WPIAL Alum Q&A – Sheldon Jeter

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, February 29, 2016 | 3:02 PM

Over the weekend, the Beaver Falls boys’ team captured its 10th WPIAL basketball title. The Tigers have built a dynasty, especially in recent years, as the team has been consistently in title contention in both Class AA and AAA. This installment of the WPIAL Alum Q&A focuses on the player who likely stands out as the face of the Tigers’ recent run of success, Sheldon Jeter.

Jeter, a 2012 graduate, enjoyed a terrific four-year run at Beaver Falls, including three years as a starter. In his time with the Tigers, he netted just shy of 1,500 points, and twice was an first-team All-State selection.

His senior campaign was the pinnacle of his high school career, though, as he averaged more than 21 points and 12 rebounds a game, and was named the WPIAL player of the year by multiple publications. Most importantly, though, Jeter helped guide the Tigers to the 2012 Class AA Championship, and an appearance in the PIAA finals, as well.

As a result of his performance and talents, Jeter was regarded by several recruiting services as a top 100 prospect nationally in his class. Wisconsin and Penn State were among the programs that heavily recruited Jeter, who instead decided to attend Vanderbilt University.

Jeter played in all 33 games as a freshman with the Commodores, including seven starts. He averaged 5.5 points and more than 3 rebounds per contest, and his performance was even stronger in SEC play.

After just one season, however, Jeter left Vanderbilt, and sat out the 2013-14 season while he attended classes at Polk State Junior College in Florida. He then elected to return home with the University of Pittsburgh, choosing the Panthers over offers from Georgetown, Ohio State and Purdue, among other schools.

In his first year with Pitt, Jeter was slow to find his groove with the team, as he averaged just more than 14 minutes of playing time. He scored nearly 5 points per game and 2.5 rebounds in his 32 appearances, including nine starts. Most of his best efforts came late in the season, however, which has carried over into the 2015-16 campaign.

This season, Jeter has continued to frequently serve in a reserve role, but he’s increased his statistics to 8 points and 4.9 boards per game. Most recently, he scored 11 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in the Panthers’ upset of Duke on Sunday.

Sheldon sat down to answer an array of questions, including his reasons for leaving Vanderbilt in favor of Pitt, what advice he has given to his talented younger brother, and how often he changes his basketball sneakers.

Q: What was the most difficult transition in your first year with Pitt?

A: It’s more of a system-based thing. At Vanderbilt, it was just be aggressive and play. Here, it’s controlled a little bit more. That was the biggest difference. Also, I was a little nervous, trying to impress the coaches.

Q: What do you believe is your greatest attribute as a player?

A: My versatility. Honestly, it’s probably the reason why I play a lot, because I am able to play the five (position), the four, I really believe I can play the three. I believe I can guard all five positions, so I believe that’s what my biggest attribute is; just not limiting myself to being good at one thing.

Q: Your team got off to a great start this season, but hit a tough stretch of games in the ACC recently. What is the key for this team reaching its potential, and what goals did the Panthers set before the year?

A: I think what happened was that we felt at the beginning of the year, we were being overlooked a lot, and whenever we got ranked, we made it in the top 20, we just a little bit took our foot off the pedal. We didn’t have the same fire and the same hunger that we had at the beginning of the year. We’re slowly getting it back. Today was a very competitive practice. It reminded me a lot of how the earlier ones were. We just have to become hungry again. We have to strive for that goal. Our goal is to make it as far as we possibly can. We feel we have enough talent to make it really far.

Q: What led to your decision to transfer to Pitt after an impressive year at Vanderbilt?

A: I had a lot of personal issues going on at the time. Looking back at it, a lot of those personal issues blew up into bigger issues. I believe that coming back up here was the best way to deal with it because I can have my family support me. Down there, I felt like I was going through everything alone, even though I really wasn’t, that’s how I felt. I was a teenager, so I just made a rash decision. I made a quick one.

Q: What was your favorite memory at Beaver Falls?

A: Most people would probably say winning the WPIAL Championship, but my senior year, I had literally played every single game with three guys – Joe Wynn, Royce Watson, Deyne Richardson – from ninth grade on we played every game together, even played AAU our eight-grade year together. We were literally like brothers. We called ourselves the rectangle, had a little hand symbol and everything, and before every game, we dabbed each other up and hugged each other. On senior night, right as we were in the tunnel lining up to run out, it just hit us – this is the last time we’re ever going to play together – and we just hugged and broke down and I started crying. We had a fun time and we won the game by a lot, but that was a weird feeling for me, being moved to tears. Looking back at it, that relationship was so great.

