(Entering 2024-25 season)
JayDee Luster, a native of San Diego and 2007 graduate of Hoover High School, was named an assistant coach for the San Diego State men’s basketball program on August 27, 2021.
Luster’s responsibilities to the program include recruiting, on-court coaching, and skill development.
In his first three seasons on The Mesa, in which the Aztecs posted an 81-27 record, earned three NCAA Tournament bids, a pair of Sweet-16 appearances, including a run to the national title game in 2023. He has led the efforts to sign five four-star prospects: Miles Byrd and Elijah Saunders for the 2022-23 class, BJ Davis for the 2023-24 class Pharaoh Compton and Taj Degourville for the 2024-25 class, as well as three-star forward Miles Heide for 2023-24. In addition, he has played a major role in the recruitment of transfers Darrion Trammell (Seattle U), the 2023 NCAA Tournament South Regional Most Outstanding Player, and Micah Parrish (Oakland) for the 2022-23 campaign, Reese Waters (Southern California) who was the reigning Sixth Player of the Year in the Pac-12 and Jay Pal (Campbell), a member of the 2023 Big South All-Tournament Team, and most recently, for the 2024-25 campaign, Nick Boyd (Florida Atlantic), who led his team to the Final Four in 2023, Wayne McKinney III (San Diego), a second team All-WCC performer, and Jaden Coleman-Jones (Middle Tennessee State), a third-team All-Conference USA designee.
Luster arrived on The Mesa after spending five seasons as an assistant coach at the University of the Pacific (UOP). While at UOP, he helped a program that won just nine games the year prior to his arrival, into a team which posted double digit wins in three of the next four seasons, including a single-season best 23 victories in 2019-20. Through his guidance, Jahlil Trip scored 1,223 points, while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor, and grabbed 727 rebounds from 2017-18 to 2019-20, and 10 Tigers were All-WCC honorees in his time in Stockton.
For the 2015-16 season, Luster was a member of the staff of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks serving as a player development coach designing individual drills and workouts to develop players skills on a roster which included Dirk Nowitzki and Andrew Bogut.
Luster was at Bradley University for the 2014-15 school year and served as the program’s director of basketball operations. While with the Braves, he worked on advanced preparation of scouting reports, assisted with video coordination and operations, game day operations, and preparation of recruiting visits, both unofficial and official.
For the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, Luster was a graduate assistant at Arizona. In his two years on the Arizona bench, the Wildcats were 60-13 (.822), and reached the nation's No. 1 ranking for eight weeks during the 2013-14 campaign. In his first season at Arizona, the team went 27-8 and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. In his second season in Tucson, he helped the Wildcats to a 33-5 record, the 2014 Pac-12 Conference regular-season championship and a run to the Elite 8. Luster was responsible for advance preparation of scouting reports, assisting with video coordination and operations, assistance with game day operations and preparation of unofficial and official recruiting visits.
Luster’s collegiate playing career began at New Mexico State in the 2007-08 season. In his lone season in Las Cruces, he was on a team that posted a 21-14 record, 12-4 in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and shared the WAC regular-season title. He then transferred to the University of Wyoming, where he sat out the 2008-09 season due to NCAA transfer rules. For the next three seasons, all serving as a team captain, he competed for the Cowboys. His time in Laramie, Wyo., culminated in being named the 2012 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Luster finished his career ranked No. 8 in Wyoming history with 344 career assists and helped lead the Cowboys to a 21-12 record as a senior, and a quarterfinal appearance in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational. In each of these three seasons at Wyoming, he led the team in assists and his 11 assists versus Peru State College on Nov. 18, 2009, still rank as the fourth most in a game in Wyoming’s Arena-Auditorium history.
In six games against the Aztecs, while a member of the Wyoming program, Luster averaged 6.2 points, 3.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds. His most memorable moment playing against San Diego State came in Laramie on Jan. 9, 2010. Luster hit the go ahead 3-pointer with six seconds remaining in an 85-83 Cowboys victory. He played in 117 collegiate games and made 81 starts.
Luster was a San Diego prep star at Hoover High School, where upon his graduation in 2007, was the all-time leader in career assists and career steals with 857 and 559, respectively. Luster completed his high school career with 1,890 points and was a three-time Student Sports Magazine All-American, a three-time all-state selection, a two-time Central League Player of the Year, a four-time All-Central League honoree and the 2004 California Freshman of the Year. He led Hoover to two league titles, two California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) finals appearances and one CIF championship. In his four years, he averaged 19.5 points, 8.8 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.3 rebounds. When his senior season ended due to injury, he was averaging 23.3 points, 7.7 assists and 7.1 steals per game. As a junior, he led Hoover to a school record 28 wins (28-6) and its first CIF San Diego Championship in 44 years.
Luster earned bachelor’s degrees in social science (2011) and criminal justice (2012) at Wyoming and was awarded a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Arizona in 2014. He and his wife, Taija, have three boys, eight-year-old Kaius and four-year-old identical twins Jaxon and Jayden.
