HAMILTON, Ohio — Jeremiah Dugan is 2 years old, but he already knows how to handle a basketball or two.


What You Need To Know

  • Two-year-old Jeremiah Dugan is getting a lot of attention online for teaching himself how to play basketball

  • His parents say he started to dribble before he could walk or talk

  • He learned the game watching his family and other kids on YouTube

In fact, he had no time to talk to us because he had to get back to practice, but his parents were just as surprised telling us how it all started.

“It’s literally just amazing. I tell everybody, I’m just cracking up, I just laugh 'cause it’s amazing. You just literally do not think somebody this small can do something like that,” said Jeremiah's mom, Alicia Dugan. “He was probably a year old when he was walking. That’s probably when we saw that he had talent, but he first picked up a ball when he was 8 months old."

His mom says before he was talking and walking, he knew basketball, and during quarantine in their Hamilton house, he got better. In fact, his dad says he taught himself how to handle a basketball.

“I don’t work with him, he just does it. He watches YouTube videos and he saw this kid like dribbling two balls, and he’s like, ‘I’m gonna practice this,’ and he practiced it for four hours straight,” said Jeremiah's dad, Joshua Dugan.

His parents say he gets the love of the game from family, his four brothers and sisters, who also play basketball, kids on YouTube, and his favorite player, Michael Jordan.

“I traveled in AAU basketball for a while in one of the teams in the country growing up. My favorite player is Michael Jordan and then he just fell in love with Michael Jordan and basketball,” said Joshua Dugan.

His family started sharing videos of little Jeremiah, and it went viral. His parents hope one day that viral video will be just the beginning of rising basketball star Jeremiah Dugan.