Hochman: ‘It’s mind-boggling.’ Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk were classmates at Chaminade

The video, uploaded to YouTube on April 10, 2013, is as playful as you’d expect from a ninth-grader and his buddies.

A student explains why he chose to attend Chaminade, and as he describes the “great people and great friends,” four other kids pop up in the background and do some silly shoulder shimmies.

It’s just some regular ridiculous, until it sinks in — one of the kids finished fourth in the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player voting, and the other finished in the top three for MVP of the NHL.

Two of the best athletes of our time were classmates at a St. Louis school.

“The teachers here who had those guys, they chuckle a bit because they see them as just normal, goofy, little ninth graders,” Chaminade athletics director Tom Fernandez said. “If you saw that video, it just captured them perfectly. They just were goofy kids. They are such babyfaces.”

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Jayson Tatum bites his medal after Chaminade won the Missouri Class 5 high school basketball championship on Saturday, March 19, 2016, at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.  

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Now, they’re the faces of their leagues.

Jayson Tatum is in the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA.

Matthew Tkachuk is in the Eastern Conference finals of the NHL.

“I mean, it’s crazy, obviously,” said Chantal Tkachuk, Matthew’s mother, of the classmates both becoming stars. “And just, I think, really cool for St. Louis. And cool for Chaminade. We have such fond memories of Chaminade and St. Louis is our home and Matthew’s offseason home. So it’s something special for sure.”

Their age of innocence happened simultaneously on the campus off of Lindbergh Boulevard. The two were classmates in seventh, eighth and ninth grade — from 2010-13. It was April of that last year that Tatum uploaded the video, an assignment for school, to YouTube. He only uploaded one more video after that, in which he showed viewers how to tie a tie.

After that freshman year, Tkachuk left to play for the USA National Hockey Development team and later, in Canada. In 2016, he was the No. 6 pick in the NHL draft. Tatum, who spent a season at Duke, was the No. 3 pick in the 2017 NBA draft.

Since then, both have been All-Stars and made dozens of millions. But 2023 could be the year they both become champions — Tatum with the Boston Celtics, Tkachuk with the Florida Panthers. Tatum scored 51 points in a Game 7 on Sunday.

Blues left winger Keith Tkachuk is with his children, from left, Matthew 12, Taryn 7, Braeden 10 and wife, Chantal, during a postgame ceremony commemorating his final home game after 19 NHL seasons on April 9, 2010, at the Scottrade Center.

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A decade ago, though, both were dreamers. Former classmates and teachers describe them as hard-working and humble — “though you see the way Tkachuk plays, you don’t think of him as a humble guy,” said Dan Stout, a theology teacher at Chaminade. “As a student, he was on a service trip with me — we worked inside a house. And he was really nice. I’d recently heard his dad (former Blues star Keith Tkachuk) was named fourth-best U.S. skater in the history of the NHL. And he was stunned to find out good his dad was. I was like, ‘Of course! Your dad was amazing!’ He really was taken aback that people recognized how good his dad was.”

As classmate AJ Anthon explained, there was, naturally, a bunch of buzz surrounding the two, especially by that ninth-grade year at Chaminade. Tatum was an elite talent and the son of former St. Louis U. player Justin Tatum, while Tkachuk was the son of the beloved Blue. But the guys still were the guys in the video, not the guys now, if you will, in the video games.

For instance, both Chantal Tkachuk and Anthon shared the story of the big Tatum-Tkachuk trade.

“Nike Elite socks were a huge deal back in middle school,” Anthon said. “I believe Matthew had a pair of these socks in a unique color that no one had — and everyone wanted these socks. He traded Jayson the socks for a pair of Jayson’s basketball shoes.”

Now, of course, Tatum has his own basketball shoe — made by Nike’s Jordan brand.

A half-decade ago, when Tkachuk played for the Flames, the Calgary Sun published a story about the two being in the same eighth-grade gym class. Per the story, they’d occasionally play floor hockey — Tatum was the goalie. Tkachuck then turned-the-tables, though admitting later: “It definitely wasn’t smart of me to challenge him at basketball, that’s for sure.”

“So, what’s even funnier?” asked Fernandez, the athletic director. “They both took Latin! Our middle school guys used to have to take two years of it. So imagine those two goofballs in Latin class! I’d be curious to know how much Latin they remember. Gym class is a little more fitting.”

Stout had Tatum in his theology class — and on one glorious day, he proclaimed, “I beat Jayson in H-O-R-S-E. Now, keep in mind it was classroom H-O-R-S-E with, like, a stress ball. So it wasn’t exactly the most-skilled event. I took ridiculous shots, because the only way I’m beating Jayson, even with a stress ball, is with absurd shots. If you ask him, he probably will have either totally forgotten about it or deny it, for sure. But I know I’m 1-0 against Jayson Tatum.”

While Tatum played basketball for Chaminade, in addition to his summer teams, Tkachuk never played hockey for Chaminade. That’s sometimes the case for elite youth hockey players who are considering the next level.

“I remember sitting behind Matthew up in the stands for our game in the playoffs,” Fernandez said. “He’s just a friendly kid, so easy to talk to. But this kid, he wanted so bad to be on the ice. What a competitor. I just remember that night. But he was cheering on his classmates.”

A decade later, Tatum and Tkachuk remain connected to Chaminade. Both remain close friends with classmates, some who visit during the season. Tatum holds his summer camp in the same gym where his number is retired. And when the NHL All-Star Game was in St. Louis in 2020, Tkachuk “came back to sign autographs at lunch in the cafeteria,” Stout said. “Not even, like, some fundraiser, not some media event. I think he just called the school and said, ‘Can I come and sign autographs in the cafeteria?’ I got him to sign one of his rookie cards for me. Every kid said he was just kind and nice was and talking to them for a moment — wasn’t rushing through it. …

“I was driving home last week, literally in front of Chaminade Hall, and on radio they’re talking about both Matthew and Jayson. … Really, it’s mind-boggling. I got emotional as I left campus.”

In today’s 10 a.m. “Ten Hochman” video — brought to you by Siteman Cancer Center and Window Nation — Ben Hochman discusses St. Louis native Jayson Tatum, who scored a NBA-record 51 points in a Game 7 on Sunday. Also, a happy birthday shoutout to Jamie-Lynn Sigler! And as always, Hochman picks a random St. Louis Cards card from the hat!

Benjamin Hochman

Sports columnist Benjamin Hochman breaks down the latest in St. Louis sports and pop culture.