James Wiseman

Wiseman was born Mar. 31, 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the son of Donzaleigh Artis and has one older sister. Wiseman started high school at The Ensworth School in Nashville before transferring to Memphis East High School, where he was coached by former NBA guard Penny Hardaway for his junior season. Wiseman averaged 11.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the United States at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Formosa, Argentina, helping the team win a gold medal over Canada. As a senior in high school, he was a consensus five-star recruit, and most recruiting services ranked him No. 1 in the 2019 class. Wiseman played for Hardaway again in college at Memphis, as the former NBA player had become the Tigers' head coach. Outside of basketball, Wiseman speaks Mandarin, reads Kobe Bryant's books and wants to own fast-food restaurants. Fans can follow the Nashville native on Twitter @BigTicket_JW and on Instagram @bigticket_j13. Wiseman ended up appearing in just three games for the Memphis Tigers and head coach Penny Hardaway, but it was easy to see why he was one of the top-rated prospects in his class. The preseason American Conference Player of the Year, Wiseman made his collegiate debut Nov. 5 against South Carolina State, racking up 28 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in only 22 minutes. He followed that up with 17 points and nine rebounds the following contest against UIC. Questions about his eligibility then surfaced, but Hardaway allowed him to appear in one more game Nov. 12 against Oregon. In his only test against a Power-5 opponent, Wiseman put up 14 points, 12 rebounds and a pair of blocks. He was then shut down and given a reinstatement date of Jan. 12, but at that point, Wiseman had decided that NBA scouts had seen enough. He officially declared for the 2020 NBA Draft on Dec. 19, focusing his efforts for the rest of the season on preparations to play professionally.