His Turn: Lifelong Hoop Dreams Becomes A Heaven Sent Reality With The Salem Capitals

How a kid from Washington has grown to impact others through a deep love for the game of basketball while cherishing the chance to turn professional in The Basketball League

Over the course of the past three months in The Basketball League, players, coaches, Team Market Owners, and team announcers alike have generously taken valuable time to field questions and openly share their compelling stories and individual journeys from around the country and overseas to ultimately reach the TBL. But this next story is a bit different.

This one truly is personal. 

For the first time this ‘22 season, a full player takeover is underway here at Around The Basketball League as 6’4 guard Jason Smarr of the Salem Capitals sat down, reflected, and recounted his own long winding road south from Edmonds, Washington to Salem, Oregon and the chance to pursue his hoop dreams at this stage of life.

This is his story. This is his time.

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Salem, Oregon — Basketball…when looking at that word, you may immediately picture a round orange object with lines and a logo on it or think of a game that was created by James Naismith in 1891.

You may also think of Klay Thompson, Giannis Antetokounmpo, or Michael Jordan.

There are so many players and different images you can consider when you even hear the word “Basketball” and there is no wrong picture to imagine. Basketball has always been an outlet for me and has provided a multitude of opportunities to develop relationships with people that I would have otherwise not met. Today, I will be sharing my own basketball story and how I ended up with the Salem Capitals in the TBL.

First off, I want to thank Wendell Maxey for entrusting me with this project. Thank you for what you do to provide exposure to the guys in the TBL, we appreciate everything you do! Secondly, I want to thank Jason Conrad, our Team Market Owner, here in Salem. You have become such a great friend and what you are doing to provide a professional platform for guys like myself is incredibly valuable. The community of Salem is benefitting from having a team and players to support, so thank you for allowing me to take part in this journey with you. Lastly, I would like to thank the Magleys (David and Evelyn). Thank you for creating The Basketball League and for providing us with the opportunity to play high level basketball!

Basketball has been in my life for over 20 years, but now I am in a position where basketball is giving me a platform to be a contributing member of the Salem community and make a lasting impact. This is my story…

How It Began In Washington

When it comes to basketball, I have always been involved with the game. Growing up near Seattle, I would go to Sonics games (Bring Back Our Sonics, PLEASE!) and do my homework at halftime of games just so I could “earn” watching the second half. In the driveway I would pretend to be Ray Allen, knocking down 3’s from all over and celebrating with the imaginary crowd. Basketball was my outlet and escape from the reality that my life was at the time.

Growing up in Edmonds, Washington was a true blessing. Living near the great basketball city of Seattle was a plus and being able to grow up watching the historically successful University of Washington basketball programs was a bonus too. With this, I was constantly participating in basketball events and tournaments early on in grade school. My weekends would be filled with basketball games, going to UW football games, watching the Seahawks play, going to Mariners games and more. I cannot remember a weekend where there wasn’t something going on that involved sports.

My parents were always supportive of me and my sister playing basketball and doing other sports and activities growing up. Even after my parents divorced in the 4th grade, they still made a way for me to participate in extracurricular activities which I am grateful for. I remember attending my sister's basketball games and tournaments and being all excited for when it was my turn to play. Then when I made it to high school, I started to realize that basketball was something that could create opportunities for me to continue my education and career at a higher level. Now I am here at 26 years old living out my lifelong dream of playing professional basketball.

College – Where My Life Changed and My Eyes Were Opened

If I am being completely honest, I was not a great student in high school. I coasted through and graduated with exactly a 3.0 which made me realize that if I was wanting to continue playing basketball, I needed to figure out the school part first. So, I attended Clark College in Vancouver, Washington (the home of the Vancouver Volcanoes) on a ¼ scholarship. In the year that I was at Clark, I gained valuable life lessons, friends, academic resources, and set myself up to graduate with my AA the following year. 

After one year at Clark, I decided to move back home and live with my Dad. He lived right down the street from Shoreline Community College, so I decided to reach out to the head coach there and see if he was interested in having me on the team. As it turned out the coach was very interested and offered me a full scholarship to attend the school. During that year, I excelled academically and athletically plus I started to figure out what I was wanting to pursue for my undergraduate studies the following year. Of the numerous offers I received to play at the 4-year level, I took the one that provided me the best opportunity to play and was located closest to where my mom and sister were: Arizona Christian University.

