Harvest Leroy Smith Jr. (born February 27, 1963) is a retired American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player,

businessperson A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

and former high school teammate of

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) star

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

Early years

Smith was born and raised in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, before moving to

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

in 1972 with his family.

High school

Smith and

were childhood friends who played together on their ninth-grade basketball squad. In 1978, during their second year at Emsley A. Laney High School, both tried out for the lone

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

opening on the varsity basketball team. Smith, who was , was selected because of his height, while the Jordan was sent to the JV basketball team by coach Clifton "Pop”" Herring. Jordan trained extensively over the next year, grew four inches and was selected for the varsity team as a junior exhibiting extraordinary competitive passion. In 1991, Jordan acknowledged the impact of the event, "It all started when Coach Herring cut me. What it did was instill some values in me. It was a lesson to me to dig within myself." Jordan would check into hotels under the alias “Leroy Smith” throughout his professional basketball career.

College

Smith attended the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...

from 1981 to 1985, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. He had a four-year basketball

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

, playing at

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

and

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

positions for the

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the Nati ...

. In his senior year he captained the team and led the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

in rebounds.

Professional basketball career

Smith went on to play on various professional basketball teams including: the Hemel & Watford Royals of the Premier English Basketball League (1985–86), TuS Bramsche in the German Basketball League (1986–87) the Westchester Golden Apples of the United States Basketball League (summer of 1986), AST Tarrare in France (1987–88) and Kumagai Gumi Bruins of the Japan Basketball League (1988–90). In many instances, he led his team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

Business career

After retiring from basketball, Smith worked for ASICS AMERICA before establishing himself in media, entertainment and the tech space. He is currently the Co-founder and President of a tech start-up and the President of a Hollywood film company. He also served as Vice President of sales and marketing for the TV Distribution group at

NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...

and was recognized as one of the most influential black men in cable. Smith was also the CEO of entertainment media consulting company HLS Entertainment.

Personal life

Smith is married with three children and resides in

Rancho Cucamonga, California Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the List ...

. Smith is on the advisory board for the Scholastic Basketball Academy, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

basketball program dedicated to the educational and athletic development of youth.

References

External links

College statisticsCharlotte 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Leroy 1963 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in the United Kingdom American men's basketball players Basketball players from Wilmington, North Carolina Basketball players from Philadelphia Centers (basketball) Charlotte 49ers men's basketball players Power forwards Small forwards Emsley A. Laney High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen