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Why retired NBA champion, Bama alum Jason Caffey decided to enroll at Alabama State

Jerry Humphrey III, Montgomery Advertiser
·3 min read

Former NBA player Jason A. Caffey has enrolled at Alabama State to pursue a degree in physical education. The 50-year-old who played college basketball for Alabama is expected to graduate in December 2024.

Caffey said coming to ASU addresses unfinished educational business as he aims to complete the degree he started back in 1991.

"I first became acquainted with Alabama State's great reputation as a child growing up in Mobile and knew of its great history as one of America's oldest and most famous HBCUs," Caffey said to ASU Athletics. "Although I chose the University of Alabama to attend and play basketball for as a career strategy to one-day play in the NBA — I always kept good memories of ASU at the forefront in my mind.

"I went to a traditional university for four years and have great memories and love it; however, there is something very special, almost sacred, to me as a Black man, to attend ASU."

Sports career

While playing high school basketball at Mobile's Davidson High School, Caffey earned a spot on the first-team All-State 6A roster and was named Gatorade's State Player of the Year. In 1995, he was selected 20th overall in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls, where he would win two championships in 1996 and 1997 alongside Michael Jordan.

Jim Cleamons talks to Bulls player Jason Caffey during his tenure as an assistant coach with Chicago. Cleamons said every offseason Michael Jordan “came back with something else in his package. That's the brilliance of him as an athlete.”
Jim Cleamons talks to Bulls player Jason Caffey during his tenure as an assistant coach with Chicago. Cleamons said every offseason Michael Jordan “came back with something else in his package. That's the brilliance of him as an athlete.”

After stints with the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks from 1998-2003, Caffey retired from the NBA with a career average of 7.3 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game. In 2010, he coached the American Basketball Association expansion team the Mobile Bay Hurricanes.

Why Alabama State?

In the fall of 2022 while visiting Montgomery, Caffey was invited to an ASU basketball game where he was able to meet ASU president Quinton Ross, athletic director Jason Cable and chief of staff Kevin Rolle. This inspired Caffey to one day serve as a Black leader in his home state, but he knew he would need to finish school first.

"We immediately all became best brothers, and the ASU experience and the rapport that I struck up with these three incredible men that continues to this day made me inspired to want to be like them -- and the only way that I could begin on that path was to first complete my unfinished educational degree."

A week after the visit, Caffey enrolled and is currently a full-time student taking summer classes.

"I feel that HBCUs are an important historical tradition just as much as Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. I chose ASU also because it gives me that personal touch which will teach me and others world-class educational standards, in a small class setting, while preparing me for the future by reminding me of the toils of the past."

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Why retired NBA player Jason Caffey decided to enroll at Alabama State