“It’s hard to put into words.” says SDSU assistant men’s basketball coach JayDee Luster.
What being a coach back in his hometown feels like for the former 3-time high school All-American at Hoover high brings about a lot of things for Luster entering just his fifth season on the Mesa.
“Being a San Diego guy and wearing this SD on my chest—there’s a lot of passion that comes with it, there’s a lot of pride that comes with it. It’s really been a blessing to be able to come home and share these moments like going to a National Championship, going to a Sweet-16 here with my family. My grandparents live here, my aunties & uncles, everyone lives here. And in my journey I had to work to get back here.”
JayDee was one of those guys that always knew he wanted to be a coach. He sat back towards the end of his playing days and took a good look at how all these guys were becoming coaches at such an early age. The answer he discovered—put an end of any idea playing overseas and get to grinding in the classroom.
“You may lose money early, but you’ll get it back on the back end.” was the focus for the young Wyoming graduate.
He then went to work with Sean Miller’s staff at the University of Arizona as a graduate assistant. Next his journey took him to the staff at Bradley University across the country in Illinois.
He learned early on that this was indeed a business and you have to produce. That step was cut short after only a year when his head coach Gino Ford was fired.
Going to the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks organization for one season in the development staff helped him learn about how the professional game is all about a partnership mentality rather than playing for a coach. That partnership relationship between players & coaches is something that has helped his perspective as the college game assimilates into the more professional mindset.
It’s more of a how can I help you mindset.
“Even when Magoon was still in the portal. Whenever he would call me or his family would call me for advice, I would still do my best to help him and walk him through that. Even if that meant him going to the Kentucky’s or Michigan. or wherever that was because it’s truly about him being successful in life. We never close that door as far as trying to assist and help.”
April Fool’s Day 2025 was one of the happiest days of Luster’s career getting the official word that Magoon Gwath, the freshman of the year for the Mountain West, was taking his name out of the portal. It’s either NBA or the Montezuma Mesa for the talented 7 footer.
“We gave him the information why we thought it would be good for him to come back to San Diego State. That’s a testament to his family and Magoon as an individual. That’a s lot of maturity on his part. His family has strong values and they saw the bigger picture and decided to come back to San Diego State.”
But with the month of April halfway over and the portal deadline slowly approaching Luster is prepared to expect the unexpected. Admittedly he still keeps an eye on the portal everyday—just to be ready in case something happens.
With the MESA RELOADED Campaign timed just right for the closing of the transfer portal, SDSU is locked in to securing the best team possible.
Sons of Montezuma spoke candidly with Coach JayDee Luster in a full exclusive interview. To hear or watch the full interview be sure to subscribe to the Sons of Montezuma YouTube channel where we will preview this dynamic conversation with Coach Luster Monday evening at 7pm PST.
And to make sure you contribute to the SDSU NIL efforts of retaining this talented team you can give directly to MESA’s RELOADED campaign today.
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