Who are Jayson Tatum’s Parents? Meet His Mum and Dad

Justin Tatum and Brandy Cole are Jayson Tatum’s parents. While Jayson’s father, Justin Cole, is a former basketball player who now works as a gym instructor and professional basketball coach, his mother, Brandy Cole, is a lawyer and a former high school volleyball standout.

Jayson Tatum’s parents were never married but had him as a high schooler. The NBA star was majorly raised by his mom but his dad maintained a presence in his life. Unfortunately, this presence was mostly limited to coaching him in basketball and his dad proved to be a tough coach. This impacted Jayson negatively but he has rebuilt his relationship with his dad. He remains quite close to his mother and appreciates all the sacrifices she made for him.

Jayson Tatum’s Mother Brandy Cole Played High School Volleyball

Jayson Tatum’s mother, Brandy Cole, is an American woman who is a practicing attorney at the moment. Not much is known about her early upbringing but some reports claim she was born on April 25, 1979, in the United States. This means she is about 44 years old at the moment.

Because not much is known about her upbringing and background, it is not clear who Bandy’s parents are or what they did for a living. It is also not clear who her siblings are. Some reports suggest she was raised alone by her mother but this has not been independently verified.

What is clear is that Brandy Cole took school activities and academics very seriously as a young woman. She also took a serious interest in sports activities while in school. Brandy Cole was a member of her volleyball team in high school and was very good at the sport. By the time she finished high school, she received a volleyball scholarship to the University of Tennessee.

 

 

She is now an Attorney with Degrees in Law and Politics

Brandy Cole was very excited about receiving the scholarship. She however passed up the volleyball scholarship because she discovered soon after receiving the offer that she was pregnant with Jayson. She decided to give birth to her son first but she never gave up on education. She has since gone on to get multiple degrees after raising her son.

According to reports, Brandy Cole graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law and is now a practicing attorney in the St. Louis area. She is reported to have multiple other degrees to her name. Reports say she now has three degrees in communications, political science, and law. Her love for education and passion for success are some of the things she passed on to her son.

Jayson Tatum’s Father Justin Tatum was a Highschool Basketball Player

Jayson Tatum’s father is called Justin Tatum. It is not clear exactly what day and month he was born, but different reports say he is the same age as Jayson’s mother, Brandy. This means he was also born in 1979. He attended the Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis and played basketball as a student

Justin was very good at playing high school basketball and even helped to lead his team to a state title in 1997. After graduating from high school, he went on to attend College at Saint Louis University (SLU) and eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. While in college, he also played basketball and even helped lead the SLU Billikens to a Conference Championship in 2000.

He is now a Professional and Highschool Basketball Coach

Jayson Tatum’s father has since transitioned from being a basketball player to being a basketball coach. He is now the Boys’ Head Basketball Coach at his alma mater Christian Brothers College High School (CBC) and is respected there for his achievements. He is ranked as one of the premier Head Coaches in the state of Missouri with a record of 216 wins and 94 losses in 12 years. In 2022 he took home the State Championship with CBC High School.

He has also won several other titles including three Public High League (PHL) Conferences with three District Championships. In his years of coaching, Justin has guided different talented players to find their way into many levels of basketball with fourteen players going to Division I colleges and nine to Division II and other levels.

Jayson Tatum’s Parents Were High School Sweethearts

Jayson Tatum’s parents, Justin and Brandy, have an interesting love story. They happen to be high school sweethearts who were head over heels in love with each other. Their romance quickly blossomed and everyone knew about them including family members. But they were not very careful with their whirlwind romance because they soon found out Brandy had gotten pregnant. They were both teenagers at this time and so getting pregnant was not what they had they had planned at all.

According to reports, Justin and Brandy were just 17 years old in 1997, when they found out that Brandy was pregnant. This news greatly impacted their plans for the future especially because they were just about to graduate high school and had plans to go to college and become great.

After finding out she was pregnant, Brandy took a drastic decision which was giving up her athletic scholarship with only two months until the start of the school year. This was a very difficult decision for her to make because she loved school and volleyball. But it was a decision she had to take for her son’s sake.

On the other hand, Justin proceeded to enroll at Saint Louis University while Brandy prepared to welcome their son, Jayson. Eventually, Jayson Tatum was born some months later on March 3, 1998. Welcoming a baby as a teenager, was a challenging thing for Justin and Brandy. But they had help raising the boy from family members.

There are no records that Jayson Tatum’s parents ever got married. It is believed that they soon parted ways after Brandy got pregnant. But they stayed in touch for the sake of their son. Justin has even gone on to have other children from other relationships. It is not clear if Brandy has relationships.

Jayson Was Almost Raised Singlehandedly By His Mother

After his father was off to college, Jayson Tatum’s mother, Brandy Cole raised him as a single parent in the suburbs of St. Louis. Despite the challenges of raising him on her own, she ensured that she provided him with a strong foundation both on and off the court. She instilled in Jayson the importance of hard work and dedication, which would ultimately lead to his success as a basketball player.

