Trey jemison’s storybook journey from uab to the nba
By Charles Vaughan
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 5, 2024
On a chilly January night in Birmingham, Alabama, Trey Jemison got into his car after a frustrating game against the Iowa Wolves.
“I had four points and I had 15 rebounds and I was mad at myself,” said Jemison, then a center for the G-League Birmingham Squadron. His streak of seven consecutive double-doubles had been snapped. “I was focused on the stats.”
After a brief conversation with his mother, Jemison hung up the phone and began to drive. He rolled his eyes as he immediately received another call.
“My agent calls me, I'm like, bro, what does he want? I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now. I said, call me tomorrow, just hit me tomorrow. He said, 'Answer your phone. It’s important.’”
“I answered the phone, and he said, ‘Did you pack your bags? We’re going to Washington tomorrow.’ I said for what? ‘You got called up to the NBA.’”
“I pulled over and cried right there for ten minutes.”
For Jemison, the moment validated a lifetime of hard work and refuted the doubters that had followed him throughout his life.
“So many people said I wasn't going to make it, I wasn’t going to get a shot. People literally told my mom I would be overseas,” said Jemison. “After UAB, people looked at me in my face and said, ‘you're just not good enough.’”
“To see that my work and my faith in God prevailed, [I cried] tears of joy. I was just so happy, man. It was great.”
Fittingly, Jemison’s dreams came true in Birmingham, the city that raised him and revitalized his basketball career. He spent his high school years playing for Ramsay, Homewood, and Hoover, winning a championship and earning an all-state nod along the way. A two-year backup at Clemson, Jemison transferred to UAB in 2020 and quickly developed into a pro prospect.
Passed over in the 2023 NBA Draft, the center spent the summer with the Phoenix Suns. At the beginning of fall training camp, Jemison received offers from multiple teams, but chose to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pelicans, the Squadron’s NBA affiliate.
It was no accident that Jemison began his professional career in his hometown.
“Me and my agent sat down, and I had some other options. I believe it was Minnesota and I know Detroit was definitely one,” said Jemison. “But I was like hey, if I come home and develop here, it'll be a blessing. So I chose to be [with the Squadron].”
Assigned to Birmingham on October 29th, Jemison had the unique experience of playing his first pro games in front of friends and family. Just ten days into his first season, the Texas Legends, led by Jemison’s UAB teammate Jordan “Jelly” Walker, visited Legacy Arena for a doubleheader. Courtside was Andy Kennedy, the pair’s college coach.
“It was a full-circle moment, man,” said Jemison, smiling. “To see AK supporting us and seeing Jelly in a different jersey than my jersey was kind of dope, was kind of crazy. It was like dang, man, we both accomplished so much in such a small time.”
Jemison grew more comfortable as the season went on, soon emerging as his team’s best player. The center’s stock aggressively rose during the Winter Showcase, the G-League’s in-season scouting event.
“That’s when I put up some good numbers and had some good nights, and that's where my name really started coming into the conversation like hey, this dude's pretty decent,” said Jemison.
Jemison recorded double-digit rebounds in all but two of the last 14 games he played for Birmingham. By the end of his stint in the G-League, he was pulling down a whopping 12.1 boards per game, outpacing names like Oscar Tshiebwe and Adama Sanogo. On the evening of January 18th, the Washington Wizards offered Jemison a ten-day contract, which he accepted without hesitation.
Although Jemison had come a long way, the real work lay ahead; in his opinion, transitioning from the G-League to the NBA was “the hardest part” of the whole process. Stuck behind established big men Daniel Gafford and Marvin Bagley III, Jemison rarely saw the floor during his short time in Washington. To further complicate matters, Wizards head coach Wes Unseld was relieved of his duties less than a week after Jemison arrived.
“Locker rooms, different plays, different mindsets of teams. It was hard to adjust because of course you want to be yourself and do your thing, but you have to help the team win,” said Jemison. “It took a moment for me to adjust.”
