Basketball
Favorite athlete: Kyrie Irving
Favorite team: Brooklyn Nets and Sixers
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Me completely missing a dunk in a summer league game.
Music on playlist: SZA, Bryson Tiller, Mariah Carey, Rihanna
Future plans: Playing at the next level and providing for my family.
Words to live by: Never think you’re not good enough for something because if you think that, you will always lose in life and anything you do
One goal before turning 30: Go to Dubai and be able to make money to have it where my parents don’t have to work anymore.
One thing people don’t know about me: I like hot sauce on pizza (it’s so good, trust it)
By Craig Ostroff
The boys’ basketball program at Harry S Truman hasn’t exactly been a fairy tale story in recent years. In fact, it may be closer to a hard-luck tale.
The Tigers have occupied the cellar of the Patriot Division every year since the 2018-19 season and haven’t had a five-win season since then. Additionally, it’s been difficult to maintain any sort of consistency as interest has waned in recent years and players have left both before and during seasons.
Second-year Truman coach Randolph Jackson is trying to turn the page on those days. And there’s no one he’d rather have writing the next chapter than Aaron Nathan.
The only senior starter on the young Tigers’ squad, the 6-6 center is leading the team in points and rebounds. But Nathan is being counted on to provide so much more than just stats for this team, and this program looking to close the book on the past and write a brighter future.
“There’s a culture and work ethic we’re trying to build here,” Jackson said. “My first season here was grueling, we’d have three to five kids show up per workout. This past offseason, from eighth grade to varsity, we’d have 30 guys in the gym.
“We’re working to get the kids to commit and buy into everything our coaching staff has been preaching, and Aaron is the guy who sets the tone for them. We’ve got a lot of underclassmen on this team, but Aaron is giving them someone they can look up to and rely on. He bought in to what we’re trying to do here. He works hard, he provides leadership, he’s vocal on the court. He’s absolutely been making a difference.”
That might sound like a lot of pressure, but Nathan not only expects it, he encourages it. While doing his part to help his teammates improve on the court, he’s also spearheading the effort to overcome the mental barriers that can lead to doubt, dismay, and desertion.
“With everything we’ve been through in the past, a lot of it is mental and having everyone framing us to be a bad team, saying we come from a bad area, things like that,” Nathan said. “We have athletes on our team, we have guys who can play, but when everyone frames us to be bad, it messes with you mentally.
“I’ve been on this team for three years, and I’ve basically heard the same thing every year. But I talk to the younger kids, tell them that you have to ignore that and just play the game. I try to set that positive mindset because that’s what’s going to get Truman somewhere. We have a good team, our coaches are good, our players are good, we have to get over that phase mentally.”
Adding to the difficulty of keeping a positive outlook is the fact that the Tigers are still seeking their first victory of the season. But while the results have not yet shown up in the win column, Nathan said he is proud of how far this team has come this season.
“I feel like I’m seeing a lot of improvement from this team,” he said. “You can see it. Last year we played Bensalem and I think we had three points at halftime. We played them last week and went into halftime down by just one point.
“I feel like we’re getting to the point where we’re going to get our first win. And I knew coming in that I needed to take it more seriously, I’ve got to set the tone. We needed to have the mindset that you need to keep playing and keep fighting. Coach tells us that no matter the score, we go to battle until that final buzzer, so we keep fighting whether we’re down 50 or down three.”
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Nathan’s positive attitude and leadership don’t end when the game clock shows all zeroes. They extend into the classroom as well. Nathan is determined to show his teammates the importance of being a strong student in addition to being a top-notch basketball player.
“I feel like I have a role that’s bigger than basketball. I have to help my teammates in the classroom, too,” he said. “In the past, we’ve had people who were ineligible because of their grades. If my teammates see me doing well and working hard, hopefully that motivates them to do the same.”
Nathan possesses a remarkably mature approach to his senior season and his role on the team. It comes from a supreme confidence in his own skills on the court and traits as a leader. And that confidence stems from knowing there was a chance that his senior season might not have happened.
Late in the regular season last year, Nathan was playing around in the school gym when he attempted a dunk while wearing footwear that one typically wouldn’t wear on the hardwood.
“As soon as I went up, I felt my knee pop out of place,” he said. “I got up, started walking down to my class, and it felt like my knee kept slipping. I figured maybe it popped out of place, let’s see what happens. Second period comes and it’s still hurting. I went to the nurse, she called my mom, and at this point I’m barely able to walk.”
