Playing like a pro: after flirting with the NBA, Jameer Nelson returned to Saint Joseph's, which is good for college basketball—but not for Hawks opponents

Sporting News, The, Nov 24, 2003 by Mike DeCourcy

The windblown bus trip that carried the Saint Joseph's Hawks up the Jersey Turnpike and into Manhattan was complete, but not the waiting. It took a few moments to round up all the keys to the players' rooms at the Intercontinental Hotel, so Jameer Nelson stood patiently with his teammates in the finely marbled lobby. There, he bumped into Gonzaga coach Mark Few, whose team would play St. foe's the following day. They had a pleasant chat.

Here is what Few said: "Thanks for coming back. You're special to the sport of college basketball." Oh, he got that right. Some 30 hours later, Nelson came within two rebounds of a triple double, and the Hawks claimed an emphatic season-opening victory over the Zags. He was so superior to his task that it was like Steven Spielberg videotaping a kid's birthday party. Gonzaga was stuck with a defeat it might not have experienced had Nelson allowed his name to remain on the NBA draft's early entry list. Few almost thought it was worth the sacrifice.

"I wanted for us to play against him," Few says, "in a crazy, weird, way-off-center way." Other coaches joke about how nice it would have been to see Nelson move along to the NBA, so they no longer would have to deal with his speed, his strength, his dazzling passes and the mysterious quality that permits him to make ordinary players good and good players great. Few appreciates how desperately his game needs more Jameers.

As tired as it may seem, the early entry issue defines each college basketball season--who stays, who goes, who never shows. In just the first two nights of the season, at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden, this subject was examined from every angle. Memphis played without recruit Kendrick Perkins, who became a first-round pick directly out of high school. Alabama lamented the departure of point guard Maurice Williams after his sophomore year. But Nelson is here.

This is a big deal. Nelson stands a shade under his listed height of 6-0. Though he led Chester High, near Philadelphia, to the Pennsylvania state title, he wasn't an elite recruit. He never has averaged 20 points or seven assists in college, and he hasn't been on television enough for many fans to recognize how poorly numbers depict the breadth of his impact on a game. Hawks coach Phil Martelli never misses an opportunity to declare he has the best player in college. But opponents who have looked him in the eye--or, in some cases, at the top of his noggin--also speak of Nelson with a sense of wonder. Richmond coach Jerry Wainwright calls him "fierce" and marvels at the energy and concentration Nelson brings to every possession.

"Last year, we were down 16 to them and made a run to get back to three," says Drexel coach Bruiser Flint. "He grabbed a rebound off a missed shot and scored on a putback, then got a steal coming out of nowhere. He made the plays that said, 'Feel good about your little comeback, because I'm getting ready to take the game over.'"

Nelson and reserve guard Tyrone Barley enrolled at Saint Joseph's together. When Nelson broke the news last May that their partnership might end prematurely, that he was putting his name in the draft to get a clear idea of what NBA teams thought of him as a prospect, Barley choked back emotion and pleaded with his friend to stay.

Well, that's Nelson's version.

Barley remembers no such thing.

"We always knew the situation," Barley says, impassively. "If he was guaranteed to go in the first round, he'd stay in the draft."

So now they are pictured together wearing tuxedos on the cover of the St. Joe's media guide, a photo Nelson believes makes him appear as dashing as Denzel Washington. That doesn't mean Nelson didn't have a chance to be a first-round pick. At the NBA pre-draft camp, he made former Kentucky star Keith Bogans look so good that Bogans probably owes Nelson a small part of his Orlando Magic salary.

But the draft wasn't a sure thing--was out of his control. Creating a legacy, perhaps as Saint Joseph's greatest player ever, maybe even the best anywhere this season, was not. So he stayed, and that alone makes the Hawks contenders for the 2004 Final Four. The first game showed that's not an empty campaign promise. Gonzaga entered with a bigger, deeper and more acclaimed team, though without full use of star but gimpy forward Ronny Turiaf. It was tight for a half, until Nelson's brilliance generated a 15-2 Hawks surge that firmly established control.

The last play in that stretch revealed the full array of Nelson's offensive gifts. The threat of his improved 3-point shot forced the defense to guard him closely. A burst of speed shot him past the initial defender and into the lane. His leaping ability allowed him to hang in the air when his path to the basket became blocked. His muscle enabled him to maintain control of the ball. His court awareness kept track of open teammates, such as jump shooter Pat Carroll. Nelson's passing skill facilitated a perfect assist on Carroll's 3-point basket.

"He knows what his team needs," says junior guard Delonte West, the other half of the Hawks' terrific backcourt. "You develop a trust in him. It's like a family member. No matter what, he's got you."