Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
By JACOB POLACHECK
Class of 2021 guard Houston Mallette has committed to Pepperdine, he tweeted Thursday.
“I chose Pepperdine was for a number of reasons,” he told ZAGSBLOG. “Honestly, I’m a kid who follows his heart. I’ve listened to my heart for the past couple of weeks now and have especially been praying on it a lot and talking with my circle each and every day.
“I honestly fell in love with coach [Lorenzo] Romar and the coaching staff. We have built a great relationship for the past two and a half years and I really trust Romar and connect to him on a deeper level. I was in love with every single aspect of it and I had been feeling this way for the past couple of weeks. I decided to build a matrix of all the important components when making the decision. I decided to choose Pepperdine because of how well all around the university is as well.”
The 6-foot-5, 170-pound combo guard from Pacifica Christian (CA), de-committed from Penn State earlier this month after head coach Pat Chambers stepped down on Oct. 21.
He chose Pepperdine over Tulsa, Loyola-Chicago and Wake Forest.
Ranked by 247Sports.com as the No. 24 combo guard in the Class of 2021, Mallette joins Mike Mitchell Jr. as the second commit in Pepperdine’s recruiting class.
“I make others better,” he said. “I would say, is what I do best. I’m a leader. I believe I can score the ball on a high level, efficiently. I shot the ball around 40 percent from three. I hit 82 of them this year in 27, 28 games. I averaged about 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, almost six assists. Whatever is needed.
“I pride myself on getting that job done. I take charges. So just energy plays, I would say. I can score the ball efficiently. I can rebound. I can pass. Just adding every single dimension in my game is important. I can play through the post. I need to get everything better. But I also believe I can do everything on a basketball court at a very high level. That’s very important to me. I win. I have a winning percentage that is over .800.”
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