Striking out at Michigan State helped Steven Jamerson II land at UCLA

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Long before he slipped on a UCLA jersey, intent on doing the dirty work for his new team, Steven Jamerson II found himself sweeping the floor of Michigan State’s basketball arena.

It had been pouring rain that day, sending water seeping into the Breslin Center. Jamerson, then a Michigan State freshman, picked up a squeegee mop and started cleaning up the place.

This was part of his fallback plan to become part of the Spartans’ basketball program.

Initially, Jamerson had wanted to walk onto the team but was told there were no tryouts. So he applied to become a team manager, leading to shadow days and that encounter with the mop.

He didn’t get the job, falling to 0 for 2.

“It was disappointing, for sure,” Jamerson, now the Bruins’ backup center, told The California Post. “It had me in a state of sadness — maybe depression — but at the same time, I enjoyed being at the actual university.”

On Tuesday, Jamerson will return to the place he once wanted to call his basketball home, intent on proving he belongs when the Bruins (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) face the No. 10 Spartans (20-5, 10-4).

“It’s going to feel like a full-circle moment, for sure,” Jamerson said. “My biggest goal is to showcase that I belong at this high of a level and to prove to those coaches, myself, and just everybody in my circle that I can be here and can put the work in and be great at the Power Four level.”

No matter what happens, it will be a reminder of a journey filled with detours.

After leaving Michigan State to spend three seasons playing for the University of San Diego, the 6-foot-10 Jamerson transferred to UCLA last spring. The goal was to show he could play in the Big Ten during his final college season.

Researching Jamerson in the transfer portal, Bruins coach Mick Cronin checked in with Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, a longtime friend who told his counterpart that Jamerson was the most underrated big man on the West Coast.

“He’s a huge steal for us,” Cronin said before the season.

Jamerson has provided spurts of defense and rebounding as center Xavier Booker’s backup, his impact exceeding his averages of 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game. He showed his toughness against Michigan on Saturday with a putback over Morez Johnson Jr., but once again struggled with foul trouble, limiting him to 16 minutes.

“I think I need to do more, you know?” Jamerson said earlier this month. “I’m always tough on myself, but so is everybody else on this team. We want to make sure that we’re the best players and coaches that we can be, so I think I can for sure be better in all of those categories.”

Attending UCLA has represented a homecoming for a graduate of Crespi High in Encino who once thought his future was in baseball. A shoulder injury in high school ended his pitching career, forcing him to change sports.

Jamerson picked Michigan State in part because it was where a close high school friend who hailed from Michigan wanted to go. Striking out in his efforts to join the Spartans’ basketball program didn’t spoil his devotion to the team.

He attended games at the Breslin Center, sitting in the lower bowl, marinating in everything required to play in the Big Ten.

“Physicality and defense, you know?” Jamerson said. “That’s what it takes to be at that level.”

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

The next summer, a trainer helped him take a massive step in that direction by connecting him with San Diego coach Steve Lavin. By the end of his three seasons with the Toreros, Jamerson had risen from a walk-on to full-time starter who ranked second in the West Coast Conference in rebounds.

But Jamerson never lost his love for Michigan State. He returned every spring break to visit friends, once running into Booker while Booker was in his final season with the Spartans. After both players agreed to become Bruins last spring, Jamerson stunned his new teammate by referencing 1855 Place, a student housing complex in East Lansing.

“He was like, ‘How do you know about that?’” Jamerson said. “I was like, ‘Bro, I used to be there.’”

He’ll be back Tuesday, surrounded by so much familiarity, yearning to show something new.