Walking across the stage at Friday’s University of California-Davis graduation brought Selah’s Elijah Pepper one step closer to the start of his professional basketball journey.
The Sociology major with an emphasis in law and society finished his college career as the school’s all-time scoring leader, the Big West Conference player of the year, and the top collegiate scorer in Yakima Valley history. All those accomplishments, along with the added benefit of Australian citizenship, earned Pepper a two-year contract with the Australian National Basketball League’s Perth Wildcats.
“When I think back on (my college career) I think I just smile and laugh because I’ve enjoyed every second of it and I’m happy I stayed here and I wouldn’t trade this place for the world,” said Pepper, whose dad, Ryan, played professionally in Australia after a standout career at Central Washington. “I’m excited to get over there and kind of explore a new culture and just meet new people and have a great time over there, win some games.”
Reaching the NBA remains the ultimate goal for Pepper, who carried the Aggies to their first conference tournament title game appearance since 2017 last March. His contract with Perth would allow him to leave for an NBA contract, should the opportunity arise, and he’s hoping to perform in workouts for teams and potentially even play in the Summer League before the NBL’s rookie workouts start in late June.
Pepper’s looking to keep improving his game, particularly when it comes to foot speed and defense. He’s well aware of the chance to open NBA doors while playing for Perth, which last season featured 19-year-old French center Alex Sarr, a potential No. 1 pick in this month’s NBA draft.
“I think every NBA team took a week out there to go visit him and see the team and stuff like that,” Pepper said. “So it’s good to just have eyes on Perth as a whole and then they have those connections already and that helps.”
Dedicated to Davis
Loyalty kept Pepper in Davis, Calif., for five seasons while thousands of other college basketball players hit the NCAA’s transfer portal, and it also helped him find a roster spot in Australia.
The Selah standout drew significant interest from Santa Barbara assistant John Rillie, one of the first college coaches to reach out during Pepper’s prolific high school career. Even when Pepper decided to go to UC Davis, Rillie stayed in touch.
“He’s Australian, my mom’s Australian, so he would after a game message them and joke with them a little bit and stuff like that,” Pepper said. “So he’s maintained that good relationship with not only myself, but also my parents and family as well, so that goes a long way.”
Pepper steadily progressed from a freshman role player in the Aggies’ starting lineup to the Big West’s leading scorer as a fourth-year junior. He proved to be much more than just a sharpshooter, able to put up points in many different ways while also grabbing rebounds and contributing on the defensive end.
Meanwhile, Rillie moved back to Australia after accepting his first head coaching job at Perth. The 1995 West Coast Conference tournament MVP for Gonzaga knew what Pepper could bring to a team and suggested Australia could be the ideal place for his development.
The two-time CWAC MVP benefited from an extra season in college thanks to COVID-19, although health and safety protocols forced the cancellation of more than a third of UC Davis’ games during the 2020-21 season. Pepper still easily broke the school’s career steals record shortly after he moved to the top of the points leaderboard by putting up 21 in a win over UC Merced last December.
“The all-time Davis record was super emotional for me because I was able to do it at home, and then the fact that I was able to celebrate it with my teammates,” said Pepper, who finished with 2,284 career points, 30 more than his dad’s Valley collegiate record. “The second I hit it, I think we called timeout, all the guys ran on the court and basically showered me.”
After an early stretch of five losses in six games, Pepper said the Aggies focused on defense to turn their season around. He provided plenty of offense and despite regularly facing “junk defenses” and double teams, Pepper put a priority on better shot selection to improve his 3-point percentage to 37% with more than eight attempts per game.
He finished with 20.7 points per game and ended up just 28 points shy of the Big West scoring record held by former NBA guard Lucious Harris. Pepper said the Aggies felt destined to win a championship after knocking off Hawai’i in the semifinals, but they lost 74-70 to Long Beach State to end Pepper’s historic college career.
“I chose to be faithful to Coach (Jim) Les and UC Davis because they believed in me from the very beginning,” Pepper said. “Never missed an AAU game. They stayed committed to me, my family.”
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Returning home
Adjusting to international rules while joining older and more experienced players on the court will put Pepper in a significantly different role than the one he grew into at UC Davis.
The 6-foot-4 guard’s confident he can handle the extra physicality, although he acknowledged the added challenge of finishing around the rim against bigger, stronger opponents. He’s expecting the tougher adjustment will be adapting to a faster pace, as well as the professional environment he’s dreamed of joining his whole life.
“In college your teammates are your best friends, like you’re enjoying everybody, you’re having a good time,” Pepper said. “But professional this is your livelihood. They’re not there to mess around, they’re there to win championships and the guys that are your teammates, they might not be your best friends.”
He’s ready to embrace that new atmosphere and eager to learn all he can, though he’s grateful that won’t include a different local language. Many NBL observers believe Pepper’s set to make an immediate impact, but he’s not taking anything for granted and said he’s ready to work his way up the Wildcats’ depth chart.
That will mean playing a complementary role to former Providence standout Bryce Cotton, who won his fourth league MVP award last season and has won seven of the previous eight NBL scoring titles. Cotton’s led Perth to three championships since 2017, providing Pepper an ideal mentor.
“It’s great experience for me and I’m excited to learn from somebody like himself,” Pepper said. “It’ll be a little different for me considering I’ve never had that full MVP star to play (alongside). Coming in as a rookie you’re not going to be that go-to guy.”
The Wildcats will benefit from Pepper’s Australian citizenship, since he was born in Shepparton, near Melbourne. That gave the team the ability to sign Pepper without putting him in one the three import spots available for foreign players on the roster.
After a brief career with the NBL’s Hobart Chargers, Pepper’s father, Ryan, played for the Shepperton Gators in a semiprofessional league called the Big V. While there he met his wife, Danielle, who worked for the company that owned Shepparton’s gym, and the two moved their new family back to Selah when Elijah was four years old.
He’s already connected with multiple team staff members in Perth, including the Wildcats’ strength and conditioning coach. The only team located in the western half of Australia boasts one of the league’s best fanbases and drew an average attendance of nearly 11,500 last season.
Pepper’s planning to leave for rookie training camp in Australia in late July, after the end of the NBA’s Summer League. Perth’s season begins Sept. 20 vs. South East Melbourne.
“I’ve got to stay humble,” Pepper said. “I’ve got to know there are things I’m working towards as well. I want to win accolades, championships, make as much money as I can, so there’s a lot of things that myself and my family are super thankful for.”
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