House at home: Former Lobo wins MVP in college all-star game in hometown

It was a happy homecoming for UNM Lobo guard Jaelen House on Friday in Glendale.

The Phoenix-area native had a game-high 16 points and earned MVP honors in leading his West team to an 87-75 victory in the Reese’s-NABC College All-Star Game played State Farm Stadium in Glendale, site of this weekend’s Final Four.

“It’s at my house,” Jaelen House said in a postgame interview when asked about playing in the game. “So, I mean, it was only right that I play here.”

House is the second UNM Lobo in a row to earn MVP honors in the NABC All-Star game after former Lobo Morris Udeze did so in 2023 in Houston, also a homecoming for him. Udeze had a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double.

House’s 16 points came in 23 minutes on the court, off 6-of-8 shooting (he hit two of his team’s eight 3-pointers) and he had three rebounds, four assists and one steal. The West roster outscored the East by 22 points in the 23 minutes House was on the floor.

“(I approached it) just like a real game,” House said. “I’m not going out there to bull----. I’m going out there to play my real game, and that’s what I did.”

So, what was it about the loose, all-star-game format that let House feel so comfortable?

“Just playing my game, honestly,” he said. “I just seen that they were dropping on pick-and-rolls and stuff, so just attack the bigs and when they were sagging off or going under (screens) on my shot, just shoot the three.”

House, who won the Mountain West Tournament MVP award one month ago after leading the Lobos to becoming the first team to win four games in four days to earn the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, played his first two collegiate seasons at Arizona State before transferring for the past three seasons to play at UNM. There, in addition to earning his degree last year, he plastered his name near the top of several all-time Lobo statistical categories despite playing just three seasons, including all-time scoring (11th with 1,561 points), steals (second with 224) and assists (ninth with 395).

After the recent loss to Clemson in the NCAA Tournament, House moved back to the Phoenix area with his girlfriend and daughter.

He is working out and preparing for his upcoming professional basketball career.

“I’m just trying to figure out what agent I’m going to get — get the best fit for me, somebody that’s gonna take care of me, get me the most money,” House said. “(And I’m) just working out, getting better, getting stronger. That’s really it.”

He also said he hopes this week showed NBA scouts he can play at a high level on both ends of the floor, but added, “if you watch my film, you would know that so I think some of these NBA guys just need to do some research.”

House also admitted Friday’s final college game was much better than his previous “final” college game — the Lobos’ 77-56 loss on March 26 to Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In that game, TV cameras showed him sitting on the bench frustrated.

“Squirting my water bottle, yeah,” House recalled. “I’m glad I got to leave on a win and not a loss, though. … But I’d rather have experienced this as a Lobo instead of as a Reese’s All-Star … yeah, a Reese’s All-Star.”