DAVID ALLIO/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGESL
OCATED ON the Mississippi
side of the state line border it
shares with Tennessee, the
city of Olive Branch is
technically considered part of
the Memphis Metropolitan
Statistical Area for all census purposes.
Yet the city and state have mostly been
an invisible dot on the national prep
hoops scene.
That hasn’t stopped local hoopers
from striving to place their local southern
towns on the national stage, though. This
past season, the Magnolia State was
home to one of the top 25 recruits in
the Class of 2019. And DJ Jeffries is
well aware of the perception and skepti-
cism that comes with hailing from
where he does.
“When they think about Mississippi,
they probably think of farms, cotton
fields and stuff like that,” Jeffries says.
“Mississippi is not like that. There’s
plenty of towns down here that like
football and basketball. We don’t get to
be seen by a lot of people. Mississippi,
and even in Memphis, people don’t get
the recognition that they deserve. I feel
like there are a lot of towns that are slept
on around here. They just question if I’m
really good enough—if I’m really
one-and-done. Stuff like that. I use it as
motivation. I keep it in the back of my
head. On days that I don’t feel like going, I
just use that as motivation.”
Looking for the very best competitionhe could go up against in middle school,
Jeffries enrolled at a school in Memphis
(less than 30 minutes away depending
on which part you’re traveling to) so that
he could play with and against the city
kids. And it turned out that this shy sub-
urban hooper could hold his own really
well—to the point where family members
of opposing players started looking
into his life, specifically his family car’s
license plate.
“When I was in middle school, origi-
nally I stayed out [in Mississippi]. I didn’t
stay in Memphis, so I’d be going to middle
school and I was hooping from Memphis
because out here you couldn’t play bas-
ketball in sixth grade,” Jeffries recalls.
“They would follow me home and take
pictures of my license plate to show the
board of education that I don’t really stay
in Tennessee and they would do a story
about that. [For] my high school career, I
just said that I was going to beat the trou-
ble and just come out here where I stay.
“We used to beat teams in Tennessee
all the time. The fans would get mad.
Some would follow us—if they felt we
were going to beat them, they’d follow us
and take a picture of the license plate and
send it to the board.”
Although there was once a time when
he was basically told he had no business
hooping in Memphis, local college hoop
fans now eagerly (and ironically) await his
return to the Grind City this upcoming
season. Joining top-5 recruit JamesWiseman and former NBA All-Star/
current University of Memphis head coach
Penny Hardaway, the Tigers will have
some lofty expectations come this fall.
“Me and James, we play well together.
James can do so many things on the
court. He can stretch out [and] dribble
the ball. I can shoot [and] I’m pretty
athletic—he’s pretty athletic. Me and
James work well together so it won’t be
a problem,” says the 2019 Gatorade
Mississippi Player of the Year. “They can
expect a lot of dunks. A lot of wins—just
going out there and giving them my all
and doing something special for the city.
Hopefully, a national championship—
that’d be nice.”
The 6-8 wing led Olive Branch High to
a 26-8 record and a trip to the MHSAA 5A
state championship game for a second
consecutive year, falling short this time
after taking home the trophy as a junior.
He averaged 23.3 points, 12.8 rebounds,
5.6 assists and 2.6 blocks per game as a
senior.
In the end, he credits his achievements
to having a supportive tight-knit family
that has been down for the ride since the
beginning.
“Family means a lot to me. They’ve
been motivating me and pushing me to
keep doing better,” Jeffries says. “Ever
since I started playing, they’ve always
been there. They go five cars deep just to
go to one game—no matter where, they
were always there.” SMississippi’s DJ Jeffries is headed to the University of Memphis, and
best believe his family is rolling deep to watch him ball out when he
gets there. WORDS FRANKLYN CALLE // PORTRAIT JONATHAN IZQUIERDOTHE
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