

"It's lovely for us to have a light shown on us. ... To me it's not just like, 'Oh, let's have a watch party at Sparrow because we have projectors and we can do it,'" she said. "It really came from somewhere else. And it's clear from at least some of the people that have RSVP'd that they were really happy to have a place to go with other people who potentially are grieving."

She explained that people in the end of life community, including herself, believe it's extremely healthy for people to talk more about loved ones who have died. There was something about listening to Towns speak openly, especially during one of the highlights of his career.

But Hill didn't sense sadness when he reflected about his mother. She sensed joy.

"Here he is, I'm going to assume, dealing with a lot of grief, which is heavy," Hill said. "But yet he still goes out there and he does his job, which is playing basketball. And then his mom is like this comfort and inspiration. ... I think it's pretty inspiring. It really has resonated with a lot of people, not just me."

On Wednesday, they'll cheer and hope their loved ones -- past and present -- can guide Towns and the Knicks closer to basketball immortality.

The cast of the NBA's grandest stage is always easy to identify. This year, there's Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson. The Spurs' Coyote and Spike Lee. The ex-Knicks and Spurs in the crowd. Head coaches Mike Brown and Mitch Johnson. And of course, New York's celebrity fans courtside.

But, the most avoidable yet arguably important supporting character of each NBA Finals? The 29.5-inch official Wilson-branded 100% genuine leather cover basketball.

Karl-Anthony Towns will grab it from the air. Stephon Castle could punch it through the basket. Josh Hart surely will dive in the stands to secure it. De'Aaron Fox can dash up the floor while dribbling it.

As New York and San Antonio face off in the 2026 NBA Finals (Game 2 on Friday) the basketballs in action have all had a winding trip to Frost Bank Center and Madison Square Garden. They've actually been thudding off the hardwood for months across the NBA.

It's how the league makes sure the game's biggest stage has the right bounces.

Every January, the NBA sends four Finals-branded basketballs to all 30 teams. The mission is simple: Break them in before the league collects and redistributes them for the NBA Finals.

"Obviously, this is the most pivotal series of games we have. And so, you want them to have, I keep using game-ready, but game-ready basketballs which is different than out-of-the-box basketballs," Christopher Arena, the NBA's head of on-court and brand partnerships, told ESPN.

Similar to Spalding, Wilson uses leather supplied by Chicago's Horween Leather Company. But one key difference emerged when Wilson became the NBA's official ball provider in the 2021-22 season.

Under Spalding, used game balls were sent back to be laser-engraved with the NBA Finals script. Wilson's Finals basketballs are pre-produced and distributed to teams months in advance to be broken in.

Wilson has a protocol at their Ada, Ohio, facility that Arena said the league calls "waking the windings of the ball." Wilson pre-balances them on a machine that dribbles rapidly, while another sends them against a wooden panel.

But there's nothing to substitute sweat, oils and dirt that can come from a player, court and environment.

What makes leather unique is that it's an organic material derived from a living thing (in the NBA's case, the leather comes from cowhides). Therefore, there's a natural aging process, referred to in the fashion industry as "patina" -- a fancy way of saying it gets stained.

"Those elements sort of break the ball in. It gives it its darker color. It gives it a little bit more tack over time," Arena said. "And so, it takes, depending on who you ask and how much play, like three to four weeks to get that right."

Any equipment manager around the league will explain that the veterans won't play with the new balls, Arena added. The job falls to rookies, G-League players or ball attendants. The Knicks' and Spurs' equipment managers were not made available for this story.

Unlike composite basketballs that are "made of synthetically produced material that feels like leather," the NBA's official game ball uses genuine leather.

Leather doesn't always have to be broken in either, Keanan Duffty, a professor at the University of Southern California, told ESPN.

Duffty, a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, explained the process of breaking in a basketball, which is "very much a utility. It's very practical.

"Leather reacts to humidity. ... It can stretch. Depending on the heat in its environment, it can change the way it behaves. So I would think that basketball players don't want to be surprised by that on the court," Duffty said. "They want it to go through this process of being utilized so they know how it's going to behave when they're actually on the court for a game."

