Baby blue sweater for a 6-10 win span: Pacers' Aaron Nesmith's outfit made by IU student

Source: IndyStar

INDIANAPOLIS -- Jenna Reed was on her senior spring break, roadtripping to Missouri with friends, going to see the Lake of the Ozarks, St. Louis and Kansas City, when she got the call.

Reed had to make a run to Hobby Lobby.

She needed a few materials, including a haul of baby blue aran yarn, so she could start crocheting a sweater for a guy with a 6-foot, 10-inch wingspan.

Needless to say, Reed and that needle and those spools of yarn spent a lot of time together in Missouri. She crocheted in the car whenever she could. She crocheted when there was any downtime and she crocheted all the way back to Indiana University.

Reed is a fashion design major there. And that's where the story of the baby blue sweater for Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith, the guy with the nearly 7-foot wingspan, begins.

The past two years, he brought Indiana Pacers stars Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner to IU for the competition which ends with a student designing an outfit for the player to wear before a game. For those fashion shots as they walk through the tunnel at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. This year, the player was Nesmith.

Reed went to work on a design proposal to present face-to-face to Nesmith. She started feverishly researching anything and everything she could learn about him. When she happened upon an IndyStar article, she found her inspiration.

Koi fish.

'I really couldn't let it go'

When Nesmith was 10, his father Bernard purchased 18 acres about 15 miles west of Charleston. It was a piece of wooded, raw land surrounded by a cedar swamp. But on that property, the family found an unexpected surprise -- a pond filled with koi fish.

Nesmith's mother soon started a business selling koi fish and her son was instrumental in handling the fish. On some summer days as a kid, Nesmith would be working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To Reed, that story about Nesmith seemed to be a big part of who he is as a person, his work ethic, his upbringing.

"They always say the outfits or the designs you make should have a concept or a solid idea to back them up. You probably shouldn't just be making something to make it.," Reed said. "Have a reason why you're making it. So that koi fish idea really stuck with me and I really couldn't let it go."

Reed had the theme of Nesmith's outfit. Now she had to figure out how to merge it with a style he would want to wear.

She started scouring social media for photos of Nesmith off the court to get a sense of his fashion style. She noticed he liked to wear cargo pants or carpenter pants, anything with pockets.

"And then there's always like a pop of color in there, whether that is on the pants or like a sweater, a shirt or whatnot," she said.

The final outfit for Reed's proposal included white pants with black patches and touches of koi-fish orange. The light blue sweater was chosen because Reed said she thought it would pop next to Nesmith's skin tone. To tie it all together, Reed designed a white bandana with black borders and then sketched a koi fish in the corner.

"When he would wear it, the koi fish would kind of be like poking out," Reed said.

The design proposal was finished. Now, all Reed had to do was present it to Nesmith.

'He's not the average Joe'

Reed grew up in Fort Wayne and says she has always described herself as "an old soul." When she was a little girl, her mom was constantly buying crafts for Reed to make. In the summers, she would go to her grandma's house and sew pillowcases and make quilts.

But it wasn't until she got to IU and learned about the fashion design program and major that she switched from business and latched onto her creative side. The past four years, Reed has designed a lot of fashion, many special projects, but never anything with this big of an impact.

If her design were to be chosen, Nesmith would wear it before a Pacers game for the world to see.

"Honestly, when I pitched the idea to Aaron, I kind of froze and forgot what happened," Reed said. "But I was so in the moment, and I pitched my idea first out of everyone, so I was a little nervous. I didn't know what to expect."

As she explained her idea to Nesmith, Reed made sure the koi fish connection with him was legit. "That's real," he told her laughing.

In the end, Nesmith and Solomon chose Reed's proposal as their winner. She got the call on spring break, headed to Hobby Lobby and went to work on that sweater.

Reed had never designed clothes of such large proportions before. The pattern she bought for Nesmith's pants online had to be lengthened six and a half inches.

"Obviously, Aaron Nesmith is 6-5 and has a 6-10 wingspan," she said, "so he's not the average Joe."

Reed had four weeks to craft the entire outfit. "I keep telling everyone my hands, uh, they're going to get like some early carpal tunnel," Reed said.

But all of it has been worth it.

On Friday night before the Pacers take on the Orlando Magic, Nesmith will walk out of the tunnel at Gainbridge Fieldhouse -- the cameras will flash and social media posts will be made -- wearing the outfit Reed designed.