And yet, when it comes to exotic travel, he is second fiddle today when compared to most of the rest of his family, who are in Uganda for the wedding of his older sister, Sydney, who, he said, met her future husband there while doing mission work in Africa.
“The wedding’s (Saturday) and I’d like to be there, but we have this trip,” the 6-foot-7 transfer from the University of Pittsburgh said.
When it comes to his basketball career, Santos is familiar with the family eclipse, as well.
While he has a growing resume —he starred at Geneva High in Illinois, averaged 17.1 points per game at Connecticut prep school (Loomis Chaffee School), was once rated the No. 63 recruit in the nation by 247Sports.com and spent two years coming off the bench at Pitt — his entire family can boast of basketball accomplishments:
»His mom, Lori — whose maiden name was Findahl — was a 5-foot-10 force for Unity Township High School in East Moline, Illinois before going to Wichita State, where she was a double-digit rebounder her first two seasons with the Shockers and led the Gateway Conference in rebounding.
“Yeah, she always brags she was a double-double machine,” Santos laughed. “What I do know is how an old coach talked about how nasty she was on the court. She was real aggressive and hit the boards hard, though later in her career she dealt with injuries.”
»His dad, Joe Santos, played at Southern Nazarene College in Oklahoma, which then was an NAIA school. He later played for Puerto Rico’s national team and also played professionally there. Now, he’s especially known as a coach of youth hoops teams in the Chicago area.
»His oldest sister, Ashley, played at Marquette and then Louisiana Tech.
“She was an aggressive guard, who ran all over the court and was everywhere,” he said. “Her nickname growing up was Wild Thing!”
»Sydney, a 6-foot-1 forward, played at Oakland University and later coached a women’s pro team in Sweden.
“She has a very high basketball IQ,” he said. “She really knows how to play the game and get her teammates involved.”
»His older brother K.J., who is 6-foot-8, started at UIC as a freshman, averaged 7.1 points per game and then transferred to Missouri. Like his dad and his siblings, he played for national teams in Puerto Rico.
“I just wish I was as athletic as him,” Santos said.
»His uncle, Gus, played at Wichita State and in Puerto Rico and Santos said he was responsible for introducing his parents: “My mom was playing on the women’s team at Wichita State and my dad was a GA on the men’s team.”
And even when it comes to on-court hype, Nate has been relegated to back-up status by others in his family.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“Growing up I was kind of wild, too, but I didn’t get the nickname like my sister,” he said with a smile. “She was always the Wild Thing.”
And his mom had that give-no-quarter attitude when she played.
“After my sister transferred to Louisiana Tech, which had been a real basketball power back in the day, there was an assistant coach, I believe, who remembered my mom as a high school player in East Moline,” he said. “She told my sister, ‘Your mom was mean! If we had had an open spot back them, we would have gone after her for sure.”
When he was growing up, Santos said the front room of his family home was like a trophy case:
“When you first walked through the front door, there were medals, trophies, pictures, jerseys hanging up. It was pretty impressive.”
Along with the high school and college memorabilia of each, there were the mementoes from Joe’s and each of the four kids’ efforts with various national teams in Puerto Rico.
When he was 14, Nate won a gold medal with the U-15 Puerto Rican team in a tournament of the Americas.
“We played teams from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and other Central American teams,” he said.
After his two years at Geneva, he followed the path K.J. had taken and went to a prep school.
Although he spent three seasons at Loomis Chafee, he missed one with an ACL tear and another when COVID cancelled the games.
He picked his college during the height of pandemic precautions and took no campus visits. Pitt had a good hoops reputation and seemed interested in him, so he committed to Panthers.
Over two seasons at Pitt, he played in 54 games, started six and averaged 2.1 points and 1.5 rebounds a game.
When he decided to enter the transfer portal, he already knew about UD.
“When I was in middle school I trained with Coach Chris Conrad,” Santos said. “He’s an assistant at (national hoops power) La Lumiere now, but I believe it was his dad (Kevin Conrad) who’s in the Hall of Fame at Dayton. And all the time he would talk about ‘Dayton …Dayton… Dayton.’
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
“And there was a kid I played AAU ball with, his parents both went to Dayton.
“Coming out of high school, UD recruited me, too. That was right after the big season with Obi, so I knew about them.
“And being from Illinois, I know other kids who were just regular students at UD and everybody just loved it.
“All of that’s why I considered Dayton so heavily this year.”
He said he sees this season as a chance “to reset, to restart” his college career:
“It’s an opportunity to start over and showcase myself and, most of all, really help the team. It truly feels like family here and everyone cares who you are as a person.
“I see good things happening here this year.”
Although he made the NCAA Tournament with Pitt last season, he thinks that’s an especially attainable goal with the Flyers this season.
He said, as far as he knows, none of his family members ever played in a postseason national tournament in college.
So never mind Africa, he’s looking to make a trip none of his family members will be able to top.
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