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Lobo hoops notebook: Still shining, Jaelen House is named an Academic All-American

Geoff Grammer, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·4 min read

Apr. 17—Jaelen House apparently isn't done grabbing headlines just yet.

The dynamic Lobo point guard who emphatically led UNM to a Mountain West Tournament championship and into the NCAA Tournament last month while etching his name into program lore and into the minds of countless opposing fans collected two more rather impressive pieces of hardware this week.

Monday, House was named the UNM Male Student-Athlete of the Year as voted on by the Lobo Club board of directors and announced at the annual "Louies" award ceremony at UNM. The awards are based primarily, but not exclusively, on academic accomplishments.

Wednesday morning, House cleaned up in that category in a big way.

A graduate student who earned his degree a year ago from UNM and was in graduate studies programs this past season, House was one of 15 Division I men's basketball players in the country on Wednesday to be named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (formerly known as the College Sports Information Directors of America, or COSIDA).

House, who was named to the third team, is only the fifth Lobo basketball player to earn Academic All-American status and just the second in more than a half century. The five are:

—Ron Becker (1968 second team, 1969 first team, 1970 first team)

—Mark Saiers (1973 third team, 1974 second team)

—Tommy Roberts (1973 second team)

—Roman Martinez (2010 second team)

—Jaelen House (2024 third team)

House chose to come back to UNM for a fifth season after earning his degree a year ago. He was injured much of the preseason and in non-conference play.

His 3.56 cumulative grade point average earned while studying most recently "Graduate Studies" is an individual accomplishment in itself, of course. It's also a a huge feather in the cap for the continued work of UNM's Lobo Center for Student-Athlete Success, and for Lobo men's basketball advisor Danielle Calvillo, in particular.

House's coach, Richard Pitino, said in a recent Talking Grammer podcast conversation with the Journal that House may have been polarizing to some on the court, but was a joy to coach for the three years.

"To see him go out (his senior season) the way he did was phenomenal," Pitino said. "Jaelen is, for one, off the court he's nothing like he is on the court. He is really soft spoken, never an issue of going to class or academically. He did great. Great heart. You know there are certain guys you coach that you know you'll stay in touch with. He will definitely be one I'll stay in touch with. I love him. I appreciate him."

Eligibility for the Academic All-America honor comes from a player being nominated by his school who is at least a sophomore and has a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average.

House was one of two Mountain West players named Academic All-America, joining Boise State junior forward Tyson Degenhart, who was named to the first team.

BROOKS-SENA: Capital High School graduate and former UNM Lobo manager Isaiah Brooks-Sena was named on Wednesday the new Director of Scouting and Analytics for Oklahoma State University.

Brooks-Sena, known by those close to him as Zeke, was a video coordinator for Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, where he also worked with former UNM assistant and NMMI head coach Ralph Davis and recent Lobo graduate transfer player Isaac Mushila.

He served as the Director of Operations and Scouting for Lutz this past season at Western Kentucky before Lutz landed the Big 12 gig with the Cowboys, and made sure to bring Brooks-Sena along for the ride.

"Zeke is as loyal and hard-working as they come," Lutz said in an OSU release. "His film breakdowns and outstanding people skills have helped take our recruiting, scouting and player development to another level. I look forward to more of the same here at OSU."

GRAMBLING: OK, so it didn't get the buzz the Pitino vs. Pitino in Madison Square Garden story got, but there was another nugget of Lobo basketball scheduling news that came out Wednesday.

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein posted on social media Wednesday that UNM will host Grambling in the Pit this coming season. There is no date yet announced.