Biography

BIOGRAPHY

James Wiseman was born on March 31, 2001, in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a center in the NBA.

He played college basketball for the Memphis Tigers. Listed at 7 feet 1 inch (2.16 m), he plays the center position. He was drafted with the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft.

Wiseman began high school at The Ensworth School in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee before transferring to Memphis East High School, where he was coached by former NBA player Penny Hardaway for his first year. As a senior, Wiseman was a consensus five-star recruit, with most recruiting services ranking him number one in the 2019 class. He claimed multiple national player of the year awards and played in the McDonald's All-American Game after his final season.

In college, Wiseman joined Memphis to play for Hardaway, who had become the Tigers' coach. Early into his freshman season, he was suspended by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which deemed that Hardaway had acted as a booster by facilitating Wiseman's move to Memphis, Tennessee in 2017. He served part of the suspension before withdrawing from school to prepare for the 2020 NBA draft.

In his free time James likes to rap and make beats.