One day after it was announced the Pepperdine Waves were firing longtime head coach Lorenzo Romar, star junior guard Houston Mallette reportedly entered the NCAA transfer portal to look for a new school to play out his final year of college basketball eligibility.
Mallette is one of many outstanding players to have played for Romar at Pepperdine – although the influx of talent did nothing to help the Waves in the win column: an unfortunate trend that followed Romar his entire career particularly while as the head coach of the Washington Huskies.
Mallette just wrapped the best season of his career in 2023-24, averaging a career-high 14.7 points along with 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting a blistering hot 41.5% from beyond the arc.
Pepperdine junior guard Houston Mallette has gone portaling, source told @TheFieldOf68.
Mallette averaged 14.7 points and shot 42 percent from 3 this season.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 6, 2024
Mallette’s former teammate, Mike Mitchell Jr, transferred last offseason to Minnesota where he averaged 10.6 points and 2.7 assists while shooting an even 40% from three, so certainly a handful of Power-6 programs will take a look at Mallette and his sharp shooting ways this offseason.
Mallette initially committed to Penn State in 2020 before decommitting and enrolling at Pepperdine, and the 6’5 guard from Newport Beach also had interest from Washington State, James Madison, and Santa Barbara out of high school.
Additionally, programs like Washington, USC, San Diego State, and Colorado who are expected to lose multiple backcourt players after this season could show interest as well.