Many basketball and baseball fans have wondered if Chase Jeter, a former college basketball player, is related to Derek Jeter, a Hall of Fame baseball player. The two share the same last name and both have ties to Nevada, where Chase was born and Derek owns a mansion. However, the truth is that they are **not** related by blood or marriage.
Who is Chase Jeter?
Chase Jeter is an American basketball player who played college basketball for Duke and Arizona. He was born on September 19, 1997 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Bishop Gorman High School, where he was a five-star recruit and a McDonald’s All-American. He committed to Duke in 2014, joining a loaded recruiting class that included Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow and Grayson Allen.
At Duke, Jeter played sparingly as a freshman and sophomore, averaging 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in his two seasons. He also dealt with injuries and inconsistency, leading him to transfer to Arizona in 2017. He sat out the 2017-18 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but emerged as a starter for the Wildcats in the next two seasons. He averaged 10.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a junior and 8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a senior. He went undrafted in the 2020 NBA draft and has not played professionally since then.
Who is Derek Jeter?
Derek Jeter is an American former professional baseball player who spent his entire 20-year career with the New York Yankees. He was born on June 26, 1974 in Pequannock Township, New Jersey. He grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he played baseball and basketball at Kalamazoo Central High School. He was drafted by the Yankees in the first round of the 1992 MLB draft, signing for $800,000.
Jeter made his MLB debut in 1995 and became the Yankees’ starting shortstop in 1996. He won the Rookie of the Year Award and helped the team win the World Series over the Atlanta Braves. He went on to win four more World Series titles with the Yankees in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. He also earned 14 All-Star selections, five Gold Glove Awards, five Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards, a Roberto Clemente Award, a World Series MVP Award and an All-Star Game MVP Award. He is the Yankees’ all-time leader in hits (3,465), doubles (544), games played (2,747), stolen bases (358) and several other categories. He retired after the 2014 season and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2020 with 99.75% of the vote.
Chase Jeter and Derek Jeter are not related because they have different parents and different ethnic backgrounds. Chase Jeter’s parents are Chris Jeter and Kim Carter-Jeter, who are both African-American. Derek Jeter’s parents are Sanderson Charles Jeter and Dorothy Jeter, who are biracial (African-American and Caucasian). According to Wikipedia, Chase Jeter’s father Chris played basketball at UNLV from 1988 to 1990, while Derek Jeter’s father Sanderson played baseball at Fisk University from 1970 to 1974.
Additionally, Chase Jeter and Derek Jeter have no known family ties or connections in Nevada or elsewhere. According to Playersaga, Derek Jeter’s father Sanderson was born in Alabama and moved to New Jersey as a child with his mother Lugenia. According to Essentially Sports, Derek Jeter’s mother Dorothy was born in Germany and met Sanderson while he was stationed there as an Army officer. They settled in Michigan after their marriage and raised Derek and his sister Sharlee there.
Therefore, it is safe to conclude that Chase Jeter and Derek Jeter are not related by blood or marriage, but only by coincidence of having the same last name.