Every time a ball bounces, it stretches, going through an aging process. Leather naturally softens, but the pressure it endures while hitting the court can cause it to soften, too.

Moisture impacts that process in a unique way. The friction that a ball goes through when feeling the court or rim would change according to the moisture in the skin of the ball, Duffty explained. The moisture too increases over time of a game with more people touching the ball, resulting in a different behavior.

All of these factors lead to a preferred game experience for the players, especially important on the heightened stage of the NBA Finals.

"If you take the new balls out of the box ... and you shoot for an hour, the tips of your fingers will be bloody, just because the thread is so new," the Golden State Warriors' then-equipment/travel manager Eric Housen told ESPN in 2015.

The league entrusts all 30 of its teams to approach the process their own way.

Most of the time, those basketballs remain hidden from public view. But occasionally they surface in the open, creating a rare, bizarre scene when teams are spotted shooting around with an NBA Finals basketball before the playoffs.

Someone saw basketballs for the 2025 series at a Denver Nuggets game that season, prompting theories that the NBA had "leaked its script." A 2024 version was found during warmups at a Memphis Grizzlies game in March of that year.

"Most of the time, I think the equipment managers are really good about trying to keep it in the practice facility. And it's not a secret," he said. "Like, it's not the end of the world. It's just a little weird to have it on a court on March 2 on a Tuesday, you know?"

The minute a team is eliminated from postseason contention or in the playoffs, they will begin sending the their Finals basketballs back to the NBA, and the league will designate them by conference.

The teams at the last stage keep their own basketballs. The league supplements the rest so that it can hopefully fill up a rack in a game and practice facility. That total reaches 38 basketballs.

"Through the months of April, May, we are just collecting them. And then as soon as we know who the Western, Eastern Conference participants are in the Finals, we ship them right to them," Arena said. "It's challenging when you get to Game 6s and 7s and there's a tight turnaround because we want them playing with them ASAP."

Case in point: the 2026 Western Conference finals between the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.

With the Thunder up 3-2 in the series, the NBA sent Finals basketballs to Oklahoma City. Therefore, if the Thunder closed out the Spurs, they had theirs ready once they landed back home. If San Antonio sent it to seven, the basketballs would be ready for either team regardless of the winner since the series shifted to Oklahoma City.

The Spurs won in Game 7 and as they prepared to depart, one task remained: grabbing the basketballs. Oklahoma City's equipment manager handed them to San Antonio, which took them on the plane.

"We wanted to maximize the amount of time they had to play with those basketballs, knowing those were going to be the balls they were going to play the NBA Finals with," Arena said.

One more important bounce en route to the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

When two-time NBA champion J.R. Smith puts on his cap and gown Saturday to walk the graduation stage at North Carolina A&T, his steps will mark the end of a goal he has pursued for years -- to conquer a fear of education and earn his college degree. The moment also will spark the question nearly every college graduate hears: What's next?

For Smith, graduation signals another beginning. He told ESPN he is working on "stacking" degrees, with his sights set on earning a master's next.

"I want to continuously get better at understanding and being a person of higher intellect," Smith said.

He said his goal is to become athletic director at North Carolina A&T. The job has been held by Earl Hilton III for 15 years. The university announced in April that Hilton will step down this summer at the end of his contract. A national firm is conducting a search for his replacement.

"I feel like I got a lot of knowledge in the games or in the sports and how to build really good teams," Smith said. "I want to see the youth graduate. I want to see these young kids prosper and be amazing people. I think there's so many intelligent minds there."

Smith, now 40, built a name swishing deep 3-pointers and slamming dunks with an uber-confident playing style. It earned him two championship rings across a 16-year playing career with six different NBA teams. In 2021, he hit the books, enrolling at NC A&T and majoring in liberal studies: applied cultural thought.

