Trey Jemison being able to call himself an NBA champion with the New York Knicks is wild, mostly because his basketball story never really followed the clean, obvious path. He came into Clemson with a huge amount of hype, dealt with injuries, never fully became a major piece in Tigertown, kept working anyway, bounced around the professional level, and eventually landed with a championship team.
Jemison arrived at Clemson’s basketball program as a four-star recruit and the No. 1 player in Alabama after a dominant high school career at Hoover, where he averaged 19 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks as a senior. Clemson was not taking some random project. The size, rebounding, and rim protection were all there, and there was a reason major programs were involved in his recruitment.
It just never fully clicked with the Tigers. After missing time because of knee surgery, Jemison played 20 games during the 2018-19 season. A year later, he appeared in 30 games and averaged 1.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.4 minutes per game. His best night came against Alabama A&M, when he scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and he also made his first career start against Notre Dame, playing 30 minutes and grabbing seven rebounds.
One Moment…One Day…One season at a time. pic.twitter.com/rRN1nks70F
— Trey Jemison (@TallT_23) September 30, 2018
Those are not the college numbers people usually attach to a future NBA champion, but basketball careers can get weird fast. Sometimes the guy who barely gets a run in college keeps finding ways to stay around the game, gets stronger, figures out his role, and becomes the kind of player organizations are willing to keep investing in kind of like Mark Eaton, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman.
Jemison did this, not to the class of the three I mentioned, but nonetheless, that was his path. His pro career has also been a fight through the margins: G League time, short NBA looks, two-way contracts, and constant auditions. During the 2025-26 regular season with the Knicks, Jemison appeared in 13 games, averaging 1.0 points and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field.
.@TallT_23 has always been a triple threat 🔥#10YearChallengepic.twitter.com/13Qs9PKzeS
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) January 18, 2019
Jemison was on a two-way contract, which meant he was not playoff-eligible unless New York converted him to a standard deal. That context matters, because nobody needs to pretend this was something it was not. He wasn’t the “game-changer” or the “main man.”
It is still a story worth telling. For a former Clemson big man who had to scratch for every opportunity, being part of an NBA championship team is ridiculous in the best way. Most players never get anywhere near that. Jemison did, even if his road there looked nothing like anyone would have predicted when he first showed up in orange.
Former Clemson standout Eli White powers Braves to win with 3-4 game
📸 Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel https://t.co/UidbSNqt7rpic.twitter.com/102sNJ4TbF
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) June 14, 2026
From Alabama star to Clemson role player to pro basketball grinder to NBA champion with the Knicks, Jemison’s path was strange, difficult, and a pretty cool one to look back on.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigersnews and notes, plus opinions.
This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Trey Jemison’s path from Clemson role player to NBA champion