The early diagnosis at an urgent care facility was that Nathan’s kneecap popped out of place. But after heading to the hospital for a better look, the injury to his right knee proved to be much more serious.
When his kneecap popped out, it scraped cartilage and tore his patellar tendon. Surgery was required, followed by at least three months of rehabilitation.
But the injury also proved to be a turning point for Nathan. Having faced his own challenges with his confidence in his abilities on the court, Nathan decided to rededicate himself to be the best he could be on the hardwood.
“It was a draining couple of months – not being able to do something you love is hard on you mentally,” he said. “But I decided that I love basketball, I want to keep playing and I want to take it to the next level. If I want to do it, I’m going to chase after it, and I’m not going to let one setback stop me.
“Coming back, it was really about my support system. My mom, my sister, my dad, my coach, they were all telling me - don’t back down, always keep going. I got that mindset that I can’t let other people put a narrative on me, make me feel like I don’t belong.
“I really feel like coach helped me with that, my parents and my sister telling me to keep going to practice, helping me when I had to put in the extra work, having that support system helped me. Having them be there making me better and stronger mentally and physically, I couldn’t ask for better.”
Nathan said he doesn’t think about the injury when he’s on the court now, nor does he let it slow him down. If anything, Nathan said he’s become more aggressive in the paint this season, and that comes from the confidence he’s developed in himself.
More than anything else, that may be the biggest improvement in Nathan’s game and his approach in his season campaign.
“When I first met Aaron last year, he struggled sometimes with whether he belonged on the court with everyone else,” Jackson said. “His growth, his leadership, and confidence has been a complete 180 from last year.
“He’s become more coachable, he makes his teammates better. He’s out there diving on the floor for loose balls and doing the little things that will help us win games. The younger kids look up to him for that. Aaron’s been nothing but great for us, and the sky’s the limit for him as long as he believes in himself and puts in the hard work.”
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Nathan knows that hard work is going to pay off for the Tigers as well. He knows this team is close to turning the page for good. He also knows that it might not happen this year, and he’s fine with that.
“If the things me and the seniors are trying to do help this team in the future, I would be satisfied to know that I helped to lay the groundwork for that,” he said. “I want to succeed, but if I see other people succeed, it makes me feel so much better.
“I used to have a very selfish outlook on the game. My sophomore year, I felt like I had to prove myself every time I was out there, and I was forcing shots and making bad decisions because I felt like I had to do it myself. Now I know I don’t have to be selfish. By helping my teammates get better, they help make me better, too. Over the years, I’ve matured through basketball and life. Basketball really helped me mature in general, and that’s given me a better outlook on the team and on the game.”
“We’re slowly turning that page,” Jackson said. “It’s hard to tell the younger guys that Rome wasn’t built overnight. We put in the work, and it hasn’t translated in the win column, but we are competing in every game. For Aaron, I know that can be frustrating because he’s bought in and he’s doing everything we’ve asked of him, but he’s sticking to the game plan and the team is as well. We’re looking for that one win for all that hard work to pay off as our guys start to build the culture we want to build here.”
While Nathan is helping write the first chapter of a new story for Truman basketball, it will be up to the rest of the team to continue writing it once he graduates. Nathan is still in the early stages of assessing his college options. He’d like to play basketball if the opportunity is there, and he’s considering a major in either business or culinary arts.
And he’ll leave large shoes to fill for the Tigers, though he’ll leave knowing he’s done his part to prepare the underclassmen to take their spots as leaders in the years to come.
“Coaching Aaron the last two season has really been a blessing,” Jackson said. “We’re really going to miss him next year. Besides what he brings to us on the court, we’re going to lose his goofiness on the bus rides, his storytelling, his willingness to be open and have guys talk to him, everything he brings to the table for us. He’ll be greatly missed, but we’re trying to establish that culture here that we’re a family, and like family, we expect he’ll come back and share many memories with us.”
And Nathan will be looking forward to seeing his teammates succeed as a team, but even more so to succeed as individuals.
“I want them to keep that motivation we’re trying to build this year and keep going,” he said. “I want the program to be good, but want the kids to be better, even if it’s outside of basketball. I hope we’ve helped to inspire them to keep playing even if you’re not at the level you want to be at. Everyone’s bad when they first start, it’s about your development and your will. You have to have that if you want to do anything in life.”
