A little over a month ago, on January 20, it was announced that Vanderbilt’s star player, Aaron Nesmith, would be out indefinitely due to a stress fracture in his right foot — he would likely miss the remainder of the season, as the injury would require surgery—devastating news for head coach Jerry Stackhouse and the Vanderbilt Commodores’ team. However, with doctors projecting a full recovery by early April, Nesmith should be in a prime spot to take the next step in his career if he chooses to head to the NBA. Before his injury, Nesmith shined brightly for the Commodores, averaging 23.0 points per game and making 60 three-pointers, all while shooting 51.2% from the field and 52.2% from three-point range, making him perhaps the best shooter in the 2020 NBA Draft and a probable mid-first round draft pick.
Despite being included in just about everyone’s mock draft at the moment, Nesmith wasn’t a 5-star recruit or a McDonald’s All-American out of high school. The spotlight hasn’t been on him for as long as some other NBA prospects, including James Wiseman, Anthony Edwards, and LaMelo Ball. As a result, I’m not sure everyone knows him that well. Therefore, let’s take a deeper dive. Who is Aaron Nesmith?
Aaron Joshua Nesmith was born on October 16, 1999 (20 years old) to parents Bernard (Bernie) and Erine in Charleston, South Carolina. Also raised in Charleston, Aaron grew up in a household with parents considered “the salt of the earth.” They stressed hard work and promoted education. As a result, Aaron and his older brother, Eddie, excelled as student-athletes at Porter-Gaud High School. Eddie was a standout track and field athlete and is a fourth-year undergraduate at Harvard pursuing a Molecular and Cellular Biology degree. Aaron also performed well as a student-athlete, earning a 3.45 GPA and being named the 2017-2018 Gatorade South Carolina Player of the Year for his senior season. Porter-Guad’s team also featured 2018-19 McDonald’s All-American Josiah James. He currently plays at the University of Tennessee. Another interesting sidenote: Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks played at Porter-Gaud and for the same coach, John “J.P.” Pearson. Middleton has returned home each off-season to work out with the Porter-Gaud players and has become a mentor to Nesmith.
In addition to playing for Porter-Gaud High School, Nesmith played for a local Charleston AAU Team, TMP, which is not affiliated with a shoe company. Although having a successful high school career at Porter-Gaud and with TMP, Nesmith was only considered a 4-star recruit and was ranked #69 on ESPN’s Top 100 rankings for the class of 2018. SEC schools recruited him: Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, in addition to Ivy League schools Columbia and Harvard. However, he was not recruited by “Blue Blood” schools Duke or North Carolina, although he was within driving distance from Charleston. Nesmith ultimately chose to attend Vanderbilt due to the balance of basketball and education. It is a school in a “Power Five” conference, the SEC, with a level of education that has led to the common reference of the “Harvard of the South.”
I find it fascinating that Khris Middleton came from the same high school as Nesmith and was also a late bloomer. He was under-ranked and under-recruited out of high school, as he was ranked #82 on ESPN’s Top 100 rankings for the class of 2009, attended Texas A&M, and was the 39th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Middleton is now a two-time NBA All-Star.
After learning more, I wondered: How closely is Aaron Nesmith following in Khris Middleton’s footsteps? Well, all indicators suggest he’s following pretty closely.