JMU’s Freshman Star: ‘Zip Em Up’
He’s Not … Um … Politically Correct, But He’s Effective
Posted: March 15, 2013
HARRISONBURG — David Gorton didn’t have a ton of time on the afternoon of the Colonial Athletic Association basketball championship game, so the James Madison pep band member settled on a Richmond discount store to buy a black sharpie and two white poster boards.
On one poster, Gorton scratched out “# ANDRE NATION NATION.” On the other, in bolder lettering, “ZIP EM UP.”
“I started following him on Twitter, and he tweets all the time, which I thought was great,” Gorton, a lifelong JMU supporter, said of Andre Nation, JMU’s freshman fan-favorite. “He interacts with fans a lot. That’s how I got to liking him, plus the way he plays on the court — defensive intensity.”
Gorton is not the only JMU fan with Nation fever. In February, on the CAA Zone message board, a user posted a picture of a T-shirt reading “NATION NATION,” with the Dukes’ crown resting on the initial “N” and Nation’s name and number (15) on the back. Numerous fans expressed interest in buying the T-shirts.
How did Nation become something of a cult hero for JMU, a team heading to the NCAA Tournament led by three star seniors?
Well, he carries a rapper’s swagger and James Dean’s cool. His new motto, “Zip Em Up,” which Gorton saw frequently in Nation’s tweets, has caught on quickly.
Nation has that type of appeal.
At Durant High School in Plant City, Fla., Nation would create dances that other students would follow, or organize white-outs for basketball games, his older sister Jasmyn said.
“I don’t know what it is about Andre — the charisma he has,” Jasmyn said. “The things he does, students want to pick up, too.”
For a team that led the CAA in defense, and for a player who fastens opponents like a baby in a car-seat, Zip Em Up seems apt. Nation held Delaware guard Devon Saddler — the CAA’s leading scorer at over 20 points per game entering the semifinals — to just seven points on 3-for-14 shooting last weekend. It was Saddler’s first and only single-digit scoring performance of the season.
But Zip Em Up isn’t strictly about playing assiduous defense.
“I used to watch a lot of rap battles on YouTube,” Nation said Thursday, explaining the genesis of the phrase. “There’s a dude named K-Shine who says ‘Zip Em’ Up’ whenever he feels like he kills his opponents. When I say Zip Em Up, when we say Zip Em Up, it’s basically, like, get them out of here. It’s body bags. That’s what Zip Em Up means.”
Nation, who also created personalized handshakes for every teammate this season, pantomimed a zipping motion during the CAA title game when JMU was running away with its 70-57 win over Northeastern.
“When I do the Zip Em Up, it’s like I’m locked in,” he said from Memorial Coliseum, where the Dukes were practicing Thursday because the Convocation Center was set up for the university president’s inauguration. “It’s over. Like, zip it. That’s when I’m at my peak. When everything is going well, that’s when I zip it.”
As Gorton researched before making his sign, Zip Em Up means “to violently or non-violently silence a person after being disrespected.”
Nation, of course, goes the non-violent route. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a bit of a mischief-maker.
His sister said Nation was always up to minor malfeasance when he was a teenager. She’d constantly have to cover for him when she realized that he borrowed their parents’ car or missed curfew.
Late in the second half of the quarterfinal win over William & Mary, Nation received a technical foul for staring down Tribe guard Marcus Thornton. The technical, which counts as a personal in college, was Nation’s fifth of the game, disqualifying him from the final minutes.
Asked later that night if referees had warned Nation about the jawing or taunting, coach Matt Brady joked, “No, only six or seven times.”
“I don’t call it being a troublemaker,” Nation said. “I’m just that dude — you know you’ve got to have that mean dude on the court. I’m that dude that, I’m not gonna smile, I’m not gonna shake another opponent’s hand after the game. I’m just competitive. I only ride with my team.”
Brady said Nation is one of the smartest players on the team. He said the 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard picks up both offensive and defensive concepts quicker than any teammate, and he has the potential to greatly succeed in the classroom, which is why Brady suspended him for the first half of the regular-season finale after the 20-year-old didn’t live up to academic responsibilities.
Nation started 25 of the Dukes’ 34 games, averaged 8.7 points and made the CAA’s All-Rookie squad. But it’s his brashness that makes him even more valuable to the Dukes.
“He’s got a nasty competitive streak,” Brady said. “And for a young freshman, his fearlessness reminds me of Delonte West in some respects. He just believes. There’s not a lot of doubt. And with good reason. He’s a talented kid.”
Fearlessness, belief…
When Nation was in sixth grade, he suffered from an abscessed lung and liver. Jasmyn said Andre became skinny and frail and was sent to an intensive care unit in St. Petersburg, Fla. The doctors, according to Nation, said he might die.
Nation’s response: “I told the doctor that I was going to be OK.”
“It wasn’t scary for me,” Nation said. “I never really thought about ‘I’m gonna die.’ I knew I was going to pull through. It never really crossed my mind.”
Fearlessness, belief…
A reporter was chatting with Nation on Thursday about his college basketball fandom as a child. Nation said he grew up loving North Carolina. “I would have been a good Tar Heel,” he said. Why are you here instead? “Ask Roy Williams. That’s all I can say.”
JMU is plenty pleased that the lightly recruited Nation is a Duke and not a Tar Heel. The fans have shown their appreciation for the daring guard, and Nation has reciprocated.
After the Dukes won the CAA championship, the players celebrated with fans who spilled onto the court. Nation wanted to meet the fans with the signs.