JayDee Luster, a native of San Diego and 2007 graduate of Hoover High School, was named an assistant coach for the San Diego State men’s basketball program on August 27, 2021.
Luster’s responsibilities to the program include recruiting, on-court coaching, and skill development.
In his first three seasons on The Mesa, in which the Aztecs posted an 81-27 record, earned three NCAA Tournament bids, a pair of Sweet-16 appearances, including a run to the national title game in 2023. He has led the efforts to sign five four-star prospects: Miles Byrd and Elijah Saunders for the 2022-23 class, BJ Davis for the 2023-24 class Pharaoh Compton and Taj Degourville for the 2024-25 class, as well as three-star forward Miles Heide for 2023-24. In addition, he has played a major role in the recruitment of transfers Darrion Trammell (Seattle U), the 2023 NCAA Tournament South Regional Most Outstanding Player, and Micah Parrish (Oakland) for the 2022-23 campaign, Reese Waters (Southern California) who was the reigning Sixth Player of the Year in the Pac-12 and Jay Pal (Campbell), a member of the 2023 Big South All-Tournament Team, and most recently, for the 2024-25 campaign, Nick Boyd (Florida Atlantic), who led his team to the Final Four in 2023, Wayne McKinney III (San Diego), a second team All-WCC performer, and Jaden Coleman-Jones (Middle Tennessee State), a third-team All-Conference USA designee.
Luster arrived on The Mesa after spending five seasons as an assistant coach at the University of the Pacific (UOP). While at UOP, he helped a program that won just nine games the year prior to his arrival, into a team which posted double digit wins in three of the next four seasons, including a single-season best 23 victories in 2019-20. Through his guidance, Jahlil Trip scored 1,223 points, while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor, and grabbed 727 rebounds from 2017-18 to 2019-20, and 10 Tigers were All-WCC honorees in his time in Stockton.
For the 2015-16 season, Luster was a member of the staff of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks serving as a player development coach designing individual drills and workouts to develop players skills on a roster which included Dirk Nowitzki and Andrew Bogut.
Luster was at Bradley University for the 2014-15 school year and served as the program’s director of basketball operations. While with the Braves, he worked on advanced preparation of scouting reports, assisted with video coordination and operations, game day operations, and preparation of recruiting visits, both unofficial and official.
For the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, Luster was a graduate assistant at Arizona. In his two years on the Arizona bench, the Wildcats were 60-13 (.822), and reached the nation's No. 1 ranking for eight weeks during the 2013-14 campaign. In his first season at Arizona, the team went 27-8 and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. In his second season in Tucson, he helped the Wildcats to a 33-5 record, the 2014 Pac-12 Conference regular-season championship and a run to the Elite 8. Luster was responsible for advance preparation of scouting reports, assisting with video coordination and operations, assistance with game day operations and preparation of unofficial and official recruiting visits.
Luster’s collegiate playing career began at New Mexico State in the 2007-08 season. In his lone season in Las Cruces, he was on a team that posted a 21-14 record, 12-4 in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and shared the WAC regular-season title. He then transferred to the University of Wyoming, where he sat out the 2008-09 season due to NCAA transfer rules. For the next three seasons, all serving as a team captain, he competed for the Cowboys. His time in Laramie, Wyo., culminated in being named the 2012 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Luster finished his career ranked No. 8 in Wyoming history with 344 career assists and helped lead the Cowboys to a 21-12 record as a senior, and a quarterfinal appearance in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational. In each of these three seasons at Wyoming, he led the team in assists and his 11 assists versus Peru State College on Nov. 18, 2009, still rank as the fourth most in a game in Wyoming’s Arena-Auditorium history.
In six games against the Aztecs, while a member of the Wyoming program, Luster averaged 6.2 points, 3.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds. His most memorable moment playing against San Diego State came in Laramie on Jan. 9, 2010. Luster hit the go ahead 3-pointer with six seconds remaining in an 85-83 Cowboys victory. He played in 117 collegiate games and made 81 starts.
Luster was a San Diego prep star at Hoover High School, where upon his graduation in 2007, was the all-time leader in career assists and career steals with 857 and 559, respectively. Luster completed his high school career with 1,890 points and was a three-time Student Sports Magazine All-American, a three-time all-state selection, a two-time Central League Player of the Year, a four-time All-Central League honoree and the 2004 California Freshman of the Year. He led Hoover to two league titles, two California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) finals appearances and one CIF championship. In his four years, he averaged 19.5 points, 8.8 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.3 rebounds. When his senior season ended due to injury, he was averaging 23.3 points, 7.7 assists and 7.1 steals per game. As a junior, he led Hoover to a school record 28 wins (28-6) and its first CIF San Diego Championship in 44 years.
Luster earned bachelor’s degrees in social science (2011) and criminal justice (2012) at Wyoming and was awarded a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Arizona in 2014. He and his wife, Taija, have three boys, eight-year-old Kaius and four-year-old identical twins Jaxon and Jayden.