He spent hours with tutors three times a week to complete his assignments. His efficiency improved enough to eventually turn them in early. There were sleepless nights to submit assignments and papers, down to finals week.

He also walked on to the men's golf team, which made headlines at the time, though golf was "secondary" for Smith, said Richard Watkins, the school's recently retired golf coach.

"He came to school to graduate," Watkins told ESPN.

And Smith prevailed. Five years after enrolling, he overcame his fear of education -- rooted in being diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a child -- to earn his degree and prove to himself and the world that he's capable of more than just basketball. Former teammates such as LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Richard Jefferson are among the many players who have have sent congratulations.

Smith wants his journey to show others they can do the same.

"I hope it inspires them to be more well-rounded as a person and not just as an athlete. I think being an athlete is just [an] attribute that you have," Smith said. "You're still a person at the end of the day and you can get better in all areas and facets."

SMITH SAID HE was inspired to attend college by another former NBA sharpshooter, Ray Allen.

While golfing together, Smith noticed Allen going back and forth to his computer to work on his degree. Smith, who entered the NBA in 2004 out of high school, wanted to do the same.

"Ray Allen kind of convinced me," Smith said in 2021. "We had a little golf trip in [the 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."

Other athletes have completed college degrees later in life. At 82 years old, tennis legend Billie Jean King is graduating this year. Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry and Shaquille O'Neal are among others in the NBA to complete college education in their later years.

They weren't student-athletes at the time, though.

During a golf session with C.J. Paul, the brother of recently retired NBA star Chris Paul, C.J. told Smith: "Man, you're pretty good. Why don't you go back and play college golf?" Smith initially took it as a joke. Paul, who grew up in North Carolina, was serious. He called Watkins about Smith potentially walking on the team.

"Needless to say, you're always looking for individuals that can help your sports team," Watkins said. "And that's just kind of the way it moved forward."

Before declaring for the NBA draft in 2004, Smith committed to North Carolina. He changed course, but it played a role in his decision to attend North Carolina A&T.

He has gravitated toward the state, which he said felt like home, though he grew up in New Jersey. The school's size stood out to Smith on his visit; North Carolina A&T had the largest enrollment of any historically Black college or university with 15,275 students in fall 2025.

But something stuck with Smith the most: He felt supported.

"I first got there, it just seemed like home. It just seemed like so many people who really wanted to see me do well and succeed," he said. "It felt like impossible to fail."

That type of support is crucial for any student, but especially in Smith's case.

From a young age, he said, he felt insecure with academics, knowing he wasn't like other students when it came to classwork. Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD around age 8 or 9, he said taking in a lot of information was a challenge. He described his reading as "terrible," and tasks such as reading out loud or public speaking didn't come as easily or quickly as they did for his peers.

That, he said, led to a lack of confidence. He shied away from schoolwork and rapidly excelled at sports, part of masking the challenges he was having in the classroom.

"I didn't realize how the brain is actually a muscle and the more you work it out, the stronger it's going to get," Smith said. "And for me, because it was so hard, I just gravitated a little to what was easier for me."

He faced those struggles head-on when he resumed his education.

Watkins said Smith spent "a lot of time" in the center for academic excellence. Smith said getting started was the hardest step, but that proved to be most important to conquering his insecurities.

He worked with two tutors, typically meeting with them on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for about four or five hours per session. Once the schedule solidified and he could commit to it, everything became easier.

Smith often posted about his school experience on social media, with one post emphasizing his commitment to the grind.

Hopping on videoconference meetings and breaking down assignments became part of the process. Six hours would pass without him realizing it. He remembers feeling fatigued at the end of those sessions, something unfamiliar to him when it came to school.

"It was kind of like working out," he said. "I literally had to build it day by day and stay consistent with it obviously."

Smith said he picked his major because he wanted to learn how to think efficiently. According to his major's description, the cultural studies concentration "gives students a background in how cultures and societies work and the ways they change."

One of his favorite classes was "African-American Culture through Sports." He learned things from a different perspective, and it offered insight that he gravitated toward.

