"I made a promise to my mom, grandma, and my wife," he said.
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Nelson is fulfilling the promise he made to graduate, 14 years after leaving St. Joseph's for the NBA.
"I was not scared to go to the NBA or draft but scared to come back and receive my degree. And I tell people all the time we are able to do things physically, but it's all right here, whatever you have in your mind that will separate you from others."
The 35-year-old Chester native gave it a shot, taking online classes in between practices and games while playing for both New Orleans and Detroit this season to finally score his sociology degree.
"This to me is a bigger accomplishment or biggest accolade I can receive," said Nelson.
Nelson is expected to score his undergrad degree here in the very arena where he became a star and St. Joe's time leading scorer, and believe it or not it is receiving his undergrad degree that is more intimidating to him than anything he ever had to do in this arena.
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Nelson is not ready to step away from the NBA after stepping off the podium, the free-agent guard says he's preparing to play a 15th season.
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