Pierre-Louis Makes Dream Come True Through Hard Work

Nate Pierre-Louis stepped on to the court wearing baggy shorts, Melo shoes and wrist bands; he was only in first grade, but he was ready to play.

Back then, people called him The Terminator because he was always trying to get the ball, no matter what it took.

"As soon as I got the ball I would go running and shoot a wide open lay-up," said Pierre-Louis. "I remember fouling really hard and injuring people three years older than me."

That same year, three years after Pierre-Louis' dad first put a basketball in his hand, his dad returned to the states from playing basketball in Europe and Pierre-Louis was able to get more serious about the game.

"I was always in love with basketball," he said. "But when my dad came home I had someone who was teaching me about it. Having him to play basketball with has helped me a lot."

That extra coaching started to show more and more on the court. When he was in fourth grade and playing against eighth graders, Pierre-Louis scored 35 points in one game.

"That's when stuff started to get a little different," he said. "That's when people started saying, 'oh he could be good if he keeps working.' To be in fourth grade, playing with eighth graders, that was a big deal."

Six years later, the summer going into his junior year, there was a moment when it seemed like all of that hard work was going to be taken away from him.

Pierre-Louis was laying on the hardwood holding his knee and screaming. He went up to dunk and when he came down someone landed on his knee, and he heard a pop.

"I was so scared," Pierre-Louis said. "I thought that basketball was going to be over for me."

Luckily, Pierre-Louis only suffered a partially torn MCL and an over-extended ACL; after getting a brace and a pair of tights he was ready to play again. But that incident taught Pierre-Louis a lesson about the game that he will never forget.

"Always stay humble and work as hard as you can because the game could be taken away from you at any time," he said. "You could wake up one day or go to the gym and you could hurt yourself forever, so every time you step on the floor you should play as hard as you can."

That mentality is something that Pierre-Louis promises to bring to Temple with him this season as he works to not only become the best defender in the country, but also to accomplish a goal he has had since he was in third grade watching Kobe Bryant play.

"My dream was to always play basketball in the NBA," said Pierre-Louis. "I always said that I wanted to be like Kobe, I wanted to be the best."

That dream is what brought Pierre-Louis to Broad Street. He knew since the moment he found out that he had to play in college to make it to the NBA that he would become a college basketball player one day.

Now, one step closer to accomplishing his goal, Pierre-Louis wants to take Temple by storm and he wants the fans to be ready.

"I want the fans to feel my energy," he said. "When I'm out there I want them to smile."

He also wants the fans to know who he really is, a hard-working and passionate kid who is just focused on his dream and who one day hopes to become a psychiatrist.

In three months, Pierre-Louis will step on the court. Instead of his baggy shorts, Melo shoes, and wrist bands, he will be wearing cherry and white. Instead of playing for just his family and his team, he will be playing for the whole city of Philadelphia. But he isn't thinking about that at the moment.

"Right now I'm just thinking about dominating college basketball," he said.

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Pierre-Louis Makes Dream Come True Through Hard Work

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