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DeMarckus “DJ” Smiley has taken a long road since he graduated from Morgan Academy in 2020.

His travel ball coach, Travis Coleman, pushed Smiley to go the junior college route instead of trying to go immediately to a four-year college.

“That’s been the best decision I’ve made,” Smiley said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I wouldn’t have the achievements that I’ve had if it wasn’t for junior college.”

Smiley grew up in Dallas County attending Southside Primary School and Tipton Durant Middle School before he spent most of his high school career at Dallas County High School. For his senior year, he then enrolled at Morgan Academy where he played with a number of his former teammates during travel ball.

The reason for going to Morgan was baseball.

“I wanted to continue challenging myself,” Smiley said. “I struggled. That was my humbling time right there. So I was like, the only way for me to get better is if I keep struggling. I wanted to be able to be around guys that are ahead of me just to make me have a higher expectation for myself. And that pushed me.”

Smiley said he’s still friends with many of the guys he played with at Morgan and in travel ball. At first, he didn’t want to go to play junior college ball because he wanted to play at a four-year school.

After talking with his travel ball coach Travis Coleman, he decided to go play at Lawson State for his first year and Coastal Alabama Community College the year after.

“I’m very thankful for him. He pushed me to go the junior college route, and it’s been the best decision I’ve made. I wouldn’t be where I am today and I wouldn’t have the achievements that I’ve had if it wasn’t for junior college.”

Smiley said junior college baseball is “just work.” You don’t get the glamour of playing in the greatest of college stadiums or the swag that comes with it. In fact, most JUCOs don’t have their own field crew.

“We do field work in JUCO, and it’s just baseball and school,” Smiley said. “And Alabama, we don’t have football, so it’s literally just baseball and school. You gotta lock in on that. A lot of people don’t know that you’re expected to play right away because it’s a two-year deal. Really, it’s just a one-year deal because you have to get invited back.”

But the grind of playing JUCO baseball helped prepare Smiley for when he finally got to the Division I level of NCAA baseball. He said players who go to a four-year college right away expect to play right away, but they lack the experience of a JUCO player.

“I just got the experience. I played in certain situations that’ll make a coach feel more comfortable to put me out there over a guy that’s coming outta high school. They’re just looking for him to kind of develop a little more,” Smileys said.

After playing the two years of JUCO ball, Smiley went to Grambling State where he appeared in 28 games starting 23. He finished with a .258 batting average with two homers, two triples and three doubles. He also finished with a .946 fielding percentage. He was a part of last year’s team that won the SWAC and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Smiley, now a super senior, has returned close to home at Alabama State. He already has his bachelor’s degree in management and marketing and is working on completing his MBA during his extra year of eligibility.

“I tell people all the time it’s a weird kind of blessing to have because it just all lined up perfectly,” Smiley said. “Even though there were times throughout my collegiate career where I felt like it was unfortunate, especially in my first year in Division I when you, I ended up getting a red shirt. You kind of feel like so much time is passing you by missing a season. But it worked out just fine for me. I’m blessed to be in this position.”

He is excited to be back in Alabama playing his final season. He’s hoping many of his family and friends will be able to come watch him play this spring.

At Alabama State, he has high team goals for the upcoming season. He wants to help his team win a conference championship so that they can go to the NCAA Tournament once again, this time with Alabama State. He also wants to help his team find a way to get some wins in the midweek games, where they will be able to play power conference teams.

The ultimate goal is to try and help them compete for a chance to go to Omaha.

“That’s every college baseball player’s dream right there,” Smiley said.

Smiley said he told any local baseball players to be students of the game.

“Watch a lot of baseball,” Smiley said. “I’d say watch the game and be knowledgeable about the game and how it’s changing. When I say be knowledgeable about how the game is changing and that portion of your recruitment process when you’re in high school, be aware that the transfer portal is a real thing.”

Smiley also said not to get caught up in the glamor of power conference baseball.

“Don’t set your mind on like, oh yeah, I’m gonna go to this Power five, that mid major because then you’ll find yourself in an area where you might not want to be,” Smiley said. “So I just say, just weigh out all your options, have a lot of options. Get better every day and realize that there’s always somebody working. There’s a lot of people out here that wanna play college baseball.”

Smiley said his family has supported him through his whole life and college career.

“Everybody was excited about (me getting to play in college), and then me going from JUCO to Division I, everybody was super excited about that.”

One area Smiley wants to work on individually is to be a better leader.

“I gotta make sure that at the end of the day, if I’m not getting it done, we’re getting it done as a team. So I’m going to be a good leader first, and I want to be able to excel both defensively and offensively and just play, play consistent,” Smiley said.

“I can handle adversity, and I understand that it’s a game of failure. You’re gonna mess up, you’re gonna strike out, you’re gonna make an error here and there, but it’s all about how you respond. So I’m, that’s my goal to play as consistently as I can and just be the best version of myself that I can, and trust in God and believe in him and that throughout the duration of this season I’ll end up a champion again and end up with an opportunity to play some professional baseball.