Red Sox Draftee Shares Connection To Celtics Star Jayson Tatum

Before even getting drafted by the Red Sox on Sunday night, Nazzan Zanetello had a previously established link to one of Boston’s biggest star athletes — Jayson Tatum.

Zanetello, who the Red Sox drafted with the 50th overall selection Sunday night, was a multi-sport athlete during his time at Christian Brothers High School in St. Louis, playing both baseball and basketball. His basketball coach? Justin Tatum, the father of Boston’s four-time All-Star forward.

“Justin was my basketball coach,” Zanetello revealed, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “He actually texted me this morning and said, ‘I’ll hook you up with Jayson. He’ll take care of you.’ That was sick.”

Tatum’s introduction to Boston was similar to Zanetello’s.

Being selected by the Celtics third overall in 2017, Tatum, a St. Louis native like Zanetello, was just 19 years old during his rookie campaign in Boston.

However, the excitement within the 18-year-old shortstop prospect — one of four total selected during the draft by Boston — isn’t just derived from having a connection to one of the NBA’s brightest stars. In fact, Zanetello claimed the Red Sox was the name of first Little League team, only adding to the surreal feeling of being drafted by Boston.

“I’ve been floating the whole time. I got to put this jersey and hat back on this morning and I was like, ‘I get to do it again,'” Zanetello explained, per Speier. “Last night I didn’t take it off. My mom told me to take it off to go to dinner so I (wouldn’t) get anything on it. I didn’t want to take it off. It just feels like a dream come true. I can’t even put into words, I can finally live my lifelong dream of becoming a professional baseball player and take the first step.”