Everyone has a favorite time of the year. For some, it is when the leaves change colors or when you can catch fireflies outside. For powerhouse Lady Bulldogs point guard, Jada Smith, we are in the midst of her favorite season: basketball. Smith graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration in the spring of 2019 but still had a year of eligibility to play for the Lady Bulldogs one more year.
As a basketball player, she has had an incredible five years on the Union University women’s basketball team. She is the second women’s player in Union history to have 500 assists, 500 rebounds and 1,500 points. She has been named a Gulf South Conference Player of the Week and had a career high of 30 points versus UWA this season.
When I sat down and talked to Smith, she had nothing but incredible things to say about Union, her coaches and her teammates.
I asked her why she decided to stay another year to play.
“I wasn’t done here yet,” said Smith. “I had more to do, more to play. I definitely didn’t like the way things ended last season. I didn’t wanna end it like that. I was really excited to be able to play with people, new faces, just a fresh kind of start. I just wanted to end it my way and take control of that. I just prayed about it and trusted the Lord, and it has worked out pretty well.”
Smith is from Hoover, Ala. and is the youngest of five children.
Smith has been around basketball her whole life. Her four older siblings played in college, and a couple went overseas to play professionally.
“I really didn’t have a choice to be honest,” said Smith. “It just kinda happened. The ball just kinda rolled my way, and I was pretty good at it. I got into a lot of different sports when I was younger, and it was the one I had the most friends in and was the best at. So, I just stuck to it, and my life hasn’t been any different ever since.”
Smith came to Union because of the women’s basketball program’s winning history and Christ-centered atmosphere. Smith’s choice has paid off, as she has enjoyed her time here at Union.
“It’s been a journey,” said Smith. “I have had lows and highs, but especially when I look back on it now, I am definitely grateful for the entire journey. So I’ll say I enjoyed it, but it was the most difficult five years of my life. I didn’t think it would be like that. But I think this is what I needed, and I am thankful for it.”
Her favorite experience at Union happened just a few nights ago on Thursday, Feb. 20, when a huge portion of the Union student body showed up to support the Bulldogs against Lee University at “Red The Fred.”
“Having all those students out there was so fun, and the energy of it was amazing,” said Smith. “We were not losing that night. There was no way we were gonna walk out of that gym not winning. Just the whole experience, the way we fought, even through some mistakes. It was the funnest atmosphere for us to play in. I wish every game was like that one.”
Smith has grown up in the church, but when her mother passed away her junior year of college, things started to shift for her.
“I made an effort to start valuing people more, start serving more or whatever I can do because basketball, what I have realized, is it’s developing me as a person because tomorrow could be my last day,” said Smith. “I just don’t know, so whatever I can do to make a difference in someone else’s [life,] that is my end goal for life, so that’s just trusting the process.”
During her time at Union, she has felt the Lord teach her to just trust the journey and not give up.
But even with all of these accolades, the one word that describes Smith from her teammates is grace.
Elli Pratt, junior business marketing major, described what Smith means to her and her team.
“Jada Smith embodies the meaning of grace,” said Pratt. “I have seen it in everything she does: the way she carries herself, the way she handles adverse situations and the way she interacts with people on and off our team. That gracefulness then reflects itself in her humbleness and the way she leads by example, which is an even greater reflection of Christ. Usually we see success feeding into a person’s pride. Yet I don’t know of any person whose success actually feeds their humility in the way Jada’s success does. It’s a great thing to witness everyday as her friend and teammate.”
That one word is truly the ultimate compliment for any athlete to receive.
Photo courtesy of Union University Athletics
