Men's Basketball Signs Transfer Guard Will McClendon
4/28/2026 1:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball head coach Griff Aldrich has announced the signing of graduate student guard Will McClendon from North Texas ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
McClendon is a 6-3 guard originally from Sacramento, who played this past season at North Texas after beginning his collegiate career with stops at UCLA and San Jose State.
"We are excited about Will joining the Pepperdine Basketball family as he will be an outstanding addition to the program," said Aldrich. "An exceptional playmaker and versatile guard, Will has the ability to impact the game in many different ways. A multi-dimensional offensive threat, Will scores, facilitates and creates for others - while also providing us with a physical presence on the defensive end. We look forward to his positive impact on our program both on and off the court!"
McClendon played in four games for the Mean Green this past season before suffering a season-ending injury in November. He averaged 13 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in the limited action, while shooting 45% from three-point range.
As a redshirt junior at San Jose State in 2024-25, McClendon appeared in 24 games for the Spartans, each as a starter, before missing the final 10 games of the season due to injury. He was the second-leading scorer for the Spartans, averaging 12 points per game to go with 3.3 boards and 2.8 assists. He scored in double figures 17 times, with a career-high 22 points against UTEP while making five of eight threes.
McClendon began his collegiate career at UCLA, spending three seasons with the Bruins from 2021-24. He played in all 33 games with four starts in 2023-24, averaging 4.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. McClendon ranked third on the team in three-pointers made with 28, while shooting at a 35.4% clip from deep. He appeared in 27 games for the Bruins in 2022-23, after redshirting the season prior due to injury.
A native of Sacramento, McClendon played his high school basketball at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas as a four-year varsity letterwinner. During his time with Bishop Gorman, the squad was ranked as high as No. 6 nationally as he won three straight Nevada State Championships from 2017-19. McClendon averaged 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 2019-20, earning MaxPreps Junior All-American honors along with All-Southern Nevada claims. He finished his high school career as a consensus top-100 recruit and was the No. 3 ranked high school player coming out of Nevada.
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Pepperdine men's basketball has made 13 NCAA postseason appearances while earning 12 WCC Regular-Season Championships and three WCC Tournament Championships in its history. This success has spanned multiple decades, with the Waves most recently winning the 2021 CBI Tournament. The program has also seen 19 All-Americans along with 19 NBA players, which included a streak of 34 consecutive seasons with at least one alum on an NBA roster from 1976-2011.
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