Jeremy Roach was born on November 1, 2001, in Washington, D.C., and raised in Leesburg, Virginia. His mother, Carole, says the basketball story began when Jeremy was six months old: he sat down, picked up a full-size basketball, and started throwing it in the air. He just had to have a ball, she said. He was playing organized basketball by age four with the Leesburg Basketball Club, and by the time he hit the AAU circuit with Team Takeover on the Nike EYBL, he was one of the most coveted young point guards in the country.
Roach attended St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, Virginia — a 45-minute commute each way from Leesburg that he made every day without complaint. He became the first boys’ basketball player in school history to sign with Duke. He won a state championship as a sophomore, maintained at least a 3.1 GPA all four years, and represented the United States at the FIBA Americas U-16 Championship and the FIBA U-17 World Cup, winning gold medals both times. He was the starting point guard for the U-17 team. He was the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior.
Then, in November 2018, during his junior year, Roach tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. It was a normal basketball move — a high ball screen, a step left, a step right, and his knee collapsed underneath him. He knew immediately what it was. The Washington Post, USA Today, and Bleacher Report all covered the injury of one of the nation’s top recruits. He came back. On May 8, 2019, he became the first five-star recruit in the Class of 2020 to announce his commitment, choosing Duke over Kentucky, North Carolina, and Villanova.