Freshman Jaelen House is off to a good start at Arizona State, where his father is a legend

May 21, 2024

The first time I asked Eddie House about his son was on Jan. 4, 2018. We were in Boulder waiting for Arizona State to tip off against Colorado. Eddie was working the game as a Pac-12 Networks analyst.

About two weeks earlier, his son, Jaelen House, a star point guard at Phoenix Shadow Mountain High, had committed to the Sun Devils, creating an irresistible storyline — the son attending the school where his father had set scoring records.

Eddie House is a legend in Tempe. His No. 5 jersey hangs in the arena rafters. As we sat in the CU Events Center, I asked Eddie what it meant to have Jaelen follow him to Tempe.

“He’s not following in my footsteps,” he said. “He’s making his own tracks. He’s carving out his own path. It just so happened that I went to the school. I had nothing to do with this decision. His decision was solely on the relationship he had with (the coaching staff). He feels comfortable with them. He sees how they let the guards play. Everything felt genuine. For him, it was a no-brainer.”

Twenty-two months later, Jaelen House walked to the scorer’s table, the first guard off the bench in his first ASU home game of the 2019-2020 season. Across the court, his dad watched from the first row.

Entering the season, no one knew for sure where Jaelen would fit in coach Bobby Hurley’s backcourt. Junior Remy Martin and senior Rob Edwards were established starters. Junior-college transfer Alonzo Verge was expected to play immediately. Hurley had only so many minutes.

Jaelen, however, forced his way into the mix, playing with aggression in practice, becoming an “irritant,” as Edwards described. In ASU’s opening contest, an 81-71 loss to Colorado in China, the freshman guard played 30 minutes off the bench, shooting 1-of-9 from the field but changing the game with his energy and defense.

In Thursday’s 90-49 win over Central Connecticut State, Jaelen was of the same nature. In 18 minutes, he collected 14 points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals. Even in a lopsided game, his energy was noticeable and contagious. Eddie House’s son was the quickest guy on the court, the one impossible not to watch.

“His on-the-ball defense and his instincts on defense, he had a play in the first half where he was like a defensive back,” Hurley said. “He kind of read their dribbler being out of control and he was off the ball. Then all of a sudden he stole it and we were going the other way. He did that against Colorado, too.”

To Jaelen, none of this is a big deal. It’s simply how he’s always played.

They’re different players, father and son. While Jaelen is making his mark defensively, Eddie House was a scorer from Day 1. After Thursday’s game, I asked Eddie if he remembered his first home contest in 1996.

“It was against Jacksonville,” I said.

“What’d I finish with?” Eddie said. “Twelve?”

“You had 17 points and eight assists.”

“I knew I had 17!” Eddie said. “I swear I was going to say 17. I do remember that, actually.”

House finished with 2,044 career points, but he’s probably most remembered for scoring 61 against California as a senior. I told him that I remembered him playing hard on offense, but not so much on defense.

“Well, I got the most steals in the history of this school, so I had to play some kind of defense,” House said. (He’s right. He had 258.) “I just played different D. (Jaelen) plays on-the-ball D. I played passing-lane defense, so I got steals in different ways and he applies pressure in different ways. But he’s better than me in every aspect at this point, as a freshman. I just shot better. And that’s how you want it. You want your kids to be better.”

A common quality: confidence. ASU radio analyst Kyle Dodd — who played with Eddie at ASU for one season — said he’s never seen anyone like him.

“I’ve never played or been around anybody more confident,” Dodd said. “I’ve never been around anybody that talked like him. He knew he was a walking weapon. And I think it rubbed off on us. We had six freshmen that year — it was Coach (Rob) Evans’ first recruiting class — and then Eddie. And we all knew that if we were playing with him we had to play with that same swag.”

Jaelen has it as well, and he’s not afraid to let people know. He’s already gained a reputation as the team’s biggest trash talker. When asked about it, he didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, you could say that,” he said.

At halftime, Eddie had run into Jaelen before the Sun Devils took the court for warmups. He told him: “Hey, man, being aggressive doesn’t mean you just look to shoot. Put pressure on them both ways. Be yourself out there. Be yourself.”

That’s become a theme. Eddie — who won championships during his 11 NBA seasons — isn’t worried about his ASU shadow because Jaelen long ago went a different basketball direction. He didn’t try to get by on his last name. Instead, he worked. Everything he’s got, he’s earned.

Asked how it felt to watch his son on this court in an ASU uniform, the proud father talked his way through it.

“Not really nervous. I wouldn’t say anxious, either,” Eddie said. “It’s just when it’s out of your control and you know what they can do and you want them to succeed — that’s the feeling. Nothing else. But if he just plays his game, he’ll be fine.”

(Photo: Doug Haller / The Athletic)

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