While at ACU, I learned how to separate my identity. For all those years, I held my identity in basketball and felt like I was only worth something if I was successful in sport. Through the transformational coaches and other people at ACU, I held my identity in Christ and started seeing basketball for what it really was: a game. No longer would I stress out about my performance in the game that night, because once I stepped out of the lines it didn’t matter anymore. I learned to play the game with joy and truly embraced the quote, “Basketball is something you do, not who you are”. After playing one year at ACU, I had some lingering health issues that led me to redshirt my senior year (2017-2018). During that redshirt season was the time that I fully utilized basketball as a platform, resource, and catalyst for new opportunities in my life.

The Start Of A Teaching and Coaching Career 

In the summer prior to the season that I redshirted, I helped my roommate coach a middle school boys basketball team. Through this, I was able to meet the athletic director of the high school that the middle school fed into. He also ended up being the high school head coach for the boys and was evaluating the middle school talent that was coming up. We built a relationship over the summer and became close, but I didn’t know that through this relationship I would get my first opportunity to coach at a high level. 

The AD had a daughter who was going to be a senior in high school and she did competitive cheerleading. The first 3 years of high school for her, he couldn’t be as present for all of her events because basketball interfered. So, he asked me if I would be the head coach of the Boys Varsity Basketball Team at Paradise Valley Christian Preparatory School. I accepted the position, and with this position came a classroom support job at the school. Halfway through the season, I ended up transitioning into being the middle school math teacher at the school all while being a senior in college. 

Coaching high school boys was a great experience. I learned how to be a coach, run a program, develop players, and be a transformational coach. The kids I coached were partially from the Christian Prep school and partially from a Title 1 school Crestview Prep. Crestview Prep was the school students would go to right before they were sent to a school for behaviorally challenged students. Teaching these kids that they can use basketball as a way to get them out of the situation they were in was impactful for me because that was exactly what I was needing to learn when I was their age. Getting their academics right and setting themselves up to attend college potentially on a scholarship was my primary focus. 

Basketball is all that some of the kids cared about. As a transformational coach, I focused on building relationships with these student-athletes and helping them understand that in order to achieve their dreams of playing basketball at the next level, they needed to become well rounded people. They also needed to realize that basketball is just a game… a very fun game but not something that defines you or validates your own worth. Many of these kids focused so much on performance because that was when they were told they had value. But helping these kids understand that there is more to life than being the best at basketball, I started to see lives change. This year of teaching and coaching really impacted me in a way that I will never forget. Being an integral part of helping a kid become the first person in his family to graduate high school.. Man, that was one of the coolest things ever. 

Life in Salem and How I Became A Salem Capital

Fast forward to 2019, when I moved to Salem. I moved to Salem to participate on the basketball team at Corban University as a graduate transfer. After finishing my playing career at Corban, I joined the coaching staff and have spent the last 3 seasons Co-leading the Development Team (Gold Squad}) with my current Salem Capitals Teammate Domo Lawrence. It was during the fall of 2021 when the Salem Capitals became known to me. 

Domo and Jason Conrad had met over the summer at Hoopla (a 3 on 3 tournament here in Salem) and had been talking about Domo potentially trying out for the team. One day Domo asked me if I was interested in going to an open gym with him at the Salem Armory Auditorium. I obliged, mainly because I love basketball and wanted to see how things would go with me being out of competitive basketball for the last few years. While I was there, I met Jason Conrad and then proceeded to have one of the best open gym performances I could have had. 

As time went on, Jason and I began to develop an amazing friendship based on a few similarities: We have the same name, birthday, and we are both community-focused servant-minded people. Our shared mindset about the importance of using basketball as a platform for helping others made me signing with the Capitals a no brainer. The fact that I get to go out, play basketball, and impact those of the younger generation. Man, it is just so cool to see people in the stands supporting you. 

Making An Impact On The Court And In The Community 

What I think the best part of representing the Salem Capitals  is how involved we get to be in the community. Attending Chamber of Commerce events, volunteering for local businesses, nonprofits and in schools. I teach elementary PE and it is so cool to have my own students come up to me during class and ask me for my autograph! They attend my games and I return the favor and attend their sports games or extracurricular activities. I am super excited to be running a 5k on May 21st as a running buddy with one of my students for Girls On The Run! Plus, some of our guys will be helping out with field day at the elementary school which is going to be a blast!

This season has been a success both on the court and off and it isn’t even over yet! I am so looking forward to expanding my reach in the Salem community and growing the visibility of the Capitals through volunteering my time this summer and upcoming year.

— Jason Smarr

*Team photos courtesy of the Salem Capitals

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Wendell Maxey has covered and written about professional basketball and sports for 19 years and has previously been featured on ESPN.com, NBA.com, USA Today, FOX Sports, and SLAM Magazine among other publications and outlets. Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn or read through his archive on Linktree.