Credit: Darren Worrell
Many are Called, Few are Chosen - The Curtis Smith Story
Published: Wednesday, August 28, 2024
by Darren Worrell
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to attend a school as a student, and make your way back later as a member of its staff?
In 1995, Curtis Smith was a small basketball-loving freshman at Paul Robeson High School in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, a school with a reputation for roughness. More than two decades later, he is back in the same building, where he not only went to school but played basketball at. Things have changed; this time his role is Parent Coordinator at Pathways in Technology Early College High School, a new innovative school that opened on the Robeson Campus. His responsibilities are to work with families from his old neighborhood to help students succeed in high school, college, and beyond. To top it all off full circle, he is a basketball coach as well.
“Blessings come in different forms, and everything is on God’s timing, whatever is for me is for me,” said Smith.” “Many thought my path was easy, and it really was not.”
In his senior year of high school, Smith said these were no doubt some of the toughest moments of his life, as they brought his first experiences with adversity. “Can you imagine being a B+ student and doing everything you could, all for it to go to waste?” he said. When he went to pick up his cap and gown, he was heartbroken to find out he was missing required classes. In the summer going into senior year, he took the same classes, only to find out that the school lost his transcript. Curtis could not walk the stage with the class of 1999 and never got his high school diploma. While he started working with Broadway during that time, the whole situation caused him to go through a big depression. In just a few years forward, his life was about to change, but he did not even know it yet.
Curtis got invited to play at a basketball exposure camp at St Francis College in downtown Brooklyn. He was a little out of shape because of the depression from high school, and not playing the game as much. However, a player by the name of Steve Howard, who attended St Francis College at the time, saw that he was playing well. He approached Curtis and told him that he thinks he has the school just for him. But most importantly, he said you can expect this specific coach to call you.
“My mom called me upstairs and said the coach from Jefferson Community College is on the phone,” said Smith. “This phone call was the turning point in my life I needed.”
Smith stated when he went to visit the school, he was incredibly pleased with what the school and the basketball team were all about. From there on out, the rest is history.
Before being eligible to play college basketball, Curtis took and passed his GED test with the help of the Jefferson staff, and soon hit the ground running. Curtis said he was always very passionate about academics, and understood that if he did not perform well in the classroom, he would not be able to do what he loved on the court. Education always came first, and athletics always came second. Smith managed to make his way back to his alma mater at 150 Albany Avenue, Paul Robeson High School. “The heart and joy of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn,” Smith described it. Things are a little different now, as the once large institution is now two separate schools. The Academy of Health Careers is one school, and Pathways in Technology Early College High School is another. Curtis works at Pathways in Technology Early College High School as the Parent Coordinator and Head Coach of the Junior Varsity boys' basketball team. Smith stated that Anthony Williams, one of his old basketball teammates, was also a big reason for his return; He offered Smith the job as Girls Track Coach, which was his first coaching job at the school.
“Hardwork is what I do. Nothing easy. That is what I tell my son. I only know how to work hard, I do not know another way, and I try to instill that in everybody I come around,” said Smith.
Smith said he always believes in bringing his best self to work, because if he is not at his best, he should not be there.
“When you wake up in the morning, do you love what you are doing right now?” posed Smith. “Some people ask me why I am not at this job, or why am I not at that job.” But Curtis said he does not stress things like that, because he is where he needs to be, as well as where he is supposed to be.
“I gave a lot to a lot of families, I gave a lot to a lot of kids, and now it's time for me to spend a lot of time with my family,” said Smith.
He stated that some people do not know when to give it up, and a health scare showed him a lot of things, especially that. When God tells you to sit down, you need to sit down.
Towards the end of 2022, Smith was in the hospital with an upper respiratory infection that almost ended his life. It was so serious that it caused him to be out of school for an extended amount of time. Luckily, Curtis Smith is back to the Curtis Smith everybody knows and loves, and is in great health now.
After attending Jefferson Community College, he went on to Plattsburgh State in Plattsburgh, New York where he got his bachelor’s degree. However, his basketball career is what made a name for him at that school. In his two years in a Plattsburgh uniform, Curtis ranks sixth in program history in career steals (191), and he was a D3hoops.com Second-Team All-East Region selection in 2003-04. The Brooklyn native earned a pair of Second-Team All-SUNYAC honors in 2003-04 and 2004-05, respectively, and he was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team in 2003-04 after averaging 14.5 points per game during the tournament. Additionally, he netted 800 points during his two years as a Cardinal. His accomplishments got him inducted into the Plattsburgh State Hall of Fame in 2018. This was a huge historical accomplishment, as before he was inducted, there were only two other African Americans inducted. Now his name is added to that list.
Who knows what is in store for Curtis Smith. Of course, spending more time with his family and cheering on the sidelines for the basketball team is a given, but it is also safe to say that he will never stop helping people or being there for those when needed. Smith had one last thing to say.
“In the next few years, I want to see a give back, like alumni coming back to classrooms to spread knowledge and wealth, but giving back is what I would like to see,” said Smith.
In school, he is Mr. Smith, Coach Smith, a school dad, a role model, even Curt Diddy.
But he will forever be known as the Chosen One.
Darren Worrell can be reached at darren.worrell@student.shu.eduPosted in: sports,