DENVER — Twelve years after his collegiate career at Saint Joseph’s came to a close, Jameer Nelson still follows his alma mater closely.
Now an NBA veteran on the Nuggets, Nelson watched the Hawks’ NCAA Tournament run, which ended in a second-round, five-point loss to 1-seed Oregon. He also caught each of their conference tournament games with the exception of the championship contest because the Nuggets were traveling.
“Obviously you can’t win them all but they fought a hard fight,” Nelson said Wednesday, when the Sixers lost by one to the Nuggets on an inconceivable Emmanuel Mudiay buzzer-beater. “They were playing a number one seed, which is tough. We took them down to the wire and unfortunately we didn’t win.”
Nelson refers to the Saint Joseph’s team as “we” because he remains closely tied to the school. He texted coach Phil Martelli after each of the tournament games and visits in the offseason.
“I go back and show my face and always interact with the players that are there,” Nelson said. “I always stay in touch with Coach throughout the summer and whenever I’m there.”
Nelson was one of the driving forces behind the unforgettable St. Joe’s team that went 27-0 during the 2003-04 regular season and earned a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks made it to the Elite Eight where they lost to second-ranked Oklahoma State, when Nelson's last-second shot fell short.
But his most memorable college experience came before St. Joe’s was on the rise. In 2001, the 9-seeded Hawks tested 1-seed Stanford. Nelson was a freshman at the time and to this day remembers his teammate's stat lines exactly.
“Casey Jacobsen said he had no idea where St. Joe’s was and he had no idea who Marvin O’Connor was,” Nelson recounted. “Marvin ended up going 15 for 20 from the field versus Casey Jacobson and had 37 points.
“We looked up at the score and it was 80-80 with one minute left. We just ended up losing the game. That was, to me, what helped St. Joe’s to get put on the map even more than what they were.”
Nelson played his first 10 NBA seasons on the Magic. Since then, he has played for the Celtics, Mavericks and Nuggets. With his own basketball schedule to follow, he still watches St. Joe’s when he can catch the games.
“They kept me up until about 12:30, one o’clock in the morning,” he said of the tournament games. “But it was worth it.”