Steve Nash Biography

Early years
Nash comes from an athletic family. His father John Nash was a minor professional soccer player in South Africa. His brother Martin Nash has made 30 appearances for the Canadian national soccer team. His sister Joann was the captain of the University of Victoria soccer team for three years. Nash had decided to focus on basketball in his early teens, but still played soccer through high school, and was named British Columbia player of the year in soccer as well as basketball in his senior year. Since his father is a native of Tottenham, in North London, Nash grew up rooting for Tottenham Hotspur and even trained with the "Spurs", as they are known to their supporters, during his teenage years in London. Soccer continues to be an important part of Nash's life. In fact, when Dirk Nowitzki arrived in the NBA from Germany, he and Nash became close friends, in part because they would always watch soccer together.

Nash grew up in Victoria, British Columbia and played high school basketball for St. Michaels University School along with his younger brother Martin. In his senior season, he averaged nearly a triple-double per game—more than 21 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds—led his team to the BC AAA provincial championship title, and was named the province's player of the year. However, because of the limited attention afforded the Canadian high school basketball circuit, Nash went completely unrecruited by the US NCAA schools. His coach, Ian Hyde-Lay, sent letters of inquiry and highlight reels on behalf of Nash to over 30 American universities, but all either summarily sent refusals or didn't bother to respond at all.

But acting on a tip, Santa Clara University head coach Dick Davey was intrigued enough to twice request video footage of the young guard before finally making the trip up from Northern California to visit the recruit in person. After watching Nash dominate a game, Davey recalled later, "I was nervous as hell just hoping that no one else would see him. It didn't take a Nobel Prize winner to figure out this guy's pretty good. It was just a case of hoping that none of the big names came around." [2] Nash was awarded a scholarship by Santa Clara, the only school that recruited him, before the 1992-93 season. He would go on to become one of the greatest players in the history of the West Coast Conference.

College
During his freshman year at Santa Clara University, Nash led the Broncos to an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament after they captured the West Coast Conference tournament championship. Nash was the first freshman ever named MVP of the WCC tourney. In the first round of the NCAA tournament that year, he orchestrated one of the most improbable upsets in the history of college basketball, leading the 15th-seeded Broncos to a 64-61 victory over the 2nd-seeded prohibitive favorites, the Arizona Wildcats. They were the second ever #15 seed to defeat a #2 seed, and Nash hit six straight free throws over the final 31 seconds to secure the victory.

Although Nash again performed impressively in his sophomore campaign, the Broncs failed to realize expectations and finished far beyond an NCAA bid. However, the Broncos would return to glory the next year, largely on the shoulders of Nash's tremendous play. Nash led the conference in points, assists, and three-point percentage. He was the first player to lead the WCC in both points and assists in the same season since the legendary John Stockton, a player to whom many were beginning to compare Nash. The comparisons continue to this day. Unfortunately, Nash and his teammates couldn't muster a victory against Mississippi State in the opening round. Nash briefly considered early entrance into the NBA Draft after his junior season, but decided against it after learning he wouldn't be drafted above the 2nd round. He would have to improve his stock the next year.

Nash did just that, and more, leading his mid-major team to victories against such basketball juggernauts as UCLA and Michigan State in the opening months of his senior season. He again claimed the conference Player of the Year honors, becoming the first Bronco to do so twice since erstwhile Lakers star Kurt Rambis, and was named Honorable Mention All-America. Despite a loss in the conference tournament, the Broncos were given an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament—rare for a mid-major team—on the strength of their daunting regular-season performance. Nash and the #10 Broncs proved they belonged by upsetting the #7 Maryland Terrapins, the last of many NCAA teams that he would make regret passing him over. But Nash had a new challenge on the horizon, a challenge that just a few years prior few thought he ever had a hope of attaining: a career in the National Basketball Association.