Shortly after giving birth to Jayson, Brandy enrolled at Saint Louis University School of Law. She was determined to come out with great grades and become an attorney. But this was not easy at all because she was nursing Jayson. Her focus on education is just one of the parenting philosophies that helped her raise her superstar son.

In an interview with Sheinelle Jones on the “Through Mom’s Eyes” segment of TODAY Magazine, Brandy explained that when she got pregnant, everybody wrote her off. People told her she was never going to amount to what she was supposed to and that she was only going to be another statistic. However, their hateful comments only fueled her to keep pushing through the difficulties of schooling and raising a child.

Brandy Cole worked multiple jobs while raising Jayson, and sacrificed a lot to give him the opportunities he needed to succeed. When Tatum was just six months old, she moved out of her mother’s home and purchased a two-bedroom house in St. Louis. However, she struggled to make ends meet. It was quite difficult to raise a son, hold down a part-time job, and pursue her education. Despite the hardships, Brandy Cole never wavered in her determination to provide a stable home for her and Tatum.

 

She often took Jayson to her classes in college because there was no one to watch him while she was gone. Sometimes, her mother would volunteer to watch him when she had the time. At other times, Brandy would have no choice but to take the boy to her class. This almost got her in trouble with a professor once. But she was able to manage and pull through.

Brandy Cole’s dedication to education extended to Jayson as well. Though he was a basketball fanatic from a young age, she made sure that his education did not take a backseat. Jayson Tatum later described accompanying Cole to class as boring and ‘pretty awful,’ but he understood the importance of education. Brandy was proud of Tatum’s athletic achievements but still wanted him to complete his education.

She Spotted and Encouraged his Basketball Talent 

Brady Cole has been credited with being a big force that propelled her son to achieve greatness in the world of basketball. She knew her son was destined for greatness even as a fourth grader. In an interview with Sheinelle Jones on the “Through Mom’s Eyes” series, she recalls noticing her son’s innate talent for the game early on.

She then sat him down and explained how much work he needed to put into his craft to achieve excellence. She also explained to him that even though he was good at basketball, he would be nothing if he did not have a proper education. She was determined to make sure Tatum did not neglect his education. Jayson Tatum would later reveal that this push that his mother gave him was what helped to keep him on the right track.

Brandy Cole even went as far as using basketball as leverage, threatening to pull Jayson out of the sport if his grades slipped. This strict ultimatum helped the boy find the balance he needed, and he went on to excel academically, graduating high school with a 3.5 GPA. He then attended Duke University, known for its high academic standards for athletes, where he had a successful one season before declaring for the NBA draft.

Jayson Tatum was drafted third overall by the Boston Celtics and has gone on to establish himself as a star in the league. His mom often comes to watch his games and whenever she notices that he is not playing well, she would send him text messages during halftime to encourage him. This trick usually worked because Jayson would then come out and play the remaining half of the game better.

Jayson Tatum’s mom also held regular mother-son sessions with him in their home to point out what he was doing wrong and what he was doing right, and also to point out what he needed to change in his personal life and on-field performance. She was a little hard on him, but this, according to Jayson himself, was what helped him take the sport seriously and become what he has now become.

Tatum, who is now 25 years old, has had a very successful career thus far. He helped the Boston Celtics reach the 2022 NBA Finals, took home the gold medal from the Olympics in Tokyo, and became the youngest player in the team’s history to accumulate 5,000 career points. He has emerged as one of the most talked-about NBA talents and is predicted to become truly great in the future.

 

Jayson Tatum and his Mother have a Close Relationship and He is often described as Mummy’s Boy 

Jayson Tatum speaks highly of his mother. He has said without his mother, he would be nothing. Jayson, who is very fond of his mum, has often been described as a mummy’s boy by fans because of how close he is to her. According to him, making his mother proud is all that matters to him.

A quick look through his social media pages shows that they are filled with photos of his mother whom he lavishes with praise. In one post, he declared that it would be quite impossible to put into words how much he loves his mother. He also called her his best friend. He has thanked his mother for her unwavering support and her sacrifices to give him the best opportunities.

Jayson Tatum has also recognized the way his mother suffered a lot to raise him and how much effort she put into making sure that he did not neglect his education despite his growing success on the basketball court. Today, he and his mother are quite inseparable.

As a matter of fact, she is so much a part of his life that she is at the very center of how he manages his finances. In his interview with Graham Bensinger, Jayson revealed that he has managed to stay focused and avoids spending too much money, despite having one of the highest salaries in the NBA, because his mother has made sure of that.

Jayson revealed his mother made him agree to only spend the money he earns through sponsorships, and not touch his basketball salary. This made sense to him because he saw reasons why he must be prudent with his finances, with his mother as his financial guide.

 

Jayson Tatum’s Father Coached him in Basketball But Was Often Too Hard on Him

Jayson Tatum’s father, Justin Tatum, was not present all the time in his son’s life during his childhood days, but they developed a relationship later on. Justin Tatum, who is a former professional basketball player himself, recognized his son’s potential when the boy was little so he decided to turn the boy into a superstar.

