Xavier Tillman

BIOGRAPHY

Xavier Tillman was born on January 12, 1999, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a forward in the NBA.

In his childhood, Tillman played baseball and soccer, football, and basketball but preferred the latter two sports. He stood 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) when he was 14 years old. Tillman played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for the Grand Rapids Storm.

On September 30, 2016, he verbally committed to play for Michigan State over Marquette and Purdue, saying, "They play the best competition, as well as they're such great guys. And it's close to home." Tillman was drafted by the Sacramento Kings with the 35th overall pick on November 18, 2020, and was then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Tillman is the son of Roosevelt Tillman and Tanya Powell-May. His mother played four years of college basketball for Michigan, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior in 1990 and leaving as the program's all-time rebounding leader. His parents divorced in 2010 and shared physical and legal custody over him.

He has three older brothers, R. J., Ben, and Parker, and a younger sister, Madisyn. Parker was a two-time state champion in both wrestling and rugby while attending Forest Hills Central High School and played football for Northwood University. Tillman and his wife Tamia Tillman have a daughter Ayanna Tillman, who was born in December 2016, and a son, Xavier Jr, who was born on February 17, 2020. The family lived together in a family housing unit at Michigan State University. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo credited Tillman's improvement as a basketball player to Ayanna.