House guest: Lobo Jaelen House invited to participate in G League Elite Camp
UNM鈥檚 Jaelen House drives to the basket against San Diego State鈥檚 Lamont Butler during the championship game of the Mountain West Tournament in March.
Former Lobo Jaelen House has always been a something-to-prove type of player.
All he鈥檚 ever asked for, he said on more than one occasion during his three-season career at the University of New Mexico, was an opportunity to compete on the court to show what he can do.
Monday, opportunity knocked.
According to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express and ESPN, House was one of three players added to the 44-man invite list for the two-day G League Elite Camp next week (May 11-12) in Chicago.
NEWS: New Mexico guard Jaelen House has been invited to the G League Elite Camp, a source told ESPN. The son of 11-year NBA player Eddie House, Jaelen was a three-time All-Mountain West and defensive player of the year.
鈥 Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress)
The camp features draft-eligible players who will run through drills and five-man scrimmages for two days in front of NBA scouts and front office executives. The best of the camp are usually offered invitations to the May 12-19 NBA Draft Combine, also in Chicago, where 78 pro prospects have been invited to compete, test and perform in front of the NBA鈥檚 top executives and scouts ahead of the June 27 NBA Draft.
Last year, seven players from the Elite Camp event parlayed their performances there into Draft Combine invitations.
One NBA player to whom scouts and coaches have often likened House鈥檚 high-energy, tenacious, pestering defensive style is Jose Alvarado (6-0, 179 pounds) of the New Orleans Pelicans. Alvarado was said to be too small coming out of Georgia Tech in 2021 before an invite to the G League Elite Combine set him on a path to his NBA career.
House, the 6-foot, 170-pound, lightning-quick point guard who was one of the best defenders in college basketball and finished this past season as the NCAA鈥檚 active leader in steals, hopes to join this past season鈥檚 Lobo teammate JT Toppin, the 6-9 Mountain West Freshman of the Year, who received an invitation to the NBA Draft Combine.
While House鈥檚 college eligibility has expired, Toppin has until May 29 to decide if he will play professionally or collegiately next season. He has entered the NCAA transfer portal and is fielding offers through his agent for upcoming recruiting visits in addition to his trip to the combine.
Toppin, and House hopes to join him, is the first Lobo invited to the NBA Draft Combine since Alex Kirk, Cameron Bairstow and Kendall Williams were participants in 2014, one year after Tony Snell was in the event. Bairstow鈥檚 2014 draft selection by the Chicago Bulls marks the last time a Lobo was drafted, though Kirk, helped by his showing at the Combine and later that summer in the NBA Summer League, was an undrafted free agent who made the Cleveland Cavaliers鈥 opening-night roster that season, joining Snell and Bairstow that year as three former UNM teammates in the NBA.
House in March won the Mountain West Tournament MVP award, carrying UNM to the league鈥檚 tournament title with four wins in four days to break the program鈥檚 decade-long NCAA Tournament drought.
In April, the Phoenix native was invited to play in the Reese鈥檚 College All Star Game at the Final Four in Glendale, where he was named the game鈥檚 MVP and later was named one of 15 Division I Academic All-Americans.
House, the son of former NBA champion Eddie House and nephew of former NBA player Mike Bibby, was asked in April what he had hoped this past season with the Lobos, his postseason run and the all-star game performance had showed NBA scouts.
鈥淭hat I鈥檓 a complete player 鈥 I can play offense and I can play defense,鈥 House said. 鈥淚f you watch some of the film or you watch my film, you will know that. ...
鈥(The NBA) has always been the main goal.鈥
Lobos coach Richard Pitino after the season told the Journal in a that he saw plenty of growth in House this past season.
鈥淭o see him go out the way he did was phenomenal,鈥 Pitino said. 鈥淛aelen is 鈥 for one, off the court he is nothing like he is on the court. He is really soft-spoken. Never an issue of going to class. Academically did great. Great heart.
鈥淭here are certain guys you coach that you know you鈥檒l stay in touch with. He will definitely be one I鈥檒l stay in touch with. I love him. I appreciate him. But you鈥檙e not going to get a motor like that again. You鈥檙e just not. It鈥檚 unique. It鈥檚 special.鈥