- November 25, 2024
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Cornelius Smarr makes a mistake. He clanks a jump shot off the rim. He leaves an easy layup short. Or he dribbles a ball off his foot and out of bounds. Smarr is subbed out. He walks to the end of the bench in silence. He sits on the bench throughout the game. He never smiles, and he never talks — not even to his teammates. He retreats into himself as he watches the other players on the court finish the game.
That was last season — before Smarr transferred from Spruce Creek to Mainland, his fourth school in four years, for his final year of high school.
“At Spruce Creek, he never said a word. Not in class and not on the court,” said Buccaneers basketball coach Joe Giddens, who coached Smarr at Spruce Creek last season. “I thought he was a mute. I had to keep talking to him, keep asking him the same questions over and over to get him to open up.”
Now, in the Buccaneers’ basket- ball program, things are different: Occasionally, after a made basket or a big play, you can see the lanky 18-year-old crack a smile as he speeds back on defense. He quietly cheers on his teammates when they make a good play and encourages them when they mess up. On the bench, he jokes and laughs with his teammates — his friends.
“I can tell he’s a totally different kid now,” Giddens said. “He seems a lot happier. He gets along very well with his teammates. He communicates on the court. I think it’s because he’s in a better situation now.”
Nearly his entire life, Cornelius Smarr — who was born in Atlanta to a single mother — has always been on the move. At times, he’s lived with his mom, with whom Smarr said he has a complicated relationship. Sometimes, he’s crashed with aunts and uncles. While attending Thoreau High School on the Southside of Atlanta, Smarr, a 10th-grader at the time, lived with his AAU basketball coach for three months.
And other times, he didn’t live anywhere at all.
“Sometimes, I used to sleep in cars with my two little brothers,” Smarr said. “It was tough, but I had to get through it.”
For Smarr, basketball was a way of escaping the pain. It was a way of getting past it, of forgetting it.
Still, for this shy, reserved high school senior, the memories are there: He’s past them, but he can’t really forget them. Not ever. They’re part of what drives him.
“I saw that it could be a way out, and I had a passion for it,” said Smarr, who starting playing basketball in eighth grade. “Ever since then, I’ve had to take basketball seriously and start working every day. It could help my family in many ways if I can make it. My goal is to play professionally — to play in college and eventually make it to the NBA or overseas somewhere.”
His hard work is starting to pay off.
Smarr is a valuable piece off the bench for the Buccaneers (9-5). Standing at 6-foot-5, Smarr is a versatile player who can score from anywhere on the floor.
“He can do everything,” Giddens said. “He can shoot. He can get to the basket and finish. He can dribble. He affects the game so much because of how much he’s capable of doing.”
Smarr’s best game to date was a 20-point, 11-rebound effort in the Buccaneers’ 53-51 overtime win over Vero Beach on Dec. 22.
“I can’t even explain how important it is to have a guy like that, especially to bring off the bench,” Giddens said. “If a starter isn’t playing well, he comes off the bench and gets buckets. He can light it up.”
Smarr attributes his breakout year to the situation he’s in now. Smarr moved in with his uncle Charles Smarr, who lives in Daytona Beach. Playing at Mainland and for Giddens, who has coached Smarr the past two seasons, has made a big difference in his confidence, as well.
“I used to just give up,” Smarr said. “I wasn’t focused. With the stuff going on around me, how could I be focused? But now, I strive for better. I’m at a good place here at Mainland. They’re setting me up not only to be a better basketball player, but to be a better man in life.”
Every night, before Cornelius Smarr goes to bed in his uncle’s Daytona Beach home, Smarr prays to God.
He prays for himself — for God to guide him on his basketball journey and to help him achieve his dreams. He prays for his mom and their strained relationship. And finally, he whispers a prayer for his 9- and 7-year-old brothers. He asks God to keep them safe.
“At night I would just be thinking how could I make it and provide for my family,” Smarr said. “I want to get them out of the ’hood.”
When Smarr finally goes to bed, he falls asleep. He doesn’t dream about the opportunities he missed growing up. Not one bit.
“I didn’t really have a childhood,” he said.“But I don’t miss it.”
