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A Kentucky State University basketball legend recently returned to finish his degree.

Elmore Smith, recently inducted into the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame and a member of the Kentucky State championship teams, received his diploma this summer.

Kentucky State University President M. Christopher Brown II congratulated Smith on Twitter and also noted Kentucky State diplomas are now in the original trivium and quadrivium (portrait instead of landscape) format.

Smith returned to complete his Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies. The 7’0” center anchored the defense for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championship teams of the early 1970s.

Smith was drafted third overall by the Buffalo Braves in the 1971 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft. His record of 17 blocked shots in a game still stands. Smith’s playing career spanned from 1971 to 1979. His nickname was Elmore the Rejector.

Smith played for the Braves, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Smith was one of four players the Lakes traded to Milwaukee for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. According to a Los Angeles Times story in 2010, the Lakers originally traded for him to replace Wilt Chamberlain.

Smith is now a businessman, marketing Elmore Smith’s Gourmet All-Natural BBQ Sauces. A restaurant bearing his name, Elmore Smith’s Smokehouse, is located at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers.