Relationships key to new Perth signing

New Perth signing Elijah Pepper says his pre-existing relationship with John Rillie is a key reason as to why he’s signed for the Perth Wildcats as opposed to elsewhere in the NBL, and that maintaining those type of contact points are a crucial part of his identity as a basketball player.

Pepper will join Perth off the back of five seasons with collegiate side UC Davis, and his relationship with Rillie goes all the way back to when the now Perth head coach was employed as an assistant coach in the American collegiate system, and was attempting to recruit Pepper as a high school prospect.

The Wildcats’ newest recruit elected to declare for the NBA Draft last year, but eventually returned to UC Davis for a fifth and final season at the school.

“A big thing for me is maintaining and having good relationships, and what put Perth above the rest was I had that relationship with JR previously,” Pepper told SEN WA.

“That comfort to be able to play and know somebody being on the other side of the world.

“He maintained a relationship with not only myself but my family as well. When I declared for the NBA Draft last year he reached out and said he was the coach at Perth and would love to have me out there and get a conversation started if the NBA didn’t happen.

“Coming into this next year he reached back out and we kept that conversation going and decided it would be a great fit.”

Pepper finished his time at UC Davis with five seasons of playing eligibility completed and a bachelor’s degree in hand, and says his education was a key reason he did not elect to change schools through his collegiate career.

The 23-year-old’s appreciation for Aggies head coach Jim Les harks back to his prioritising of maintaining relationships that was evident in his selection of Perth as his first professional team.

“First off, it’s probably a top five public school in the nation, so if you get a degree from UC Davis, you get a job after basketball. Basketball doesn’t last forever,” he said.

“Second was Coach Les and the coaches always believed in me, and they were some of the first coaches to recruit me out of high school and they never missed an AAU game.

“At the end of last season, we talked about it and there was one thing left, and that was winning the Big West championship. We lost in the championship game this year, but I was proud to be part of the UC Davis Aggies and be with people who believed in me like they did.”