Tigers recruiting Briarcrest’s Nash
In today’s high school basketball landscape, most point guards grow up focusing on scoring. It’s hard not to. However, freshman Jaye Nash of Briarcrest is more of a throwback. He’s known more for his defense and ability to make plays without turning the ball over.
“He can get down in that stance and he can guard like crazy. I’m putting a freshman on their best perimeter player usually, is what I’m doing,” Briarcrest coach John Harrington said. “He can guard and he can take care of the ball. If I’m a college coach and I have a seven-footer, 6-10 kid, and I want a high-profile guard who can get him the ball and come off of screens, I’d want Jaye Nash.”
The 6-foot-1 Nash already has the quickness and athleticism to impact the game.
“He’s a very shifty guard. Obviously, he has to work on his jumpshot, that’s what we’re working on now,” said Jevonte Holmes, who is Nash’s trainer. “He’s great at finishing around the goal. Very quick, very deceptive. Strong guard, very good defensively. I just think his future is very bright and he has a chance to be a great guard coming out of Memphis.”
Last month, Nash got a letter from Memphis coach Penny Hardaway saying that the Tigers have officially started recruiting him. Nash said that Texas A&M, Western Kentucky, and Vanderbilt have also reached out. He said he recently spoke with Hardaway and Vanderbilt assistant coach Faragi Phillips.
“It feels amazing to know that my hometown school is recruiting me. It feels really good,” Nash said. “Penny actually called me a couple days ago giving me advice on scoring and facilitating. Coach Faragi called telling me the same thing.”
Nash transferred from White Station Middle to Briarcrest last year
and didn’t play in games as he repeated the eighth grade. He said the biggest thing that prepared him for this season was playing against five-star Tennessee signee Kennedy Chandler every day in practice.
“It was kind of weird because I watched videos of him on Youtube and all that,” Nash said. “But once I got to know him and started playing against him I realized what he can and can’t do. I just capitalized on that on defense and tried to get stronger every day. I knew I had something to prove every day, especially going up against a five-star.”
Harrington said matching Nash up with the ultra-quick Chandler helped Nash get used to the speed of the game and handling the ball under pressure.
“I think the first thing is as a middle school kid, you think you can just go through people. But you have to slow down and change your speed sometimes,” Harrington said. “You can’t just be going 100 miles an hour. You have to know when to pick your spots. And with Kennedy, he had so many steals last year. So he had to learn how to protect the ball as an eighth-grader against a top-level point guard.”
As he continues to improve, Nash said the main thing he’s working on is his jump shot. He estimates that he shoots between 500 to 1,000 shots per day aiming to get better at creating shots off the dribble, making pull-up midrange jumpers, and getting more from 3-point range.
“He’s got a great body and it’s going to get better. His shooting ability is going to get better,” Holmes said. “And he has the little intangible things as far as making plays, dissecting the game, and being a great defensive guy. You just can’t find many guards that defend the way he defends and make the plays he makes.”