By: Hayden Wysup 
 
Jaylen Wells, one of the Cougs' newest transfers, is a junior entering his first year here at Washington State, however his path here isn't like most.   
 
Jaylen played high school basketball at Folsom High School in Sacramento, California. However, Jaylen didn't make his school's varsity roster until his junior year.  Jaylen described his early time in high school basketball as, "freshman year I was 5'8, all I did was shoot and stand in the corner.  I was on the JV team and was probably the 15th man.  Then my sophomore year I still didn't start on JV."  Jaylen wouldn't start his first high school varsity game until his junior year.  When COVID hit at the end of Jaylen's junior year, he continued to work hard and better his game. 
 
"I probably worked the hardest I ever did," Jaylen reflected. "I think some people might've gotten a little lazy, got a little down with circumstances of COVID. I never grew as a player as much as I did in that two years.  I went from averaging seven or eight points to averaging 28."   
 
All that work Jaylen put in paid off as he was awarded the 2021 Sierra Foothills League MVP, won the 2021 Sac Bee All-Metro Player of the Year, won the 2021 Folsom High School Athlete of the Year, and was named second team all-state. 

Despite all the work Jaylen put in and the success he saw his senior year, this didn't translate to the high-major recruiting attention Jaylen could've hoped for.  Jaylen played for Sonoma State, a Division-II school in California.  
In his first year at Sonoma State, Jaylen posted 12.6 points on 40.6% from the field and 26.3% from three.  His freshman year served as learning experience for Jaylen. 
 
"My freshman year was definitely a testing year, the coach at Sonoma gave me a huge role as a freshman.  That was big in my development, so I thank him and the whole program for that.  I was just able to get experience, figure out things that work going from high school to college and some things that work in high school that don't in college."  
 
Early on in his time at Sonoma State Jaylen picked up the hard work and sense of proving yourself that is present in a D-II program. "There's a lot of hungry people, even though we don't have the same amount of resources, same number of opportunities as D-I. Obviously being able to go from Sonoma to Washington State I see how different it is with how many more resources we get.  It inspires me knowing I came from that spot with less resources."  
 
In fact, Jaylen, an eventual All-American didn't even have a full scholarship with Sonoma State, "Most people don't know this, but I didn't have a full scholarship at Sonoma.  So, coming here, having a full scholarship is already a blessing itself." 
 
After a freshman year where Jaylen saw a lot of opportunity, he would take the whole conference by storm his sophomore year.  Jaylen averaged 22.4 points (led CCAA) on a staggering 51.7% from the field and 43.8% from three, as well as 8.7 rebounds per game (led CCAA).  Jaylen became more featured as the primary shot creator on this Sonoma State team. Jaylen attempted 183 more field goals last year, while taking on a larger offensive load, he improved his efficiency from the previous year and overall was an efficient scorer.   
 
Jaylen's success helped boast 10 more wins for Sonoma State.  Jaylen also helped lead Somona State to their first tournament win since 2017, in which he had a 29 points performance on 50% from the field against Cal Poly Humboldt.  Jaylen also had a signature performance where he scored 30 points on 9-12 shots against Cal Baptist, a Division-I school. 
 
Jaylen mentioned that this performance served as a statement game for himself. "I think for other coaches it proved that I can play at that level."  Jaylen ended the season winning CCAA Player of the Year, was named to All-CCAA First Team, D2CCA All-West Region First Team, and D2CCA All-America Third Team. 
 
Once Jaylen entered the transfer portal in early April, a multitude of schools were interested.  One of those being WSU and more specifically WSU's Assistant Coach Wayne Hunter.  Coach Hunter first remembers Jaylen when he was coaching at UC Riverside and Jaylen was still playing high school basketball.  However, Coach Hunter didn't really take notice of Jaylen until his sophomore year at Sonoma State. 
 
"I kind of forgot about Jaylen a little bit, until he went to the portal," Coach Hunter said. "I looked up his highlights and saw that he was a guy that dropped 30 points against Cal Baptist, and he was averaging about 21 and 9.  I just felt that he was someone who would be a good fit for us at Washington State. Once he went to the portal for me it was a no brainer.  I showed his highlights to Coach Smith and Coach was like, 'It has to translate to our level.'" 
 
Washington State wasn't the only school interested and they had to set themselves apart from the rest.  Despite that, it seemed WSU was always the right choice for Jaylen. 
 
"I had a lot of schools reach out to me all over the place," Wells remembers. "Washington State was the one that stuck out to me.  Coach Wayne, when he reached out to me - he's from Sacramento too, so we kind of connected there.  I felt like they believed in me, they were one of the first teams to reach out.  They connected with my family. They took further steps than other schools, so I knew it was always the right place."   
 
Even though Jaylen is now a D-I basketball player, he still says he has that chip on his shoulder. 
 
"I've had to prove myself each step I've taken.  I've never been that big name out there, big fish in the pond.  So just being a guy coming from D-II, I feel like going from Somona State to Pac-12 is not a common thing, so I feel like I definitely have something to prove." 
 
Coach Hunter even credited this sense of proving himself to Jaylen's high end work ethic. "I think it comes from him being a little under recruited and him feeling as if he's a guy that was forgotten about," Hunter said. "I think that's what fueled him throughout the end of his high school year and going into Sonoma State.  I felt as if he was that guy that was forgotten about, and he wanted to prove everyone wrong." 
 
As the season approaches, it seems Jaylen is already fitting in well at his new home. "I love Pullman. It's a small town but I like the culture of the place," he said. "You see the logo everywhere you go, you walk by some random people, and they'll say, 'Go Cougs!' I just love that part, the culture."   
 
Despite there being a lot of news guys on the roster this year, Jaylen says they're getting acclimated nicely too. "I'd say we're a family.  As soon as we got here in the summer we easily connected - hanging out with each other outside of basketball, on the basketball court.  It feels like a family here." 
 
Jaylen's story is one that shows constant resilience, dedication, and hard work. The mindset that got Jaylen here surely won't leave now that he's living out his dreams as a Division-I student-athlete. He has no intention of slowing down, and still has high aspirations for this year. 
 
"Honestly, I want to prove myself, but I want to win.  Go to the NCAA Tournament. It feels like there's a lot to prove."