Nation The Show At The Convo
Rookie Guard Entertains, Then Starts
Posted: December 12, 2012
HARRISONBURG — Before each James Madison basketball game, freshman Andre Nation rolls dice with A.J. Davis, electrifies Rayshawn Goins, cuts throat with Alioune Diouf, jump-bumps Andrey and bows with Devon Moore.
Or at least pantomimes some of those motions.
Nation is the Dukes’ prince of the pre-game handshake line, creating a unique greeting for each teammate when the starters are announced.
Eventually, Nation got a little too good to be just the designated handshake guy. By the fifth game of this season, the rookie guard had played himself into a starting role.
“I had to tell them to announce my name first, so I was able to do all them,” Nation said of maintaining his salutation responsibilities.
Nation is now the first JMU player introduced at games, putting him in the position he needs to be to fire up his fellow starters. And that’s not all he does – just look at his diverse statistics inside the lines.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Floridian is averaging 11 points (third among Colonial Athletic Association freshmen), 2.6 steals (most among all CAA players) and 1.6 blocks (second among freshmen). He’s shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point range, and Monday he was named CAA Rookie of the Week for the first time.
“Andre Nation is a competitive guy,” JMU coach Matt Brady said. “And he doesn’t care about anything other than winning, and that’s going to rub our team the right way. So if the leadership comes from Andre Nation, then I’m really excited. … Andre Nation doesn’t really care if he shoots the ball, he’s going to compete.”
Nation, a lightly regarded recruit whom Brady brought in for defensive purposes, has given the Dukes a spark on both sides of the ball. Sometimes simultaneously.
With time running out in the first half of last week’s game against East Tennessee State, the Buccaneers rotated the ball to set up a late 3-point attempt. Nation read the play, leaped forward with an outstretched hand and blocked the shot with roughly four seconds remaining. He collected the loose ball, dribbled the rest of the court and converted a light dunk just before time expired.
“I thought the play that he made at the end of the half was one of the best I’ve seen in this gym,” Brady said. “His poise to finish the basket after making a remarkable close-out. Andre Nation is a very poised player – he has terrific potential.”
Fellow freshmen guards Ron Curry and Charles Cooke each came to JMU garnering more acclaim. While both have had moments to suggest they could be standout players at some point in their careers, Nation has instantly and consistently produced.
The way Nation wags his purple mouthguard in and out makes him look like the puppy of a player that he is, but almost every other on-court action screams veteran. Athletic and instinctual, Nation is a two-way playmaker who rarely forces anything.
Offensively, he can handle, shoot and rise up for alley-oops. The Dukes have even run a final-possession play for him in a tight game.
Defensively, he gets his long arms on balls high and low. At the start of this week, Nation was one of two players in the country with at least 14 blocks and 23 steals. The other? Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel, the nation’s top-ranked freshman.
Nation was an anonymous entity when he committed to JMU in September 2011. He averaged 22.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game against unremarkable competition as a senior at Durant High School in Plant City, Fla., and then attended Faith Baptist Christian, a prep school in Brandon, Fla. He broke his wrist on his first day at Faith Baptist and then developed tendonitis in his left knee, so then-JMU assistant coach Louis Rowe told an already-committed Nation to shut himself down.
“I couldn’t do nothing with my knee,” Nation said. “I couldn’t jump. I needed that time.”
Nation and Rowe had already developed a deep bond, going back to a chance connection. From his time in the Air Force, Nation’s father, Larry had a friend who was Rowe’s brother-in-law.
Still, when Rowe left last offseason to take an assistant coaching job at Rider, Nation never wavered from his commitment. In truth, there weren’t a ton of other suitors. Nation said Sam Houston State and Long Island offered him scholarships, while some bigger schools showed interest. Nation didn’t have a rating on any major recruiting websites.
Now, it appears that plenty of teams missed out on a potential star in Nation. Why was Nation overlooked?
“In Florida, where I’m from, it’s all football,” said Nation, who played Pop Warner until high school, when he quit to focus on hoops. “Nobody pays attention to basketball.”
Larry Nation said that Andre’s teams – even in football – always won when he was a kid. The only time Andre would lose at anything was one-one-one basketball games against Larry.
“I would never let him beat me as a kid,” Larry said. “… I’d taunt him, I’d tease him, I’d do everything. I’d rabble him up.”
Larry said the always-competitive Andre didn’t necessarily appreciate the taunts and took losing poorly. But the teasing must have rubbed off on him. The younger Nation says now he’s “always clowning.”
Including, when he’s bored in his dormitory, he’ll ponder new handshakes to share with teammates.
