One school, three coaches, five years: David Mager's Pepperdine story

By McKenzie Jackson · Sat Aug 01 2026

Senior guard turned a walk-on opportunity into a scholarship, and now hopes to lead a rebuilt Waves team

David Mager arrived at Pepperdine as a walk-on hoping to earn a scholarship. Five years later, he's entering his final season with the Waves as one of the rare college basketball players who has spent his entire career at one school.

“I didn’t have the mindset of ‘I’m a walk-on,’” said Mager, who scored nearly 30 points a game as a high school senior in New Jersey. “I thought about going hard at everyone in practice.” 

Mager, a 6-foot-4 left-handed guard with bounce, earned a scholarship after his freshman year and steadily increased his role over four seasons, leading Pepperdine with a .392 3-point percentage last season and scoring a career-high 25 points in one of their last games of the season.

Mager's years at Pepperdine make him an outlier in modern college basketball, where transfers have become commonplace. He'll also play for his third head coach when the season begins.

According to a May report from CBS Sports' Isaac Trotter, there were only 22 seniors on the 75 “Power 5” (Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, SEC, and ACC) men’s basketball teams who played on only one team throughout their college basketball careers last season. 

Mager acknowledged the uniqueness of his college basketball experience in an era when players frequently transfer schools, often with NIL opportunities factoring into their decisions.

“This is kind of crazy, especially considering the environment we are in with guys moving every single year,” Mager, who also has a NIL deal, said. “Me staying at one school 10, 15 years ago wouldn’t have been crazy. Now, it’s a crazy thing. This is just how it’s all worked out. It’s great though.” 

Mager considered transferring after graduating and after Pepperdine fired head coach Ed Schilling last spring. But new coach Griff Aldrich successfully recruited him back, setting up Mager's fifth season and a third coaching change.

“Everyone has a different style of play; everyone has different standards,” Mager said. “It is interesting to see but I’ve just had to adapt to whatever they need you to do.”

Mager averaged 4.4 points a contest in 10.2 minutes of action as the Waves finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 9-23 record. Mager and redshirt freshman guard Anto Balian are the only returning players on Pepperdine's roster, which was rebuilt by Aldrich and his staff.

Mager said the team is already tight-knit and wants to be a team leader. 

“If anybody needs anything I’m there,” he said. “I’m trying to help out the guys, show them what the school represents and means. This place means a lot to me. I want to show people what this school is about.”

The team had its first practices in June, and Mager believes the team can have a winning season. 

“I have a good feeling about this team,” he said. “I’m excited about this year. I’m excited about playing for Coach Griff.” 

Lorenzo Romar, who coached Pepperdine from 2018 to 2024, began recruiting Mager when he was in 10th grade. By his senior year at Dwight-Englewood School in New Jersey, Mager was averaging 27.1 points per game. During his visit to Pepperdine, he impressed Waves coaches in a pickup game and committed shortly afterward.

When Romar told Mager he would begin his Pepperdine career as a walk-on player, Mager recalled not truly understanding what that meant. Mager’s dad paid his tuition that season. Mager also sat out that season as a redshirt in order to still have four years of eligibility. 

Romar, Mager explained, didn’t treat him like he was a walk-on and told him he could earn a scholarship before his second season, so Mager was a confident player despite having to practice against teammates like 2023 NBA Draft selectee Maxwell Lewis. 

“My mentality was to show up every single day and do whatever I could to get on the court and prove my worth,” Mager said. “It was definitely a learning curve at first, going from being the top scorer in my state to having Max Lewis, an NBA Draft pick, in front of me. I learned a lot that first season with Coach Romar. That year helped me a lot with my development.” 

Schilling was hired to replace Romar after Mager’s first season. That summer, Schilling put Mager on scholarship.

“It was a really cool moment of my hard work paying off,” Mager noted. “Knowing what I know now about what a walk-on is, I don’t even know if I would have had the confidence to do what I did every single day. Realizing what that label is — that is tough to go from a walk-on to scholarship.” 

Mager averaged 1.2 points a game his redshirt freshman year, and 2.0 points per game the next season. Mager scored 12 points and snagged four rebounds in the Waves’ first game of the 2025-26 season and then scored 13 points two games later. In February, he scored 16 points on six-of-seven shooting — including three of four on 3-pointers — in Pepperdine’s loss to Oregon State on Feb. 21. Four days later, he splashed five of nine 3's and scored a career-high 25 points in a loss to Seattle. 

Mager said that stretch showed what he could do at the college level.

“I was really able to let loose,” he recalled. “I was able to show people what I was capable of doing. I shot 43 percent from 3 [3-point territory] in conference and proved what I was able to do.”

Mager — also known for leaping over teammates’ heads for tomahawk dunks during Pepperdine’s Orange and Blue Madness — placed his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal in the spring to see what other college hoops opportunities were available. However, Aldrich recruited him back to the team, saying Mager’s 3-point shooting and skillset would allow him the chance to play a lot of minutes and help Pepperdine win games. 

“He was on me every day,” Mager recalled of Aldrich’s recruitment efforts. “I’m grateful that Griff wanted me back as badly as he did. I didn’t know I was going to come back. I had my mind set elsewhere, but now I’m glad I did come back and I’m really excited to play for Coach Griff.” 

Mager said Romar encouraged him to become a better catch-and-shoot shooter and to simplify his moves. Romar and Schilling taught Mager how to impact the game without scoring and to pick his spots when to score. 

“I’m always going to be able to use things like that wherever I play,” Mager added. “How else can I affect the game? How else can I affect winning?” 

Schilling had the Waves play at a methodical pace. Aldrich, according to Mager, has preached playing at a faster pace and encourages Mager to shoot the basketball.

“Coach Griff’s practices are very tough in a good way,” Mager said. “We play hard; we play fast. The expectations are high. You have to meet the standards every day.” 

Gonzaga, previously a West Coast Conference perennial powerhouse, is no longer in the league, so Mager believes the revamped Waves have a chance to be successful and make the NCAA Tournament. He aims to play a big part in Pepperdine reaching that achievement. 

“My production has gone up every year,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having a breakout year. Toward the end of last year, I was able to spread my wings. I want to carry that momentum from last year to this year. I want to do whatever I can to help my team win games.”