For a program the size of Wheeling Jesuit, having an alumnus stick on an NBA roster is a story worth telling every time it happens. This week, Haywood Highsmith made sure that story continued.
The Suns forward cleared waivers and landed back in Phoenix, keeping his spot on an NBA roster heading into the 2026–27 season. The move is a quiet but meaningful one — for Highsmith, for the Suns, and for a small Division II school in the West Virginia panhandle that doesn't send many players to the league.
The Waiver Wire as Leverage
The mechanics here are worth understanding. Phoenix made a deliberate choice to let Highsmith pass through waivers, a move that appeared designed to give him a window to test the open market while preserving the team's own roster and financial flexibility. That he cleared waivers without being claimed by another team and returned to Phoenix says something about how both sides valued the relationship.
It's a calculated dance — one that teams and veterans navigate all the time — and Highsmith came out of it exactly where he started: in a Suns uniform.
The Bigger Picture for a Small School
Highsmith's NBA tenure has never been flashy. He's built his career on defensive versatility, hustle, and the kind of locker-room reliability that keeps players employed even when highlight-reel production is thin. For Wheeling Jesuit, a university with an enrollment that fits comfortably inside most NBA arenas, his presence in the league remains a genuine point of pride.
The Cardinals have produced only a handful of players who've cracked professional rosters at any level. Highsmith isn't just the program's most prominent NBA name — for most fans, he is the program's NBA story, full stop.
Heading Into the Season
With his roster spot secured, Highsmith enters training camp without the uncertainty that waiver situations can sometimes drag into the preseason. Phoenix, for its part, reportedly gained some flexibility through the process — whether that translates to a meaningful role for Highsmith or a fight for minutes remains to be seen.
What's clear is that Highsmith has once again demonstrated the durability that's defined his professional career. Clearing waivers unclaimed and returning to the same organization is, in its own understated way, a validation: no team was willing to take a flier on him for free, which suggests Phoenix sees something worth paying for.
For Wheeling Jesuit alumni keeping tabs on the league, that's more than enough reason to keep watching.
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