Sonoma State basketball coach Rich Shayewitz remembers the moment he realized he was going to lose his best player.
The Seawolves — a Division II program in California — were playing Division I Cal Baptist on Dec. 18, 2022. The Lancers had Taran Armstrong, an Australian point guard who was getting buzz as a potential NBA draft pick. And while Cal Baptist eventually cruised to an 88-67 win, it was clear to Shayewitz that he had the best player on the floor.
That was Jaylen Wells, who scored a game-high 30 points.
“Let’s just enjoy it while we have him,” Shayewitz told his assistant coaches. “Because after tonight, it’s over.”
Shayewitz was right. Wells entered the transfer portal after that season, and a year later he became an NBA prospect after leading Washington State to its first NCAA Tournament since 2008. Last week, the Grizzlies selected him with the No. 39 pick in the draft.
Wells — the first former Sonoma State player drafted in the NBA — is now set to play in the NBA just a few years after he couldn’t even play Division I basketball. And after all that’s happened since that night in Riverside, Wells still can’t help from smiling when he thinks back on it. He remembers the difference playing against a Division I team, the bigger gym and louder music and greater sense of occasion.
But he also remembers the 30 points.
“That was probably one of my best games of the season,” he said this week. “Everything just kind of came natural to me.”
Wells was a late bloomer who entered high school at 5-foot-10 and had to play point guard because he couldn’t defend against bigger and more physical players. He didn’t make his varsity team until the end of his sophomore year.
A few growth spurts helped, though. But the time Wells graduated from Folsom High School he was 6-foot-7 and he grew another inch in college. Coach Mike Wall ended up with a tall, rangy wing, and Wells excelled during his final season.
But that season also came during COVID in the 2020-2021 school year. The season in Sacramento didn’t start until April, and the extra year of eligibility granted to college athletes meant there were fewer scholarships available to high school seniors. Wall tried to get Wells on the radar of Division I programs.
“It kind of felt helpless,” Wall said. “It felt like a secret you didn’t want to keep.”
Shayewitz wanted him, though, and Wells was willing to go to Sonoma. He joined a Seawolves team that struggled during his freshman season, going 3-25. Wells, known as an elite shooter, shot just 26.3 percent on 3-pointers.
That offseason he also worked on his shot. It set him up for a breakout season in 2022-2023, when Sonoma State’s improved roster meant less defensive attention for its best player. Wells averaged 22.4 points, but his most striking statistical breakthrough was in his 3-point shooting clip — 43.8 percent.
Shayewitz knew he was almost certainly going to lose Wells to the transfer portal after the season. They had breakfast a couple days after the season, and Wells told him he was leaving. Shayewitz and then-Washington State coach Kyle Smith had known each other for years, and Smith was impressed with Wells’ shooting ability. He soon convinced him to join the Cougars.
“About a week into workouts, I turned to my staff and said, ‘I think he might be a pro,'” Smith said.
Smith hadn’t been sure what he was getting in Wells. But he’d been impressed with what analytics had told him, and Wells earned more and more playing time as the season went along.
Wells averaged 12.6 points per game during his lone season in Pullman, but his 3-point shooting percentage helped get him on the NBA radar — 41.7 percent.
“He just hit so many big shots for us,” said Smith, who left after the season to become Stanford’s coach. “Seeing him perform under pressure was really important. Pressure, he responds.”
Smith told Wells and his team he was making a mistake by leaving for the NBA. Wells could’ve had another year of eligibility, and Smith thought he could further raise his draft stock by playing another year.
Wells getting drafted made Smith feel like Wells made the right call. He’ll have every opportunity to make an impact for the Grizzlies, who prioritized shooting in the draft with the selections of Wells and UConn’s Cam Spencer. If Wells can maintain that 3-point shooting number near 40 percent, he’ll have obvious value for a team that’s expected to contend in the Western Conference.
“If you asked me when I was a freshman at Sonoma State, I’d be thinking I’m gearing up for my fourth year at Sonoma State right now,” Wells said at his introductory press conference with the Grizzlies last week. “Being in this seat right now is kind of surreal.”
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