Q: Do you still closely follow Beaver Falls and the WPIAL overall?

A: Of course. I wouldn’t’ say so much the WPIAL, but the moniker is once a Tiger, always a Tiger. I have a Tiger tattooed onto my chest. I talk to coach Biega all the time. He’s been a very big figure in my life, so is assistant coach Cicero (Lassiter), my dad is a coach down there, Don plays there, and I’ve been to a lot of the kids down there trying to help them make it out like I did. I have a very strong relationship still with them.

Q: Your brother Donovan is a standout in basketball, but he’s considered a top prospect nationally in football. What advice have you given to him regarding his playing career and the recruiting process?

A: As far as high school, I told him you only get so many of these games. Your junior year, and even your senior year, during the regular season, you think like this is never going to end. But playoff time hits, and you’re like ‘this could be my last game’. So I told him to play every game with a sense of urgency, because there’s only so many you get to leave your mark. As far as the recruiting thing, I remember when I was being recruited by all the schools, I was very difficult to deal with, and me and him are literally the same. We have the same personality. We talk the same, except his voice is a little deeper haha. So I know hows he’s thinking. If he calls and wants to talk about it, he knows my phone is always open. Also, I’m a basketball player, so at the end of the day, I don’t know that much about football, especially college football. So I won’t be like ‘you gotta go to this team because they have this type of scheme’; it doesn’t work. If he comes to me like ‘what were you looking for when you made your decision,’ I’d tell him I want to go to a winner. That would be my advice. It’s up to the coaches to recruit him, I’m just along for the ride.

Q: What was the most exciting road or neutral arena or venue you have played in?

A: Kentucky my freshman year. North Carolina kind of rivaled it, but it wasn’t as crazy. As we walked in, people were literally shaking the rafters, like welcome to Lexington. For me, I love playing on the road, I just love talking it all in. Silencing the crowd is a great thing. We went on a run kind of late in the game, and they were crazy at the beginning of the game, and they slowly started quieting down.

Q: What is your major, and ideal future profession after basketball?

A: Administration of justice, and hopefully, if I’m lucky enough, I’ll play professionally. If dreams come true, it’ll be over here, if not, I’ll go overseas. When I come back, I’d prefer to go into coaching, because basketball is where my heart is. (But) I like the law, I really do. There’s a lot of fascinating things to learn about it. Also, my mom told me, and I’m sure coach Dixon will tell you, I love to argue.

Q: Aside from basketball, what is the best part of attending Pitt?

A: The love I get here. My mom was telling me about it, coach Biega was telling me about it, he said I’m like a fan favorite. For the life of me, I still can’t understand why. Sometimes I don’t see what they do, but the Zoo loves me, the fans love me. Just walking here this morning, I had my hood up, I had my hat on, and I was in a little bit of in a bad mood, and these girls stopped me like ‘you’re Sheldon Jeter right? Can we talk our picture with you, you’re our favorite player’. That happens to me a lot. That’s a basketball related thing, but that’s my favorite.

Q: What is your favorite movie or television show?

A: Favorite movie – Scarface; Favorite TV show – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Q: What is your favorite hobby not involving basketball?

A: Listening to music and watching movies. I’m a huge entertainment person. I like arts and stuff, too. I love listening to new music and finding new artists, like I’m not just talking about rappers, I’m talking all types of artists. I’m currently learning a whole bunch of new stuff.

Q: How many pairs of sneakers do you typically go through during a season?

A: Usually I’m a pretty loyal shoe guy. This year, when we play at home, I wear white shoes. When we play away, I wear blue. Last game, I wore gold; I don’t know why I wore gold. This year, three. Last year, I think four. I’m a little superstitious too, so if I have a good game, I’m wearing those shoes until I have a bad one.

Q: If you could play one-on-one against anybody, who would it be?

A: That’s a good question. I’d just say Michael Jordan; he’s my hero. To be the man, you gotta beat the man. Ric Flair said that. I’d go with him. That’s just me