Marquee Spotlight: Ed Nixon
Marquee Sports and Events has a passion for the community. Over the course of the year, we will be posting spotlights of various people and organizations that we have partnered with or participated in our tournaments and leagues.
Each of these people and organizations have made a positive impact in their community. As part of these spotlights, we will highlight them and tell everyone about the things that make them special.
Today we will spotlight former VCU shooting guard, Ed Nixon.
The following are questions we asked Ed and his responses.
Q: For those who don’t know you please provide a brief recap of your playing days such as high school basketball accomplishments and college basketball accomplishments. If you played any other sports in high school please provide details on those experiences as well.
I’m originally from Saint Petersburg, Florida and I’m the youngest of four. I was not naturally gifted as a basketball player but I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and around the right people to show me the correct way to hoop. After working on my craft day in and day out I became pretty good. I accomplished a few things such as:
2005 Florida 5A State Champions (All Tournament Team)
2007 Florida 5A State Runner Up (All Tournament Team)
Pinellas County First Team All District
2007 Pinellas County Player of the Year
2007 First Team All-State in Florida
Full Basketball Scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
2008 CAA Conference Champions
2011 Final Four Appearance
2- Time VCU Defensive Player Of the Year Award winner
Q: At what point in high school did you know you were good enough to play D1 college basketball?
To be honest I didn’t pay any attention to college until the summer of 2006 when I got my first division one offer from Virginia Tech. Up until then I just loved to play ball.
Q: What was your workout regimen like in high school?
I hate to sound like an old head but when I was coming up there wasn’t YouTube or social media with all these different basketball workouts. I literally got better by playing all the time. I would play basketball before school, then during school, then at practice and then after practice. I literally breathed basketball. I would play people who I thought were better than me and I would take little moves and other things from these players and add them to my repertoire.
Q: What are your thoughts on middle and high school athletes choosing to specialize in one sport rather than playing multiple sports?
I was one of these guys that played one sport. The funny thing about that is, it wasn’t by choice. Florida breads football players nonstop and peewee football is huge throughout the state. However, every time I tried to play my mom would not allow me to sign up. Then once I became good at basketball, she really didn’t want me near football. I tried track once in 8th grade and was really good at it but it bored me. So I ran for one year and stopped. As a kid that age, I don’t believe forcing them into one sport only is the best thing to do. However, I do understand the thought process. On one hand, the child is being limited and possibly missing out on the sport they may truly love. On the other hand, focusing on one sport can help a child truly excel and master their craft. It’s really a catch 22 and I think it depends on the kid.
Q: What was the transition like from playing high school basketball to college basketball?
The transition from high school basketball to college basketball was a learning experience to say the least. I had to change my mindset completely. College basketball is five times faster than high school. All the players are good basketball players. The plays are more intricate. Overall the game requires more of a mental aspect.
Q: As an incoming Freshmen at VCU and student athlete, please describe some of the difficulties you faced.
As an incoming freshman/ student-athlete there are a lot of adjustments that one will have to be ready for. The major adjustment is managing your free time. Most of your day will be consumed with classes and basketball related activities but the free time after is very important. You'll be mentally and physically tired but you’ll have homework due or you’ll have to study for a test, and then you’ll want a social life. Having such freedom requires great time management and I’ve found that to be the major difficulty that faced making the transition.
Q: What words of advice do you have for middle and high school athletes who want to play D1 basketball?
I have two pieces of advice for aspiring D1 athletes. First, fall in love with the process of getting better. When you love the process, hard work isn’t so hard and the results you want, you’ll achieve. Second, find something outside of your sport that you love to do. Most people will say athletes need a Plan B, however I believe Plan B’s are for people who don’t have faith that they can achieve Plan A. My point is that eventually the basketball will stop bouncing (retirement, injury, etc.) and you’ll need something that you love to take its place. Find something else that you can also fall in love with the process of getting better.
Thank you to Ed for taking the time to answer our questions and give us a little insight to the life and mindset of a division one student-athlete. Check him out on Shooting the Breeze and follow him on Instagram and Twitter.