‘Unfinished business’: How Fort Mill boys are thriving behind their point guard

Down by two against Greenville with 0.8 seconds left, Fort Mill boys’ basketball coach Myron Lowery had no doubt. Sure, it was the Class 5A II Upper State semifinals. And, yes, Jermier Nelson was a freshman, but only in title. Lowery knew the last-ditch shot would always be Nelson’s.

He had a good look. Nelson went up for the jumper, and the ball hit the rim, ending Fort Mill’s season. Nelson was devastated. But in a tear-filled locker room, Lowery and his players helped Nelson realize something that still fuels the guard almost a year later.

“I was down,” Nelson said. “Then, everybody was just telling me that it does not define me as a player and a person. (Lowery) was telling me that he wanted me to shoot that shot. If we did it again, I’d shoot it again.”

The pair haven’t talked about the moment since, but it has propelled a season that’s been even better than Nelson’s last. The 6-foot-3 sophomore is averaging almost 22 points per game as Fort Mill’s starting point guard, helping the Yellow Jackets to a 15-3 record. In Lowery’s words, Nelson has the keys to the fancy car, and he can’t wreck it.

And, so far, he hasn’t. Nelson leads the team in scoring and shoots a team-best 62% from the field. And it’s all because he wants another chance.

“That moment would fuel any player that’s really competitive, which he is,” Lowery said. “I know that he feels that there’s some unfinished business that he would like to get back to that situation and get a redo.”

‘This kid can really play’

On the first day of summer workouts after Nelson finished eighth grade, the player was late. Lowery didn’t know Nelson that well. He had just moved from a smaller town in South Carolina to Fort Mill. Despite hearing about Nelson’s talent, Lowery chalked up the tardiness to overconfidence and sent him to the gym with the junior varsity team.

But the veteran coach had a change of heart. He wanted to see what Nelson was really made of and invited him back to the varsity gym.

“It showed me that nothing’s given to you,” Nelson said. “I have to work for what I want.”

Within 10 minutes, Lowery knew he would never play with the underclassmen again.

He was athletic and skilled. It was obvious his basketball IQ was high, and older players took naturally to him.

From that moment, he’s learned to listen better to his coaches and develop better practice habits. Two games into his freshman year, Nelson had a putback dunk at the buzzer to win the game. He had four games with over 20 points.

“His personality allows him to fit in,” Lowery said. “He’s a fun-loving type. Just kind of a jolly type of kid. He fit in. And the rest of the older upperclassmen, they looked and said, ‘OK, yeah, this kid can really play.’”

Growing role in Fort Mill

In his sophomore season, Nelson has taken on more responsibility. Lowery has worked hard with him, teaching Nelson how to run a team as a point guard, something he didn’t do as a freshman. Nelson has become a better leader, working to get his teammates the ball in the right spots, while understanding their strengths and weaknesses.

The missed shot has become a lesson, even at home. Nelson’s mother, Krystal, wishes Jermier had made the buzzer-beater that pushed Fort Mill to the state championship. But she thinks in some ways it’s better that he didn’t.

“Although he was young, and we all wanted him to make it, it probably was good that he missed it,” Krystal said. “Now, he does work because he doesn’t want to be in that situation again, where he misses that shot.”

Jermier knows that, too. He still would’ve worked to become better, but maybe not as hard. Now, as Fort Mill chases another postseason opportunity, Jermier has something to come back for.

“I just want to learn and teach others what I learned from my point guard last year,” Jermier said. “What I took from the last game was, I won’t fall short again and next time we get there, we will win it.”