Brandy Cole-Barnes opens up about raising Jayson Tatum, seeing him as a father originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum may be the face of the C’s, but he was never allowed to get them in school.
Brandy Cole-Barnes’ “No C’s” mantra was something she instilled in her son growing up. If his grades weren’t good enough, basketball would be put to the side.
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Cole-Barnes gave birth to Tatum while she was still in school herself – she even had midterms to take shortly after the future Boston Celtics star was born. Her attention on education is just one of many parenting philosophies that helped her raise a superstar son.
“When I got pregnant, everybody wrote me off. People were just like, ‘You’re never going to amount to what you were supposed to. You’re just going to be another statistic.’ That really fueled me,” Cole-Barnes told Sheinelle Jones during a “Through Mom’s Eyes” segment on “TODAY.” “I also wanted him to be proud of me. I wanted him to look up and say, ‘That’s my mom.’”
After attending Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, Tatum landed at one of the top colleges and basketball programs in the country: Duke University. Tatum spent one year with the Blue Devils before entering the 2017 NBA Draft, where the Celtics selected him No. 3 overall.
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Cole-Barnes would like for Tatum to continue pursuing his education, but she knows she lost a little bit of leverage.
“He knows that my desire for him is to eventually go back and get his degree,” she said. “He also likes to point out that I have four degrees and he makes significantly more money than I ever had. I’m like, ‘That’s logical. You have a point.’”
Cole-Barnes’ motherly instincts were in high gear once Tatum reached the NBA. She said she used to text Tatum at halftime of Celtics games asking if he would actually show up and play better. Her viewpoint changed once she realized just how much scrutiny Tatum gets from everybody else, including the people cheering him on.
“I realized everybody in this arena is on his back,” she said. “Then I decided he has to have one place to look, that's always a head nod, a ‘You got it,” like calm down. You know, just something reassuring.”
Tatum hasn’t just grown as a basketball player since joining the NBA. Just a few months into his rookie season, Tatum became a father and Cole-Barnes became a grandmother. Deuce Tatum was born in December 2017, and his arrival opened Cole-Barnes’ eyes to something she never expected.
“It’s amazing to get to see Jayson in another light, in a different capacity and see something that I never thought possible would bring him more joy than basketball,” she said of Tatum as a father. “I think Deuce helps put things in perspective for him.”
When it comes to advice for mothers of athletes and mothers in general, one of the biggest pieces of advice Cole-Barnes offered is that the parent cannot want it more than the kid does. More than that, though, it’s about being there for your kid no matter what.
“Unconditional love and support,” Cole-Barnes said. “You’ll be amazed what young people are capable of doing when they know they have unwavering, unconditional love and support.”
You can watch Cole-Barnes’ full “TODAY” interview here.
