Giddy.
A nickname that one Blue Raider has known since birth.
“The doctor told my mom I was very ‘giddy’ when I was born. My aunt said, ‘That’s what we should call him.,” he said.
Born Nathanial Potts, Giddy grew up as one of five children in Athens, Alabama raised by a single mother.
Potts said his mother is his greatest inspiration.
“My mom inspires me the most,” Potts said. “We grew up with a single mom. She raised us by herself. She put in a lot of work for me to come up here, so I’m doing a lot of work to help her.”
Drawing offers from Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jacksonville State and Samford, he ultimately chose the Blue Raiders because he felt the program was a great opportunity for him.
“I sat down with my mom, and we just talked about the schools that were considering me,” Potts said about his decision process. “I felt like MTSU was a family. I felt like I fit in the system. I chose it because I felt like Coach [Kermit] Davis and Coach [Win] Case were father figures to me.”
From Riding the Pine to Running the Hardwood
Resembling former Blue Raider guard Marcos Knight, Potts came to Murfreesboro during the summer at a stocky 242 pounds. During offseason workouts leading up to Middle Tennessee’s season opener, he managed to slim down to a more practical 214 pounds.
With Potts’ weight loss, he has seen an increase in several stats.
After the conference schedule started, the 6-foot-1 guard has averaged 21 minutes per game, compared to the 12 minutes per game he was logging in the 13 games prior.
With the increase in playing time, Potts has seen his points per game increase from 3.1 to 7.7 points per contest. His field goal percentage has also skyrocketed from 28 percent to an excellent 50 percent.
While his offensive numbers have continued to improve, Potts attributes his recent success to others, not himself.
“The seniors helped me in practice,” the freshman explained. “They’ve given me more confidence than I had during the non-conference games. I’ve just picked up my game since we’ve played in conference.”
Getting Back on Track
Potts has picked up his game, but the Blue Raiders still struggle to stay above .500 on the season, having dropped four of their last five games.
However, he is still confident that with better fundamentals and improved defense, the team can go dancing at the end of the season.
“I really think we can (make the NCAA tournament),” Potts said. “We lost our identity these last couple of games, but if we step up our defense like we did the first couple of games in conference, I think we have a chance to make it to the [NCAA] tournament.”
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