This post was updated Nov. 3 at 2:32 a.m.
Basketball coaches often prioritize teaching their pupils how to pivot with the ball.
The technique prevents a player from “traveling.”
Before developing dribbling expertise, basketball players must master the craft – Kyrie Irving did not become “Uncle Drew” without first learning how to pivot.
But while this skill is useful when an attacking lane closes, it can be even more important when one’s life path off the court changes.
Steven Jamerson II is a pivoting master.
The forward not only boasts proficient footwork that allows him to achieve efficient frontcourt production – posting 10 points per game on a 55.7% field goal clip last season – but his pivoting prowess also reflects the identity he molded off the hardwood.
Jamerson’s malleability has steered him forward despite facing challenges.
The former high school pitcher intended to carve out a baseball career until he suffered a shoulder injury before his sophomore season that impeded his ability to claim the same mound dominance.
“I had the injury, but also dealt with some bullying stuff from my teammates,” Jamerson said. “They all thought I was a bad player all of a sudden because I could not do what I was supposed to be doing. My mental health just went down. From that point, I switched to basketball because that way opened up, and it just seemed like a more fun thing to do. Switch lanes and didn’t really look back.”
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted his junior- and senior-year basketball campaigns, providing little opportunity to gather film for the 2021 recruiting cycle.
The Los Angeles local’s sole college offer prior to graduating high school came from Augustana College, a Division III program.
But that did not deter Jamerson’s will to play at the highest collegiate level.
Jamerson took a chance, accepting his admission to Michigan State – where he planned to try out and walk onto the team – as a typical student.
Yet, the forward’s first-year aspirations did not go as planned – just as pivoting can sometimes lead to turnovers through travels and rushed passes.
“(I) tried out to be a manager. They did not let me be a manager,” Jamerson said. “(I) tried to try out, but they said they do not do tryouts. So I stayed around the program the best way I could – watch the games – and tried to study that way.”
The forward even said that he wanted to try out for the Spartan football team, but he had returned to his home in Los Angeles when the team held open tryouts during the summer.
Jamerson said an ankle sprain that he sustained during a 2022 pro adult league game dashed his chance of earning a Michigan State roster spot. The 6-foot-10 frontcourt weapon returned to the skill he refined while playing middle school basketball on concrete courts.
He planted his feet, established his pivot foot and jumped to initiate a hook shot.
“Go where you’re wanted, not where you want to go,” Jamerson said. “I was going to church and trying to figure out where God wanted me to go. And there was the saying of the day, ‘It’s time to make a change, even if you don’t want to make a change.’ But, me, still wrapped up in Michigan State – because all my friends were there and I already built a community around there – I’m like, ‘I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here and stay among my friends, where I’m comfortable, and not get out of my comfort zone.’”
Stepping out of his comfort zone helped Jamerson land a spot on the University of San Diego roster through basketball trainer Wayne Slappy, who introduced the forward to USD men’s basketball coach Steve Lavin.
Jamerson went on an unofficial visit and walked onto Lavin’s squad, recording seven starts during his first season in San Diego.
Despite earning his place on a Division I squad, Jamerson still sought to embrace change and was willing to join a program that would allow him to showcase his skillset on a larger stage.
And he received that opportunity three years after walking on to the Torero squad.
UCLA men’s basketball, which needed to strengthen its frontcourt prior to the 2025-26 campaign after the departures of center Aday Mara and forward William Kyle III, expressed interest in Jamerson, with associate head coach Darren Savino leading the recruiting charge.
So Jamerson pivoted yet again, heading back to the conference he initially hoped to play in.
Resilience has paved Jamerson’s unconventional path from a traditional student in East Lansing to a likely contributor on a Westwood squad with Final Four aspirations.
“It’s (Resilience is) something I have grown into and learned over time from seeing how other people do not give up, like other athletes and stuff like that,” Jamerson said. “I like to watch anime a lot. … The messages in those shows – talking about never giving enough, or find a way, or I’m going to be great. They are always inspired to be better than how they are currently and that also inspires me to be great too.”
Pivoting can even give a basketball player an opening to levitate to the rim and hammer the ball through the nylon.
And Jamerson may pivot yet again, despite solidifying a role with a collegiate program that hangs 11 national championship banners – the most in NCAA men’s basketball history.
The forward plans to work behind the camera once he finishes his athletic career, with aspirations to achieve his largest impact yet through film.
“My goal is to be a director, [to] make something incredible that will make the audience feel almost every emotion and just leave with a sense of awe and wonder,” Jamerson said. “My dad was an audio engineer. … He worked with DreamWorks, a whole bunch of animated movies, so he’s a big movie guy. I grew up over the years, chilling with him on the couch, watching any movie we could find.”
Jamerson boasts a short film portfolio that he refined while focusing on basketball.
Although the former Michigan State student spends most of his time improving his on-court skills, Jamerson said that his film projects impressed some of his friends.
“I feel like I have a knack for it,” Jamerson said. “I was literally showing another one of my friends one of my works. … He’s watching and he’s complimenting me, talking about [how] the shots are really good, and my sense for what needs to be where is good.”
And perhaps Jamerson could become the next Steven Spielberg if he continues to follow the pivoting precedent he has established.
Still, one thing remains constant: Jamerson will find a way to prevail despite setbacks.
“Do what you got to do,” Jamerson said. “You only got one life, you got to figure out which route is best for you, and if you are not liking how it’s going, carve a new one. I can do anything I put my mind to.”
Gather the basketball, plant your pivot foot and maneuver around the opposition. These are the first instructions that many aspiring basketball players internalize when they learn how to play the game.
But the underlying importance of adaptability is what Jamerson embodies, putting an ear-to-ear smile on the same basketball trainers that once preached the value of pivoting and its application to the basketball court.
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