Two former UNC point guards are joining ACC Network basketball coverage
Former North Carolina point guard Joel Berry II played professionally last season in Turkey in a year heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was there, in Istanbul, that he knew his career was done and he began plotting his next move.
K.J. Smith, who played point guard at UNC from 2018-20 after transferring from Pacific, didn’t intend on following in the footsteps of his dad. (Former UNC great Kenny Smith is a studio analyst on TNT’s popular “Inside the NBA” postgame show.) But when he began writing for a new recruiting website, he felt he wasn’t using perhaps his best skill.
Both paths led them to the ACC Network, where they have signed to be part of the team of studio analysts this season. Berry will make weekly appearances on “Nothing But Net” and Smith will be a contributor to “All ACC,” the network’s weekly studio show as well as on its social media platforms.
“College basketball is everything to me,” said Berry, who was named the 2017 Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player on Carolina’s national championship team. “I thought it would be something to where I can stay attached to the game.”
Smith has long visited the TNT set with his father and witnessed what it takes to put on a good show. He was even on location during the 2017 national title game when TNT joins the NCAA Final Four broadcast.
Smith said a month ago the thought of working for ESPN would have been “a complete shock,” but he said with his connections and background it just made sense.
“I kind of realized that I liked, speaking more than more of the writing part of (media) and I realized I’m good at breaking down the game and talking to different guys,” Smith said. “And yeah, when the opportunity came from ESPN, I couldn’t turn it down. I was extremely excited and I’m excited to be a part of the team.”
Berry and his wife in September welcomed a daughter to the family. That’s the primary reason Berry said he no longer wanted to live overseas. He wanted to be able to be around his growing family and continuing to play overseas wouldn’t afford him that opportunity.
“I got a chance to see what I don’t want to do in life and I don’t want to live overseas,” Berry said. “Everybody’s different, but for me, that wasn’t what I wanted to do. That’s where my path kind of looked like it was going and I just didn’t want to do that.”
Berry is underway attempting to stay neutral in his thoughts. Asked how he thought about Hubert Davis being hired as Roy Williams’ replacement, he talked as if he never played at UNC.
“Coach Davis is perfect for the job,” Berry said. “Somebody who has played there, understands what it means to play in that program, and he represents that program better than anybody else that could have had that job. I think it’s huge for Carolina and I think is huge for him and I think he’ll do a good job.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Two former UNC point guards are joining ACC Network basketball coverage."