UA Fort Smith Athletics

             Jim Jay very well could have been the poster boy for the consummate multi-sport collegiate athlete.
            A native of Lincoln, Ark., Jay was a six-man football star at tiny Lincoln High School, helping the Wolves to wins against much-larger Springdale and Fayetteville during his senior year.
            Jay was offered a football scholarship to the University of Arkansas, but he also wanted to play basketball. As a compromise, the coaches told him that if he made the traveling squad in basketball he could play basketball and football. He made the traveling squad, but he dropped out of school and returned to Lincoln.
            When former Fayetteville High School basketball coach Shelby Breedlove became Fort Smith Junior College men’s basketball coach, he remembered Jay from his playing days at Lincoln High School and began recruiting Jay to play for the Lions.
            Jay played two seasons for Breedlove’s Lions (1960-1962). As a sophomore, Jay helped lead the Lions to a No. 4 NJCAA national ranking. He was described in the Fort Smith Junior College NUMA Yearbook’s Hall of Fame section as “a hard worker, a team player who has done much for FSJC.”
                He was also a talented baseball player, and even though Fort Smith Junior College didn’t have a baseball team, he was still offered a professional contract with the Boston Red Sox following his sophomore season. Jay declined the offer and instead focused on finishing his education at the University of Arkansas, where he played both basketball and baseball.
            Jay was a two-year letterman in basketball and was named co-captain as a senior. He helped guide coach Glen Rose’s Razorbacks to an overall 22-25 record during his two seasons.
            He was a two-year letterman in baseball and led coach Bill “Groundhog” Ferrell’s Razorbacks with a .371 batting average as a junior. Jay helped lead the Razorbacks to an overall 21-10 record during his two seasons.
            Former St. Louis Cardinals scout Fred Hahn assured Jay of a pro contract and a spot with the team, but during his senior season, Jay suffered a shoulder injury, which severely limited his ability to throw the baseball across the field and ended his longtime dream of playing professional baseball.