“Sometimes I might see something that NBA players will do, and I try to make my own,” Nation said, admitting that he tweaked a Paul Pierce dice roll for his teammate Davis. “Because I don’t want to copy.”
For now, Nation is a one-of-a-kind freshman for JMU.
Or at least pantomimes some of those motions.
Nation is the Dukes’ prince of the pre-game handshake line, creating a unique greeting for each teammate when the starters are announced.
Eventually, Nation got a little too good to be just the designated handshake guy. By the fifth game of this season, the rookie guard had played himself into a starting role.
“I had to tell them to announce my name first, so I was able to do all them,” Nation said of maintaining his salutation responsibilities.
Nation is now the first JMU player introduced at games, putting him in the position he needs to be to fire up his fellow starters. And that’s not all he does – just look at his diverse statistics inside the lines.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Floridian is averaging 11 points (third among Colonial Athletic Association freshmen), 2.6 steals (most among all CAA players) and 1.6 blocks (second among freshmen). He’s shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point range, and Monday he was named CAA Rookie of the Week for the first time.
“Andre Nation is a competitive guy,” JMU coach Matt Brady said. “And he doesn’t care about anything other than winning, and that’s going to rub our team the right way. So if the leadership comes from Andre Nation, then I’m really excited. … Andre Nation doesn’t really care if he shoots the ball, he’s going to compete.”
Nation, a lightly regarded recruit whom Brady brought in for defensive purposes, has given the Dukes a spark on both sides of the ball. Sometimes simultaneously.
With time running out in the first half of last week’s game against East Tennessee State, the Buccaneers rotated the ball to set up a late 3-point attempt. Nation read the play, leaped forward with an outstretched hand and blocked the shot with roughly four seconds remaining. He collected the loose ball, dribbled the rest of the court and converted a light dunk just before time expired.
“I thought the play that he made at the end of the half was one of the best I’ve seen in this gym,” Brady said. “His poise to finish the basket after making a remarkable close-out. Andre Nation is a very poised player – he has terrific potential.”
Fellow freshmen guards Ron Curry and Charles Cooke each came to JMU garnering more acclaim. While both have had moments to suggest they could be standout players at some point in their careers, Nation has instantly and consistently produced.
The way Nation wags his purple mouthguard in and out makes him look like the puppy of a player that he is, but almost every other on-court action screams veteran. Athletic and instinctual, Nation is a two-way playmaker who rarely forces anything.
Offensively, he can handle, shoot and rise up for alley-oops. The Dukes have even run a final-possession play for him in a tight game.
Defensively, he gets his long arms on balls high and low. At the start of this week, Nation was one of two players in the country with at least 14 blocks and 23 steals. The other? Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel, the nation’s top-ranked freshman.
Nation was an anonymous entity when he committed to JMU in September 2011. He averaged 22.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game against unremarkable competition as a senior at Durant High School in Plant City, Fla., and then attended Faith Baptist Christian, a prep school in Brandon, Fla. He broke his wrist on his first day at Faith Baptist and then developed tendonitis in his left knee, so then-JMU assistant coach Louis Rowe told an already-committed Nation to shut himself down.
“I couldn’t do nothing with my knee,” Nation said. “I couldn’t jump. I needed that time.”
Nation and Rowe had already developed a deep bond, going back to a chance connection. From his time in the Air Force, Nation’s father, Larry had a friend who was Rowe’s brother-in-law.
Still, when Rowe left last offseason to take an assistant coaching job at Rider, Nation never wavered from his commitment. In truth, there weren’t a ton of other suitors. Nation said Sam Houston State and Long Island offered him scholarships, while some bigger schools showed interest. Nation didn’t have a rating on any major recruiting websites.
Now, it appears that plenty of teams missed out on a potential star in Nation. Why was Nation overlooked?
“In Florida, where I’m from, it’s all football,” said Nation, who played Pop Warner until high school, when he quit to focus on hoops. “Nobody pays attention to basketball.”
Larry Nation said that Andre’s teams – even in football – always won when he was a kid. The only time Andre would lose at anything was one-one-one basketball games against Larry.
“I would never let him beat me as a kid,” Larry said. “… I’d taunt him, I’d tease him, I’d do everything. I’d rabble him up.”
Larry said the always-competitive Andre didn’t necessarily appreciate the taunts and took losing poorly. But the teasing must have rubbed off on him. The younger Nation says now he’s “always clowning.”
Including, when he’s bored in his dormitory, he’ll ponder new handshakes to share with teammates.
“Sometimes I might see something that NBA players will do, and I try to make my own,” Nation said, admitting that he tweaked a Paul Pierce dice roll for his teammate Davis. “Because I don’t want to copy.”
For now, Nation is a one-of-a-kind freshman for JMU.