From Chaminade College Prep to Duke

Tatum grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Chaminade College Preparatory School (private 4A program) for his junior and senior years of high school. He was the consensus #1 prep prospect in the country in 2015-16 — McDonald’s All-American Game MVP, Naismith Player of the Year, USA Today All-USA First Team. He committed to Duke in March 2016 over Kentucky, North Carolina, and Kansas.

Tatum’s commitment to Duke was somewhat unusual — most St. Louis-area top prospects had historically gone to Kansas (closer geographically) or to a Kentucky / SEC program. Tatum chose Duke partly because of head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s relationship with his mother and partly because Duke’s NBA pipeline (4 first-round picks in the 5 years leading up to Tatum’s commitment) looked more promising than competing offers.

One season, ACC Rookie of the Year

Tatum averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in his lone Duke season (2016-17). He missed the first 8 games of the season with a foot injury but came back and led Duke to a 28-9 record. The Blue Devils won the 2017 ACC Tournament — his most-celebrated college moment was a 22-point game in the ACC Tournament championship win over Notre Dame. Duke advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s second round before losing to South Carolina in a 4-seed-vs-7-seed upset.

Tatum was named ACC Rookie of the Year and a Third-Team All-American. He entered his name in the 2017 NBA Draft on March 31, 2017 — about a week after Duke’s NCAA exit. He worked out for the Cleveland Cavaliers (who had the #3 pick after the Phoenix-Sacramento-LA blockbuster trade) and the Boston Celtics in May 2017.

The 2017 Draft and the Celtics dynasty

The Boston Celtics had originally won the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery and the #1 pick, but traded down to #3 (sending #1 to the Sixers for Markelle Fultz) in a controversial pre-draft move. The Celtics took Tatum at #3 overall — partly because head coach Brad Stevens had specifically requested him in the trade-down.

Tatum has been with the Celtics his entire career. He won the 2024 NBA championship + Eastern Conference Finals MVP, 5 All-Star selections (2020-2024), 4 All-NBA First Team selections (2021-2024), and is widely seen as the central piece of the Celtics’ 2020s contention. Duke retired Tatum’s #0 jersey on December 7, 2023 — Tatum was the youngest player in Duke history to receive a retired jersey at age 25.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Jayson Tatum and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records.