THE LIFE OF JAMARI SMITH: A lesson in tenacity

By GRAHAM DUNN and TIM GAYLE

Chances are the final memory of Jamari Smith in the realm of sports took place just minutes after the Robert E. Lee Generals basketball team had broken through a historical drought of championships with its win over Mountain Brook in late February.

 Smith gave passionate praise to the fallen players the school had suffered in previous years, providing a glimpse of what former athletes Rod Scott and Shaq Johnson had meant to him and his teammates.

“They truly walked by faith and not by sight,” Smith would say.

Those words have a ghostly meaning today.

Smith died of apparent drowning on Wednesday while swimming at the lake in Chewacla State Park.  He was 18 years old.

Although Smith played an integral part in Lee’s state championship in basketball, he signed a football scholarship with UAB just a few weeks prior to the state title win in Birmingham.

Smith played tight end and split end for the Generals football team after spending two years with Success Unlimited and coach Bill Granger.

“I feel so blessed to have been such a small part of his athletic career,” Granger said. “Everyone who loves athletics has been cheated of the opportunity to see him perform. My heart’s broken. Prayers to his family. I can’t imagine the pain they’re going through right now.”

Seemingly, Smith’s life had been about the next chance or following in the footsteps of his neighborhood peers. He was a natural athlete, born with speed and an ability to do just about anything in the sports world.

Ironically, he didn’t know it until he had suffered through a few mishaps.

Three High Schools

Smith’s path to his success at Lee was somewhat rocky. He started at Sidney Lanier but dealt with an off-the-field discipline incident at the school and then enrolled at Success Unlimited in January of 2017-18 school year.

Smith traveled throughout the country over the summer, attending AAU basketball tournaments.

His comments on his troubles at Lanier - “Just bad surroundings,” Smith offered. “I needed to be in a more positive space. When you see new people, better vibes, it makes you want to change yourself, be a better person. When you’re a better person around friends, they become family.”

Later, he told Granger and teammates his dream was to be a quarterback at Alabama but eventually settled on playing wide receiver at Lee.

The reason? “That’s what my buddies are doing.”

“I really want to play wide receiver, but I know I’ve put time in at quarterback and my team needs me at quarterback, so I have to help out wherever I can,” Smith said. “The top two schools I want to go play at (are) the University of Alabama or Clemson.

Relationships mattered

Alabama and Clemson were the two schools where his best friends attended. Henry Ruggs, III was making a name for himself with the Crimson Tide while Justyn Ross was doing the same at Clemson when Smith was making his climb.

“Henry Ruggs is like my god-brother and teacher. When we were little, we would race in the middle of the street all the time, to see how fast we were. He would leave me every time. Every time. He would leave me by a mile. And my boy, J Ross at Clemson, that’s my boy. We used to play against each other a lot in the (Cramton Bowl) Multiplex, playing basketball, his AAU team versus ours.”

Ruggs echoed the sentiment in an interview back in the fall when asked about his relationship with Smith.

“That’s my little brother,” Ruggs said. ”He always tried to model himself after me. It started with basketball. I was known for dunking and that’s what he became known for.

“Now, he’s texting me every day, ‘I’ve taken your spot at Lee.’ I’m like, ‘You’ve got a lot to do to fill my shoes,’ but I’m excited for him and the way he’s playing and the way the coaches are talking about him. He’s got a lot of potential.

Ruggs’ success is well documented, enjoying All-SEC seasons at Alabama and becoming the first wide receiver taken in the NFL Draft this past April.

That success encouraged Smith.

“He stopped (playing football) in the eighth grade,” Smith said, referring to the frequent conversations he has had with Ruggs. “After that, I followed in his footsteps. I stopped playing my seventh-grade year and just focused on basketball, like him. When he got back out there, he told me, ‘You can get back out there and do the same thing.’ I followed in his footsteps my 11th-grade year.”

In one year at Success, Smith had 13 receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns while briefly playing receiver. He rushed 119 times for 1,189 yards and 12 touchdowns as a quarterback and completed 50 of 107 passes for 801 yards and five touchdowns with eight interceptions.

“He didn’t take to football immediately,” Granger said. “I think, mentally, he struggled a little with it early as to whether this is what he wanted to do. I’ve been doing this 37, 38 years and the list is so short of people that have that kind of ability, that kind of presence. He was one of the most aware young men I’ve ever been around and a very high competitive level. I believe he could be taking a snap at quarterback during the middle of a game and know who’s at the concession stand. He had an anticipation level that he knew everything going on around him before they (teammates and defenders) really know what they’re doing.” 

Defensively, he recorded 35 solo tackles, 17 assists and one interception as a safety.

“He was getting unbelievable attention (in football after one year),” Granger said. “He had already earned it on the basketball court. It was obvious he was just a fantastic athlete walking down the hallway; his build and the way he carried himself. He was always so polite.

“Jamari was a hard worker, always where he was supposed to be, on time and willing to do what was asked of him. Jamari Smith had a smile that could light up a room and the ability to take that room over.”

Success didn’t have a weight room until he left plus Smith never attended a summer camp in sport before his departure in late May, 2019.

He recorded an unofficial time of 4.52 seconds in the 40 on the True Divine Baptist Church football field.

At Lee, Smith wasn’t really considered the top receiver on the team, although there were plenty of opportunities to catch the football. The Generals had been a spread offense for several seasons and Smith’s talents fit perfectly.

Still, he enjoyed success and that led to his chance to play college football, although Alabama and Clemson would not be his landing spot.

The two football powers were interested but neither offered.

But the chance came. Smith was excited about getting a chance to play at the next level. He made it clear during the signing day ceremony that he intended to do big things for the Blazers.

One more hurdle

Before he left Lee, he had one more job – lead the program to its first state title in basketball.

Smith was a defensive talent on the basketball court and it would prove to be the biggest part of Lee’s win over Mountain Brook in the Class 7A championship game.

Although he was not chosen as the game’s most valuable player, many in the media believed his exploits were the key to the win.

No matter. In the post game press conference, Smith was all about the team and what it had accomplished.

That would be the legacy of Lee’s championship as well as its emotional leader.