"I wish I could start over as a rookie now knowing what I know now," he said. "Just the level of appreciation of the people who came before you and how you really want to impact the world and the game and how you want to leave it. It just meant so much more."

He also selected that major because he wanted to look at things from another person's understanding. It's no surprise the class became his favorite.

Growing up, Smith said he had a narrower perspective. He wanted to broaden it.

"It was very directed to where my opinion is right, and this is what I feel, and this is what it is," he said. "And even not having facts or basics on it. So for me, I felt like that was extremely important. I guess at the end of the day, it's empathy. Being able to empathize for other cultures and other people's perspectives without compromising your own."

His classes were mostly online, and he lived off campus or in a hotel for his freshman year. He moved to Florida the following year before going to Texas. As a result, he traveled back and forth to campus.

Mixed in all of this was golf. Smith walked on the team in 2021 and qualified for seven tournaments across four years. He fit in "great" with teammates, Watkins said. Smith even fulfilled freshman duties such as bringing sports drinks and carrying bags.

"It was funny, man," Smith said. "I laughed at it cause it was starting all over."

Still, Smith didn't deviate from his original goal: to get his degree.

Watkins, who retired in 2023, worked in higher education for 45 years and served as an advisor for student-athletes at the school. Nontraditional students who returned later in life overwhelmingly proved successful, he said, because they were on a mission.

A lot of people asked Watkins: "What's J.R. coming back to school for?" From Watkins' perspective, he knew Smith would succeed because he was doing it for himself.

"One of the things that I always thought about was J.R., just from a standpoint of being an advisor and working with academics and athletes," Watkins said. "I just always felt like he was going to be successful and that at some point in time he would reach his goal that he'll walk across the stage."

WITH A DIPLOMA in hand, Smith said that in the short term, he would take some time off and relax with his family. He and his partner, actor Candice Patton, welcomed a baby boy in September 2024.

Golf will fit in the equation, too. Smith said he hopes to help make it a more inclusive sport.

As for the North Carolina A&T athletic director position, Smith said: "Man, I want to be the AD at A&T. I want to be an overseer of sports in college and try to bring some championships to Greensboro."

The university began a national search after announcing Hilton's departure in April and has said Hilton would remain in the role "until a successor is identified and seated."

A job description for the position describes the university as "the nation's largest HBCU and a rising national powerhouse in Division I athletics," and says the university "seeks a visionary, nationally respected leader to serve as its next Director of Intercollegiate Athletics (Chief Athletics Officer)."

In a statement to ESPN, the university said the athletic director is a member of the chancellor's cabinet, so hiring decisions at that level are made by the school's chancellor, who "will be given plenty of input throughout the search by others involved in the process."

Chancellor James R. Martin II said in a statement to ESPN that Smith "has shown the world what lifelong learning is all about."

"J.R. shows what college can look like in our 30s and 40s as we all participate in an economy in which the average American will hold about 12 different jobs over their lifetime," Martin said. "I'm among a great many who are looking forward to watching J.R. cross the stage and receive his diploma this weekend. He has certainly earned it."

There is no timeline on the search for a new athletic director, but university officials said they expect to begin initial interviews in the next several weeks.

As this chapter of Smith's life closes, one of his biggest hopes is that other people can strive to overcome their own fears.

"I think that's the biggest thing. Stepping outside the box and doing something that you're not good at," he said. "You want to be a well-rounded individual. I think you've got to tap in to that and overcome and conquer those insecurities as a person. And the only way you do that is face it head-on."

The scene at the airport in Oklahoma City has become a tradition: Thunder fans standing behind a tall, gated fence await the chance to high-five players returning from a road trip. Sometimes this happens in the middle of the night.Early the morning of April 11, a group of fans held signs and predictably cheered for their favorites -- reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Luguentz Dort. But the noise seemed to peak for Jared McCain, who jumped up and down bef...

Relive Kobe Bryant's final performance as a Laker in which he recorded an astonishing 60 points on April 13, 2016. (0:55)The first five shots Kobe Bryant took in the final game of his 20-year NBA career ended in the same way: a miss.A 3-pointer on the left wing fell short. A midrange jumper went long. His third and fourth looks inside the paint didn't drop. The fifth, an 18-footer, bounced out.With each miss, the crowd in Los Angeles on April 13, 2016, let out audible displeasure. But when his f...

Ten seconds left. Ball in LeBron James' hands.With the Milwaukee Bucks clinging to a two-point lead against the Los Angeles Lakers, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo read the play. Defending James, he slipped past a screen and poked the ball loose from behind James, securing a 105-101 win on Jan. 9.Later that night, in the bowels of Crypto.com Arena, Antetokounmpo explained his strategy on the move."I knew down the stretch that LeBron gets the ball. I knew that he wanted to get downhill and ma...

WHEN RONALD ACUÑA JR. first saw the Atlanta Braves' new City Connect uniform -- baby blue, with an old-school "Atlanta" script across the chest -- he fell in love."We're going to win a lot of games in these," Acuña said.Acuña is a three-time All-Star who loves making fashion part of his game. Last year, he modeled for a Nike underwear campaign. He was among a select group of players who got a sneak peek at the 2026 uniforms in early February. For Acuña, on-field fashion is all about staying loos...

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle approached the free throw line at Intuit Dome. He received the ball, took a deep breath, dribbled three times, then bent his knees to shoot.In front of Castle stood a 10-foot regulation-size NBA basket. An easy enough situation for the second-year player -- then a 73.6% free throw shooter -- to sink a shot. That number, however, didn't take into account what Castle faced behind the basket.The LA Clippers' Swell: A 44-foot-tall section f...

Aaron Judge is the cover athlete of MLB The Show 26, the game announced Tuesday.Judge becomes just the second player to appear on the game's cover twice. Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Mauer is the only other player to be featured twice (2010 and 2011). The game launches on March 17 with early access beginning on March 13.Unlike his first appearance, this year's artwork reflects multiple chapters of Judge's baseball career. Like the 2018 edition, Judge is shown in the New York Yankees' iconic pinstr...

The Knicks snap a four game losing streak and defeat the Nets by 54 points for their largest win in franchise history. (1:09)With 4:49 remaining in the fourth quarter, Jalen Brunson splashed a 3-pointer in the corner to give him 42 points against the Miami Heat on Dec. 21. He looked at his right hand, his ring and pinkie fingers folded down, leaving three fingers remaining, and he brought it under his nose quickly as he ran down the court displaying his trademark 3-point celebration.Somewhere in...

Dressed in all gray with a beanie and glasses, Tyrese Maxey explained that he was out of breath, feeling as if he had just played a full quarter of NBA basketball.Except, Maxey hadn't bounced any basketballs or attacked the rim. The Philadelphia 76ers star guard instead was directing multiple dogs through the Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge Agility Show, a part of the 2025 National Dog Show.Maxey participated in the agility course in a Nov. 16 show taping in front of roughly 15,000 spec...

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson inbounded the ball to Karl-Anthony Towns before receiving it back and firing a 3-pointer that clanked the bottom right side of the backboard.The miss secured the Detroit Pistons' Game 2 win in their 2025 Eastern Conference first-round playoff series -- their first postseason victory since 2008.Nearly 7,000 miles away, Tom Hur sat in Seoul, South Korea, placed his phone in front of him and began recording as the game wound down. Wearing a custom Pistons jersey,...

The Indianapolis Clowns selected former 11-year major leaguer and 2018 World Series champion Jackie Bradley Jr. with the first pick in the inaugural Banana Ball player draft Thursday night, making him the first former MLB player to commit to participate full time in Banana Ball.The former Boston Red Sox outfielder, an All-Star in 2016 and Golden Glove winner in 2018, told ESPN that his decision to play Banana Ball came together "days ago."With his oldest daughter being a big fan of Banana Ball,...

