BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Nate Santos comes from a basketball family.
Though he played baseball and soccer and enjoyed observing football growing up, it was almost a forgone conclusion that he would end up on the hardwood in some capacity. He has the genes of two athletes, and the common bond between each of his parents and his three siblings came through within basketball.
After all, each member of his immediate family has reached some prominent level of basketball, with his father playing professionally in his native Puerto Rico and every member of his immediate family reaching the international stages.
Now a sophomore at Pitt, Santos not only has his own personal intention and goal in mind; there is also the inherent pride within to not only represent the lineage of Santos to play ball before him, but to also go back and represent Puerto Rico proudly.
In fact, as Santos told me in a one-on-one sit-down, he would not have it any other way.
"It's hard to say, because when I wasn't playing basketball when I was younger, I was always at basketball games," Santos said. "Ever since I was a baby I was always in a stroller, my mom would bring me to the games for my sisters and my brother. I did play other sports, but basketball was always the main thing."
The Hoffman Estates, Ill., native is the son of Joe and Lori Santos. Joe was born in Puerto Rico and later played professionally there in the 1980s, Lori (maiden name Findahl) played at Wichita State in the late-'80s. Nate is also the youngest of four Santos kids, all of which have reached Division I in basketball over the last decade. Oldest sibling Ashley Santos played at Marquette and later transferred to Louisiana Tech, where she played until 2017. Second-oldest Sidney Santos is a year behind Ashley, and Sidney was at Horizon League school Oakland in Michigan from 2015-'19. Nate is four years younger than his brother, K.J. Santos, who played a year at the University of Illinois Chicago and later transferred to Missouri, where he redshirted a year and then played in the 2018-'19 season.
The 21-year-old Nate is four years younger than his brother and the gap between himself and Ashley is seven years, but the Santos family sticks close with each other. Nate attended Loomis Chaffee prep in Connecticut after high school, which had the endorsement of his brother, and committed to Pitt in April of 2021.
"He had met a couple coaches and stuff like that, and he had mentioned that he had a little brother," Nate told me. "He loved the experience, thought it was a great experience, so when it came time for me, he thought it was a great experience, so I just tried to take advantage of the opportunity to go play against different basketball players."
The advantage of coming from a family which is so vast in the basketball world is a simple and inherent one. Nate has five experienced, veteran minds to pluck information and advice from on a regular basis. His dad was a massive mentor for him, but each of his immediate family members have helped piece Nate's growth as a basketball player together.
"Everybody has contributed their own little piece," Nate said. "Obviously my parents always taught me the fundamentals of the game, but seeing my older sisters, my older brother play, I've learned a lot of just movement and playing the game."
While just getting started at Pitt, Nate is now a piece of Jeff Capel's 2022-'23 team which is having a surge of a season at first place in the ACC and on a path to making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016. Nate had his best game of the season in Pitt's blowout over Louisville last Tuesday, as he scored a season-high seven points while playing 19 minutes. He is averaging just 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in eight minutes per game.
"I've definitely learned a lot about myself; I've definitely matured, but I think it's all been positive and a way that's allowed me to get better both as a basketball player and as a person," Nate said. "Just learning to work with new people in an environment like this. Trying to integrate them into this program while also trying to get better myself. It's been a learning curve, but it's been fun."
That is what Nate hopes can be a start for a run at continuing a legacy built from within his own family. In a rare and nearly unheard of manner, playing for something larger than just the sport has almost become a standard within the Santos family.
Each of his parents, his uncle, and all of his siblings have played on Puerto Rico's national team in some capacity. Ashley and Sidney were on each of the U-18 and U-16 Puerto Rico National Teams, and K.J. was on Puerto Rico's U-17 team.
"(My dad) talks about it a lot," Nate said. "Him and his brother both played, so he always references, 'when I was in Puerto Rico, I was continuing to work and stuff like that.' It's a great learning opportunity because he was in that position before. It's really important."
Nate has not yet experienced this level, but the ambition to reach it and have the opportunity to represent his family and his country in international play is undoubtedly present. He is set on seeing how "it shakes out" with professional basketball by the time he is done at Pitt.
"It's definitely a lot of motivation," Nate said. "I know it would mean a lot to me and my family. ... I've met some guys who play now. My brother's gone to play, my sisters (as well), so we know quite a lot of people down there. We have a lot of connections.
"I know that just because it's such a small island, you know, whenever a Puerto Rican does well, you're basically representing the island and the Puerto Rican people. There's definitely a lot of pride in being Puerto Rican."