Because he was so determined to make Jayson a superstar basketball player, Justin developed a relationship with his son that was almost business-like. He was only around his son when it was time to play basketball and after that, he was off. It continued like this for many years. Justin was often around his son’s basketball training sessions and served as one of Jayson’s primary coaches.

Justin, being a professional basketball coach, knew what to do to bring out the greatness in his son. So, he became involved in his life, providing guidance and support. This was especially true during Jayson’s college years at Duke University, where he helped him navigate the pressure of being a top prospect. He also served as an important mentor to Jayson in the early years of his career in the NBA.

However, as Jayson grew older, their relationship became strained. This was mainly because Justin always appeared unimpressed with his son’s achievements. No matter how hard Jayson worked and how well he played basketball, Justin would wave it off as an underperformance. This became a big problem for Jayson.

Sometimes, Justin would scream at Jayson in front of all his teammates and tell him to do better. He would tell Jayson to man up or he would not amount to anything in life. Jayson usually felt embarrassed whenever this happened especially because it happened in front of all his friends. Jayson revealed that he often felt his father hated him when he was a child because he was so mean to him.

Jayson Tatum recounted one experience that nearly tore their relationship completely. According to him, his father stormed into the locker room during the halftime period of a game and picked him up by his collar. He angrily pinned him against the locker, holding him by his collar. He then started calling him names, hurling insults at him, and telling him he was going to amount to nothing if he didn’t play better.

Jayson was hurt by this so much that he cried a lot in front of his teammates, feeling humiliated. But then, he got so angry that after he got out to play in the second half, he played so well that he outscored everyone and his team won the game. So, he felt his father was only trying to push him to be the best version of himself by being so hard on him.

Despite the feelings of hurt, Jayson Tatum has explained that his father’s toughness helped in a lot of ways. He used his father’s attitude as motivation to work harder. According to the NBA player, he would go to the gym as early as 5 a.m., thinking that if worked out well and scored 50 points in a game, then maybe that would be good enough to make his father love him. Thus, his father’s toughness pushed him to make tough decisions that bettered his career.

The NBA Star and his Father had a Falling Out When He Refused to Join his Father’s High School Team

The relationship between Jayson and his father was also tested when he (Jayson) refused to join Justin at Christian Brothers College High School, where Justin was appointed coach in 2013. Instead, Jayson chose to remain at Chaminade Prep. This decision caused some major issues between them and Justin’s tough attitude toward Jayson became even more pronounced.

In an interview that he had with Graham Bensinger, Jayson revealed that he did not have a room in his father’s house as a child and didn’t even go there much. Instead, he lived solely with his mother throughout his childhood. This meant that his father was not around as much as he should have been in his early days.

Jayson also revealed that he feels he missed out on the bliss of having a father-son relationship because he and his father mainly had a coach-student relationship. This was because nearly every contact he made with his father was related to basketball. Whenever his father reached out to him, it was to go out and work on his basketball career and not to have a loving father-son moment.

This affected Jayson a lot because he saw other children hanging out with their fathers and going on picnics and amusement parks, things he never experienced with his father. The only places he went with his father were to the gym or the basketball court. According to Jayson, his childhood was very tough for these reasons.

The Two have now Mended Fences with Jayson Describing his Father as a Great Dad

Jayson Tatum had a difficult relationship with his father as a child. However, despite these challenges, Jayson and Justin are now close as Jayson has grown up into a man. Jayson says even though he did not find it easy as a child, he still appreciates how his father’s toughness also made him ferocious as a basketballer.

Despite the absence of his father during his childhood, Jayson has credited Justin for teaching him the game of basketball and providing him with valuable advice. Nowadays, Jayson and Justin are very close and spend time together more often than they used to do back in the day. With Jayson now his own man, he is already beyond the control of his father, so there is mutual love and respect between the two men.

Jayson has professed love for his father several times very publicly. He says his father provided him with the knowledge and guidance to excel on the court. On his Instagram page, there are several photos of himself with his father spending time together. He has also showered encomiums on Justin, calling him a great dad. It is clear that whatever difficulties there were between them when Jaysn was a child, have now been put far behind them.

In June 2022, Jayson’s father made an appreciation post on Instagram, acknowledging Jayson’s hard work, and said he was proud of his son. According to Justin, seeing Jayson competing at the highest level and making history is a dream come true for him, and he is the happiest father alive.

 

Jayson Tayson Intends to Raise His Son Different From His Father’s Style

Jayson Tatum is now a father himself. His son, Jayson Christopher Tatum Jr., who is commonly known as Deuce, was born on December 7, 2017, when the basketball star was only 19 years old. Jayson has since developed an unbreakable bond with his son whom he describes as his favorite person in the world.

Jayson Tatum is striving to be a better father than his dad, whom he had negative experiences with during his youth. He is committed to being his son’s closest companion and raising him in a more traditional father-son way, not just through basketball. He has been successful in achieving his goal so far, as evidenced by how he interacts with and shows affection to his son.