Kaijae Yee-Stephens has signed to play basketball at Pepperdine University, he announced Tuesday night.
The Santa Cruz High senior and Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Player of the Year chose the Malibu-based campus over San Jose State.
“I like everything about Pepperdine,” Yee-Stephens said. “Small class sizes; you really get to know your professors and the type of guys (Pepperdine coach) Marty (Wilson) is recruiting are players with good character. There’s not a lot of room for messing around at Pepperdine — you have to be a hard worker.”
Hard work is something the 6-foot-2 guard has become notorious for during his four years at Santa Cruz.
The four-year varsity player led the CCS in scoring this season, averaging 26.6 points per game along with 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
As stellar as Yee-Stephens is on the court, he’s just as diligent in the classroom where he currently holds a 4.1 grade-point average.
For Yee-Stephens the stellar academic program that Pepperdine provides as well as the chance to play in the West Coast Conference gave him added incentive sign with the Waves.
“It’s just an extension of what I’ve been doing at Santa Cruz,” Yee-Stephens said. “Except it’s amplified on a greater scale, but I think I will be ready because I have a lot of good habits that I’ve developed the last four years at Santa Cruz.”
Yee-Stephens let Wilson and the Waves coaching staff know during his trip on Monday to Pepperdine that he will indeed sign to play with the Waves.
Initially he had plans to think about on the drive back home but once Wilson asked him if he wanted to be a Wave, Yee-Stephens obliged.
“I knew it was the right fit and didn’t want to wait until I got home to make the decision,” he said. “I just made it right on the spot.”
Pepperdine, much like Santa Cruz, is a relatively small school that has tight knit community, which Yee-Stephens has grown accustomed to. Pepperdine’s undergraduate enrollment is under 3,500 and offers students more of a hands-on approach from professor to student.
Yee-Stephens had previously committed to Southern Utah, but following the dismissal of head coach Nick Robinson, Yee-Stephens was granted his release from the Thunderbirds.
When word broke, Pepperdine jumped at the opportunity to work out Yee-Stephens and did so on two occasions including once at Santa Cruz.
Upon his visit to the Malibu campus, Yee-Stephens was also able to scrimmage against current Pepperdine players.
Yee-Stephen’s parents Reggie Stephens and Desiree Yee gave Pepperdine two thumbs up and Yee-Stephens signed on the dotted line in Malibu.
“Mom and dad wanted me to feel safe,” Yee-Stephens said. “The coaching staff and the campus made me feel safe and that I won’t be getting into much trouble. I can be focused with which is the main thing.”
Yee-Stephens said his three goals at Pepperdine are to get a great education, play basketball and make good connections with the people around him.
If his time at Santa Cruz was any indication, his time playing for the Waves will be just like Santa Cruz only on a grander scale.
“At the end of the day it came down to a gut feel and I felt Pepperdine would be the best spot for me,” Yee-Stephens said. “I feel like could probably be more focused there and the smaller classroom sizes played a big part. I’m just lucky Malibu is the place that it will be happening.”
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Ryan Silapan can be reached at rsilapan@prep2prep.com follow him on Twitter @RyanSilapan
