Mason Hodges was named MVP of the Louis Macias Tournament after leading San Juan Hills to the tournament title in Santa Ana last November. (PHOTOS: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Already a staple of Orange County high school basketball, Mason Hodges from San Juan Hills High School is looking for more notoriety in the region. After an accolade filled four years with the Stallions, Hodges is set to enroll at UC Irvine and join the Anteaters for the 2025-26 season.
Hodges spoke with OC Sports Zone about his time at San Juan Hills, his journey to the next level and the preparation it took to get him there.
Before signing to UC Irvine, Hodges cemented his legacy at San Juan Hills with a monster 2024-25 in which he became the Stallions’ all-time leading scorer with 1,604 points and earned first team All-CIF Division 2AA honors. The forward averaged 24.2 points per game and led San Juan Hills to another CIF appearance, guiding his team to a quarterfinal berth in his final year at the high school level. He was also the program’s all-time leader in rebounds with 874.
Despite the success he experienced at San Juan Hills, Hodges believes that he and his teammates could have done even more during his time in the program.
“I mean [having the scoring record] feels good,” he said. “I wish we would’ve done some more winning when we were there, but knowing that I have a good legacy and I got younger guys coming to that school … and [taking] an interest to San Juan because of me, that’s super cool,” Hodges said. “I’m super excited about that, but the scoring record, it doesn’t mean as much as it would if we had some more banners to hang up.”
Of course, Hodges’ lofty expectations for the Stallions didn’t come without reason. The four-year letterwinner was a freshman on San Juan Hills’ historic CIF Division 2A championship team, and despite only playing in six games that year, he credits his experience with that team for part of his development today.
“It was a big learning experience. I think we had 10 or 11 seniors on that team and as a freshman I didn’t play much, but practicing with them every day, seeing how they respond to coaching and how they played games, their discipline, it showed a lot about what it takes,” Hodges said.
Hodges noted that the next three years after the Stallions’ CIF championship served as somewhat of a rebuild for the program.
A player who San Juan Hills Head Coach Jason Efstathiou felt was ready for varsity play as a freshman, Hodges’ role grew with each year of experience in that rebuild. As a sophomore, Hodges averaged 13 points per game, up from just 0.7 as a freshman. Over time, he became the focal point of the Stallions offense, riding his offensive success and usage rate all the way to becoming San Juan Hills’ all-time scoring leader.
Now, Hodges’ focus turns to his collegiate career at UC Irvine, where he will join head coach Russell Turner and the Anteaters, who advanced to the NIT championship for the first time and finished as a runner-up.
Although he is expected to redshirt during his first year on campus, Hodges’ development at UCI has the potential to take a similar path as it did at San Juan Hills. Hodges understands his role on the court will be limited during his first year in Irvine, but remains optimistic he can grow as a player and person from soaking up the experience around him.
“My mindset is [to] learn as much as I can from older guys, learn as much as I can from the coaches and I’m trying to get my body in the best shape possible,” Hodges said about his preparation for playing at UCI. “[My goal is to] put on a lot of muscle, get more athletic and hopefully once my body gets up to speed, I’ll be be a quick learner and then the rest of it will come come with that.”
UCI has a solid history with utilizing new recruits’ redshirt years. After serving as a redshirt in 2023-24, UCI guard Jurian Dixon captured 2024-25 Big West Freshman of the Year honors. This past season, UCI utilized the redshirt eligibility of Jovan Jester, who Hodges said has given him advice on how to prepare for a season off the court.
The 6-7, 215-pound Hodges said he has been working out with the Anteater forwards this summer. After handling the ball for much of his career at San Juan Hills, Hodges may size up to play more of an above the rim role at UC Irvine when he does eventually take the court for the Anteaters.
When asked about what he was looking forward to most as he heads 20 miles north to Irvine, Hodges set a lofty goal for the Anteaters.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to go to the tournament,” Hodges said. “We gotta win the Big West first, but once we get there and we get to go to March madness, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
UCI will look to notch their first Big West title season since 2019 this coming fall.
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