LARAMIE – It seemed like Jordan Nesbitt was going to have a smooth ride to top coming out of high school.
 
The four-star prospect from St. Louis was rated as the nation's No. 70 national recruit and the No. 2 recruit from the Show-Me State in the 2020 class.
 
Nesbitt started his career at Memphis playing for former NBA star Penny Hardaway. He also held offers from a list of prominent programs in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC.
 
But the well-traveled Nesbitt's journey – which included returning home to play at Saint Louis, a stop at Hampton, plans to finish his collegiate career at Green Bay and finally signing with Wyoming this spring – has been turbulent.
 
"It was kind of rough," Nesbitt said of his background. "In eighth grade I lost my mom at an early age, so I've kind of been home to home just trying to survive."
 
Nesbitt has plans for a big senior season and dreams of playing professionally to support his younger sister, a high school student, and his young daughter, Aria, who are both back in St. Louis.
 
UW head coach Sundance Wicks' vision for Nesbitt – based on his elite physical gifts and promising analytical profile – is the reason why the versatile 6-foot-6 guard is making his last ride with the Cowboys.
 
"He really brought me in like family," Nesbitt said. "I'm from a rough background so he's kind of like a father figure. He's always looking out for me. I talked to him a lot and it was just a match made in heaven."
 
Wicks and his staff have crunched the numbers and believe Nesbitt's "winning metrics" – assists, blocks, rebounds and steals – translate to those of NBA draft picks with his size.
 
To take the final step at 7,220 feet, Nesbitt must dramatically improve his shot selection.
 
In 95 games (85 starts) at his three precious schools, Nesbitt averaged 10.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks in 28.9 minutes.
 
But Nesbitt is also career 35.6% shooter.
 
"His biggest thing is effective field goal percentage. That's what he has to improve on," Wicks said. "He has to make sure he's taking the right shots and making the right shots, playing off two feet when he drives. That's what is really unique is he is close, but as we all know putting that rock in the hole efficiently is a big part of this.
 
"That's learning what good shot, bad shot is, learning what good shot, great shot is."
 
Nesbitt only played three games at Memphis before returning home after learning that he was going to be a father.
 
"There was a lot going on outside of basketball," said Nesbitt, who averaged 8.2 points and 4.3 rebounds during his lone season at Saint Louis.
 
Nesbitt announced he would enter the 2022 NBA draft but eventually withdrew his name and transferred to Hampton where he scored 733 of his 1,024 career points and dished out 212 of his 255 career assists.
 
"It helped me get locked in more, understand my responsibility, understand I've got to be better," Nesbitt said of having a daughter. "I've got to be a father and make sure I'm there for her every day."
 
When Nesbitt entered the portal for the third and final time, he was looking to connect with a coach to push him and develop him into a next level player.
 
Wicks had big plans for the big guard at Green Bay and the partnership continued when the opportunity arose for the Gillette native to return to UW this spring.
 
"That's a blessing, I'm not going to lie," Nesbitt said of Wicks' belief in his NBA traits. "Sunny kind of changed my life telling me that. Nobody really told me that (before). A lot of times it has really just been playing and just going with the flow. I never really thought about it like that.
 
"Sunny is like a father figure telling me what I can be, believing in me and it's just building confidence in me. It's a blessing to me."
 
Filling up the stat sheet and being a versatile puzzle piece who can play the point, shooting guard or forward are only part of the plan.
 
Wicks wants Nesbitt, a fiery competitor who practices with a hard edge, to be a leader on the 2024-25 Cowboys.
 
"The one thing we're still trying to find is who is our everyday alpha. Who is our guy who is going to show up every single day and raise the level of practice the right way," Wicks said. "He has the capability to being an everyday alpha. He and Kobe Newton are the two closest guys that really have that presence about them and can be more vocal and step up. That's what we want from Jordan."
 
Jimmy Edel, the program's sports performance coach, measures the workload of every player during every workout. Nesbitt has essentially been exerting an equal amount of effort in practice every day to that of playing a full game.
 
"Jordan works and now we just have to let that work be rewarded," Wicks said. "He has such great instincts that he is the guy who makes the plays you don't see coming. You need those interpretive dancers out there, guys with that creative flow about them. He can go make something out of nothing. He's fun to be around because he has such a good vibe about him."
 
Before beginning the most important season of his basketball journey, Nesbitt was able to experience a true Wyoming adventure to tell his sister and daughter about.
 
The urban hoops legend put on a pair of boots and a cowboy hat and climbed aboard a horse during an event in Pinedale supporting the Jae Foundation to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention.
 
"I ain't going to lie, that was scary," Nesbitt said. "My horse scared me because he was at the edge of the mountain where we were like at the top, and I'm thinking we're at the edge and if he would have backed up a little bit it's over with. But thank God he didn't. I remember his name, too, it was Tom. I'll never forget that. He was a great horse. I'll never forget him."
 
Nesbitt is now focused on helping Wicks have a memorable first season as UW's head coach, which begins with an exhibition game against the College of Idaho at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Arena-Auditorium.
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
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