The uniforms of award winners from the 2024-25 NBA season will look a little different for opening week.Players such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (MVP), Evan Mobley (Defensive Player of the Year) and Stephon Castle (Rookie of the Year) will have their respective trophy icons sewn above the Nike swoosh on the front of their uniforms.Members of the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams will also don a specific patch. However, individual awards have precedence over that one. For example, Gilgeo...

Jesse Cole vividly remembers the early days of owning the Savannah Bananas.They sold only a handful of tickets in the inaugural season in 2016 as a member of the Coastal Plain League playing as a collegiate summer team. He and his wife sold their house, emptied their savings accounts and slept on an air bed to start the team. When they left traditional baseball in 2022 and started "Banana Ball," Cole expressed that they had a "big vision to create something special."The doubters expressed an opp...

SITTING IN A Beverly Hills hotel room during one of multiple media junkets, Dwayne Johnson spent nearly three minutes explaining how he morphed his mind and body into Mark Kerr for "The Smashing Machine" when he turned to the MMA pioneer and asked: "How did I do, by the way?"Kerr opted for an anecdote. His son, Bryce, saw the film in New York a couple of months ago. He immediately called Kerr afterward and began whispering his thoughts, almost afraid to admit what he had seen."'Dad, he walks lik...

Chiney Ogwumike says the Hawks could lose star playmaker Trae Young as he enters the final year of his contract. (1:32)Born and raised in Atlanta, Internet personality Davis Dodds grew up attending Atlanta Hawks games at State Farm Arena. Now, he'll be part of a first-of-its-kind NBA schedule release.Dodds is hosting a 24-hour Twitch livestream at the arena that began at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday to announce Atlanta's 2025-26 schedule. NBA teams can announce their upcoming season's schedule at 3:15...

Adam Sandler gives a nod to his famous "Happy Gilmore" character to announce the Bruins picking Boston College's James Hagens with the seventh pick. (1:48)Since Happy Gilmore hit the big screen in 1996 with his wild swing and short temper, a sequel seemed to be buried in the rough.Editor's PicksChiefs' Travis Kelce shows out in training camp ahead of 'Happy Gilmore 2' cameo3dNate Taylor'Happy Gilmore 2' cameo guide: PGA stars, NFL champ, WWE icons and more2dESPN StaffThe waterboy can ball: Stori...

Brian Windhorst joins Scott Van Pelt to break down the Pacers' comeback win vs. the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. (1:48)Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey went to the free throw line against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs at Paycom Center.The Grizzlies already faced a 12-point deficit with one minute left in the first quarter. Edey shot an admirable 70.9% from the charity stripe during the regular season.Against the Thunder's st...

Luka Doncic reveals that he threw his phone the night he was traded from the Mavericks to the Lakers. (4:33)Los Angeles-based artist Jack Perkins started a new tradition this season. After each Los Angeles Lakers game, Perkins -- known on social media by his @purehoop handle -- recapped the result with comic-strip-style illustrations. Each of them focused on a theme of the specific game.Throughout the highs and lows of Los Angeles' 82-game regular season, the detail of Perkins' work evolved. The...

March 2, 1963, lives in NBA history as the day Wilt Chamberlain dropped 100 points. On March 2, 2025, another statistical nugget joined the Big Dipper's.The matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs ended 146-132, the 3,159th unique final score in NBA history and 14th this season. Or, in other words, a "scorigami."The NBA's recent increase in scoring has opened the door for point totals never seen in the league's near-80-year history. Hakob Chalikyan wanted to make sure tho...

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes isn't sure the team's organist exists."I feel like ever since I've been here, you always hear 'Dieter Ruehle,' and it's almost like, I don't know if it's a real person," Barnes told ESPN. "I feel it's just like a mythical thing or I don't know. It sounds crazy to say but no, they do a great job, he does a great job."His teammate, Mookie Betts, is on the same page."Yeah exactly," Betts told ESPN. "I've never seen him."Editor's Picks'A small difference, bu...