Pacifica Christian High star Houston Mallette finds a home with Pepperdine

Pacifica Christian senior Houston Mallette signed his national letter of intent Thursday. (Photos courtesy Pacifica Christian Athletics)

Pacifica Christian High School basketball star Houston Mallette, supported by family, teammates and coaches, ended the suspense Thursday and announced he is headed to Pepperdine University in Malibu.

The 6-5 Mallette made it official during a ceremony in the school’s gymnasium.

Mallette earlier decommitted from his original choice at Penn State when Coach Pat Chambers resigned. He then narrowed his choices down to Peppperdine, Tulsa, Wake Forest and Loyola Chicago before deciding to join Coach Lorenzo Romar at Pepperdine.

To see the slide slide, please click on the first photo:

“I just wanted to go through the process very well and really dive deep down on to what decision I wanted to make and where I wanted to be,” Mallette said in a telephone interview Thursday after signing. “I just felt that I had built a relationship with Coach Romar over the past two and a half, almost three years and something that’s super special, I love him man to man and we’ve been very honest with one another about everything and broken down a ton of film.

“When I was there on my visit, I absolutely loved it; it was fantastic. Just coming down to it, I just felt we had a great relationship and I’m just super excited to embark on this journey. All the components were just fantastic so I’m just super excited about that.”

Mallette said he was appreciative to have support from those close to him Thursday. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, all who attended the ceremony, including teammates, were screened and everyone wore masks before and after they took pictures, according to Mariah Rodriguez, sports information coordinator.

“It was fantastic just having my whole family there,” Mallette said. “The school did such a fantastic job setting everything up and I’m so fortunate. It was super fun. My AD Mr. (Brandon) Gonzalez and my head coach, Coach (Jeff) Berokoff were there too to say some some nice, kind words. And having my mom, my dad, my step dad, my step mom and having all three of my younger sisters, it was a great feeling.”

Mallette said he sees his role at Pepperdine similar to that he has had at Pacifica Christian.

“He just sees utilizing me a lot like Coach Berokoff does and putting me in many different places and many different spots to be successful and overall make the team better and a guy who likes to go out there and make everyone else better and makes everybody else look great,” he said.

Berokoff, the Tritons head coach, said Pepperdine is getting a special player and person.

“Houston stands out compared to others because he can pass, shoot, dribble and play defense at a high level,” he said. “He takes charges, dives on the floor and high fives his teammates. He’s fiery and hates to lose. He encompasses all of these things and that makes for a unique player. He’s not a specialist, he does everything really well.

“I know that’s important to Coach Romar. He’s a winner on and off the court, a 4.0 student, respectful in the classroom and his teachers love him. He’s a captain on the basketball court and a leader on campus. As a coach, that’s what’s most important, you want your players to walk away from the program as better people, and so Coach Romar and Pepperdine are getting an incredible human being.

“Houston really excels in the pick and roll, passing with both hands, making the open shot. He’s got a high IQ, when you teach him something he’ll never forget it, which is so important for the next level. He will do really well at Pepperdine.”

Mallette said he is grateful for the memories during his first three years at Pacifica Christian.

“It’s been a great career so far,” he said. “I go to sleep every night knowing I do want to win a championship: I owe it to Berokoff and I owe it to the family. I’ve been to three of them so far, four actually, and have not won one yet. All have been pretty close games. That’s the one thing when I look at Pacifica, I have some unfinished business, most definitely.

“We do have a league title, which is something that’s an accomplishment, the first in our basketball program’s history. So when I look back to it, I just want to be able to go out there and win games with the guys we have and be a leader and help these guys in their future and be all around and do just whatever it takes to win games.”

Mallette said he has specific goals.

“Most importantly, win league, win CIF, win a state championship; those are definitely at the top of my list,” he said. “My goals for me personally, I want to make everybody on the team better. I want to have them believe they can do something and instill confidence in them that they can be great. I want to win league MVP, I want to win player of the year in my division. Overall, I just want to win games and be successful. I want to give Berokoff some more championships and more rings.”

Pacifica Christian’s players, like others in Orange County, are going through conditioning drills. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the season has been pushed to a scheduled March 2021 start.

“It’s a hard thing because we all want to play so bad,” Mallette said. “We would have been having our first game last week in a normal year. It’s a hard thing because I haven’t played a game of basketball since Feb. 19, I believe, right before it all got shut down. We just want to go out there and compete.”

Mallette said he plans to major in entrepreneurship or sports management at Pepperdine, adding that the “business school is fantastic.”

Mallette indicated he was grateful for the support he has received.

“I would like to thank all my parents and all my coaches,” he said. “There are a lot of names to name so I would just like to thank everybody.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com