“He saw it pre-game and pointed to us,” Gorton said. “After the game he came up to the band, and started walking all over the Coliseum with it. Then he came back and signed it.”
The two signed signs are now hanging in Gorton’s apartment.
On one poster, Gorton scratched out “# ANDRE NATION NATION.” On the other, in bolder lettering, “ZIP EM UP.”
“I started following him on Twitter, and he tweets all the time, which I thought was great,” Gorton, a lifelong JMU supporter, said of Andre Nation, JMU’s freshman fan-favorite. “He interacts with fans a lot. That’s how I got to liking him, plus the way he plays on the court — defensive intensity.”
Gorton is not the only JMU fan with Nation fever. In February, on the CAA Zone message board, a user posted a picture of a T-shirt reading “NATION NATION,” with the Dukes’ crown resting on the initial “N” and Nation’s name and number (15) on the back. Numerous fans expressed interest in buying the T-shirts.
How did Nation become something of a cult hero for JMU, a team heading to the NCAA Tournament led by three star seniors?
Well, he carries a rapper’s swagger and James Dean’s cool. His new motto, “Zip Em Up,” which Gorton saw frequently in Nation’s tweets, has caught on quickly.
Nation has that type of appeal.
At Durant High School in Plant City, Fla., Nation would create dances that other students would follow, or organize white-outs for basketball games, his older sister Jasmyn said.
“I don’t know what it is about Andre — the charisma he has,” Jasmyn said. “The things he does, students want to pick up, too.”
For a team that led the CAA in defense, and for a player who fastens opponents like a baby in a car-seat, Zip Em Up seems apt. Nation held Delaware guard Devon Saddler — the CAA’s leading scorer at over 20 points per game entering the semifinals — to just seven points on 3-for-14 shooting last weekend. It was Saddler’s first and only single-digit scoring performance of the season.
But Zip Em Up isn’t strictly about playing assiduous defense.
“I used to watch a lot of rap battles on YouTube,” Nation said Thursday, explaining the genesis of the phrase. “There’s a dude named K-Shine who says ‘Zip Em’ Up’ whenever he feels like he kills his opponents. When I say Zip Em Up, when we say Zip Em Up, it’s basically, like, get them out of here. It’s body bags. That’s what Zip Em Up means.”
Nation, who also created personalized handshakes for every teammate this season, pantomimed a zipping motion during the CAA title game when JMU was running away with its 70-57 win over Northeastern.
“When I do the Zip Em Up, it’s like I’m locked in,” he said from Memorial Coliseum, where the Dukes were practicing Thursday because the Convocation Center was set up for the university president’s inauguration. “It’s over. Like, zip it. That’s when I’m at my peak. When everything is going well, that’s when I zip it.”
As Gorton researched before making his sign, Zip Em Up means “to violently or non-violently silence a person after being disrespected.”
Nation, of course, goes the non-violent route. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a bit of a mischief-maker.
His sister said Nation was always up to minor malfeasance when he was a teenager. She’d constantly have to cover for him when she realized that he borrowed their parents’ car or missed curfew.
Late in the second half of the quarterfinal win over William & Mary, Nation received a technical foul for staring down Tribe guard Marcus Thornton. The technical, which counts as a personal in college, was Nation’s fifth of the game, disqualifying him from the final minutes.
Asked later that night if referees had warned Nation about the jawing or taunting, coach Matt Brady joked, “No, only six or seven times.”
“I don’t call it being a troublemaker,” Nation said. “I’m just that dude — you know you’ve got to have that mean dude on the court. I’m that dude that, I’m not gonna smile, I’m not gonna shake another opponent’s hand after the game. I’m just competitive. I only ride with my team.”
Brady said Nation is one of the smartest players on the team. He said the 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard picks up both offensive and defensive concepts quicker than any teammate, and he has the potential to greatly succeed in the classroom, which is why Brady suspended him for the first half of the regular-season finale after the 20-year-old didn’t live up to academic responsibilities.
Nation started 25 of the Dukes’ 34 games, averaged 8.7 points and made the CAA’s All-Rookie squad. But it’s his brashness that makes him even more valuable to the Dukes.
“He’s got a nasty competitive streak,” Brady said. “And for a young freshman, his fearlessness reminds me of Delonte West in some respects. He just believes. There’s not a lot of doubt. And with good reason. He’s a talented kid.”
Fearlessness, belief…
When Nation was in sixth grade, he suffered from an abscessed lung and liver. Jasmyn said Andre became skinny and frail and was sent to an intensive care unit in St. Petersburg, Fla. The doctors, according to Nation, said he might die.
Nation’s response: “I told the doctor that I was going to be OK.”
“It wasn’t scary for me,” Nation said. “I never really thought about ‘I’m gonna die.’ I knew I was going to pull through. It never really crossed my mind.”
Fearlessness, belief…
A reporter was chatting with Nation on Thursday about his college basketball fandom as a child. Nation said he grew up loving North Carolina. “I would have been a good Tar Heel,” he said. Why are you here instead? “Ask Roy Williams. That’s all I can say.”
JMU is plenty pleased that the lightly recruited Nation is a Duke and not a Tar Heel. The fans have shown their appreciation for the daring guard, and Nation has reciprocated.
After the Dukes won the CAA championship, the players celebrated with fans who spilled onto the court. Nation wanted to meet the fans with the signs.
“He saw it pre-game and pointed to us,” Gorton said. “After the game he came up to the band, and started walking all over the Coliseum with it. Then he came back and signed it.”
The two signed signs are now hanging in Gorton’s apartment.