The Wizards didn’t sign Jemison to another contract. Before his final game in Washington, the injury-riddled Grizzlies informed his agent they were looking for a big man. The center packed his bags, traveled to Memphis, and tried to adjust to his third team in two weeks.
When asked how he stayed true to himself during the turmoil, Jemison referenced a lesson he learned from Kennedy two years ago.
“Me and AK had my exit meeting at the end of the 2022 season, the year we won the [Conference USA] championship,” said Jemison. “[I told him] I wanted to take more shots next year, and he looked at me and giggled! At the time I was like, what are you laughing about? I'm so serious right now.”
“But he told me, Trey, you’ve got to go play hard. Set screens, rebound, block shots, and you’re going to make a lot of money,” said Jemison. “It took me about two months to realize he didn’t mean it in a bad way, but he meant that [I] could be a great professional if [I] do those things. Look at me now.”
“By him teaching me to know my role, I made a name for myself,” said Jemison. “That life lesson that he gave me in that exit meeting changed my professional career.”
Jemison has also relied on his faith to power through the past year's trials. He credits Ransom, the student ministry group that often packs the student section at UAB home games, with developing it.
“[Ransom] blessed me more than I can even imagine. From [helping me] grow up as a man, to encouraging me, to believing in me,” said Jemison. “My faith was okay prior, but when you’re surrounded by guys who are trying to do what you're trying to do and grow your faith, it’s another level.”
On February 9th, Jemison broke through for good, signing a contract with Memphis for the rest of the season. Soon after, head coach Taylor Jenkins told the media he was “really impressed” with the center’s play. Now an established member of the team, Jemison has made eight starts and blocks an average of 1.1 shots per game, the fourth-highest mark of any Grizzly. On March 12th, the ex-Wizard scored 24 points against his former team, a record for a UAB alum.
There are still facets of Jemison’s life he describes as “surreal.” He’s “lucky” to be teammates with Derrick Rose, who he says is a “mentor and a great teammate and a great guy.” Jemison has witnessed the growth of 19-year-old phenom GG Jackson, who he’s “very proud of.” Wednesday night, he was tasked with defending the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo. Less than a month ago, Jemison came face-to-face with LeBron James while warming up against the Lakers.
Through it all, Jemison continues to be proud of his hometown and his alma mater, emphasizing the role his college experience has played in his success. He maintains strong friendships with his former coaches and teammates -- he called Kennedy after the Blazers won the AAC title, and talks to Walker whenever he can -- and attended multiple UAB games this season.
Jemison sees plenty of Blazer fans in FedExForum, and appreciates those who make the 3.5-hour drive up I-22.
“I don't think it's an accident that I'm here with Memphis. You’ll see people at the Memphis games that say ‘let’s go Blazers,’ and it’ll catch me off guard, to be honest,” he said. “That's wild. The love is there, the relationships are there. It's huge.”
Jemison has also developed relationships with the current UAB frontcourt and plans to work out with them this summer. He wasn’t surprised by Yaxel Lendeborg, Christian Coleman, and Will Shaver’s decisions to remain in Birmingham.
“UAB is such a genuine place, man,” said Jemison. “In a world where everybody wants to be the center of attention, UAB is honest with you, and they help you develop to be a better person, from teachers, to academic advisors, to coaches.”
“UAB is home. Those people care about who you’re going to be outside of basketball,” he added. “Of course, AK is going to get onto you, he’s going to have his words. But AK is still going to care about you at the end of the day. He wants the best for you.”
Jemison describes himself as “beyond blessed” at how his basketball career has unfolded. His biggest regret? Not transferring to UAB earlier.
“That was a pivotal moment in my life,” said Jemison. “The journey that I took to get to where I am now, it’s unlike any other. To come back home and to do what I did with the people I did it with is like a movie, like a storybook. To go to the NBA three hours away from home and play pro [at home], too.”
“It's a storybook.”