For most high school athletes, graduation marks the end of their basketball careers.
Only 3.6% of high school basketball players go on to compete in college – a metric that gets even slimmer when looking at just Division I play, according to the NCAA.
Despite the odds, Jordan Houegban became part of the mere 1.1% of these Division I athletes this summer – even if his process looked a bit different from most others’.
“Initially, I was overjoyed,” the junior guard said. “I felt a sense of relief that my hard work – all the hard work that I had put in since I started playing basketball, but especially since I’ve been here at UCLA – was being truly recognized and rewarded.”
No. 22 UCLA men’s basketball (1-0) officially signed Houegban to its roster Oct. 14, after he served two years as a student manager for the Bruins.
Houegban was a three-year varsity letterwinner at Brentwood School in Los Angeles, where he played under head coach Ryan Bailey, a former Bruin guard who competed in Westwood from 1998 to 2001. As a high school senior, the Brentwood product averaged 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, earning him Fourth Team All-CIF Division 1 and First Team All-Gold Coast League honors.
[Related: Baller Biography: Through tenacity, strategy Ryan ‘Moose’ Bailey turns Brentwood basketball around]
After setting his school’s record for most 3-pointers made in a single game with 12 in the 2022-23 season, Houegban concluded his Brentwood career with over 1,000 points.
But his love for basketball started much earlier.
“I’ve been playing basketball since I was 3 years old,” Houegban said. “When I was younger, my uncle would come over to our house for Christmas. He would put on the basketball games. He would wear his jersey, and I’d watch with him. I wanted to be like him. I asked for a basketball hoop, and from then, I continued playing.”
Growing up in LA, Houegban attended multiple UCLA boys basketball summer camps and drew inspiration from many former Bruins. Despite receiving Division II and III offers, the now-official Bruin always had a dream to compete for UCLA.
Houegban said Bailey helped connect him with some of UCLA’s assistant coaches with the hope of walking on. However, Houegban added that though it didn’t work out initially, the program offered him the opportunity to be a manager.
After entering UCLA as a regular student, the junior competed on UCLA’s men’s basketball club team in his first two years in Westwood, helping the Bruins win the National Club Basketball Association national championship both seasons.
Between all of this, Houegban was juggling his work as a manager – tracking stats, doing scout work and helping the team in drills. He said his sheer exposure to the program, though he was not officially playing, helped him grow as a player.
“He brings energy every day,” said sophomore guard Jaylen Petty. “Whether it’s drill or what coach (Mick Cronin) asks other managers to do, he still does that. He puts in extra effort, and it’s really inspiring to see how far he’s gotten. We all love the guy. It’s amazing.”
According to the former manager, all the hours he spent with players in the facility and the gym helped forge a sense of family and camaraderie, no matter if one was a player or manager.
Houegban added that he has built strong relationships with his now-teammates, with no one seeing him as lesser for being a manager.
“I remember when I first got here, he was a manager, … but just seeing his progress over the past year, seeing him work – I would come in at night, I would see him working in the gym – so it was definitely cool to see that,” said senior forward/center Xavier Booker. “He deserves it. He put in a lot of work last year. He’s probably put in work his whole life for this. Seeing the work up close and up in person – watching him grow every day – it’s been cool to see. I’m definitely proud of him. I’m sure he’s proud of himself.”
Through all of this, Houegban still recalls the moment he learned of his promotion.
Houegban said he was told by an assistant coach before a summer workout that the team was proud of all he had done and was thankful for his help. However, an NCAA rule against managers walking on to the team they work for made it so that Houegban and UCLA spent about two months before anything official could happen, with all parties sorting through paperwork.
Houegban added that he was told the previous three people who tried to appeal the NCAA were not accepted.
Nevertheless, now an official Division I athlete, the 6-foot-4 guard said there has not been much of an adjustment, citing that Cronin often coaches managers the same as players.
“The biggest thing is the feeling of having a jersey and all that,” Houegban said. “I was working just as hard before and bettering myself in the same fashion before I was officially on the roster.”
While yet to score his first official points, Houegban saw just shy of a combined four minutes of playing time across the Bruins’ two exhibition games in late October.
Coming in at the end of the games, he attempted four total shots but has yet to score a basket.
In UCLA’s first preseason match, his late-game substitution and single 3-point attempt were met with a positive rallying cry from the Bruin bench and the Pauley Pavilion crowd, supporting his story and anticipating his first bucket in the blue and gold.
Although Houegban’s first attempt was off, it is hard to imagine Westwood will not become rambunctious when the Bruin – whom many would consider as having been one for three years, instead of one – captures his first points.
“It’s amazing,” Houegban said. “When coach called my name, and I ran to the table, the amount of voices I heard screaming and cheering, it made me feel so appreciated. And all the people reaching out to me – people on Twitter wondering if I’m going to score my first points – it really feels like I matter. … There’s no better feeling.”
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