A Simple Twist of Fade
With JJ O'Brien, it's what's under the hi-top that counts.
This story is featured in the fall 2014 issue of 360:The Magazine of San Diego State University.
At San Diego State, JJ O’Brien has never been The Man.
He’s been a best supporting actor on a winning cast that starred Xavier Thames last season and Jamaal Franklin the year before.
But when O’Brien walks around campus, he gets the star treatment anyway. That’s what happens when you’re 6-foot-7 with a hi-top fade ’do and have helped the basketball program go 54-16 in the past two seasons with a trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
“Yeah, I’m easily recognizable,” said O’Brien, laughing. “If you see the hair, you know who it is.”
Though the hair got plenty of attention last season — from fans, the media and even Christopher “Kid” Reid, the Kid ’n Play star who helped make the hi-top fade a thing in the 1990s — it’s what’s under the follicles that counts.
Head coach Steve Fisher has called O’Brien “one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached.” O'Brien does the little things that add up to big wins, executing the perfect pass, getting a big rebound or making a key defensive stop. He knows great defense can be more significant than a thunderous dunk.
He’s been that type of player since starring at Alta Loma High in Rancho Cucamonga, where he is the school’s all-time leading scorer and learned to play every position on the floor.
“I took it upon myself to do a little bit of everything,” O’Brien said. “I just had a natural ability to do it: rebounding, passing, playing defense, scoring.”
Plus, he’s been a student of the game, soaking up information from coaches and his mom, a former high school standout and college player who watches all his games.
“Growing up I watched a lot of basketball. It wasn’t just fun to play, it was fun to study,” said O’Brien, who wants to coach at some point in his career.
Going into his last season — the senior has a degree in communications and is working on a master’s in educational leadership — he wants to play an even bigger role and share his basketball IQ. With his inside-and-out knowledge of Fisher’s systems, O’Brien wants to become “a leader by example.”
Last season, O’Brien played 35 of 36 games, averaged 7.8 points and 4.7 rebounds, and was all-conference honorable mention. Now he’s hoping both he and the team can improve enough to get to the Aztecs’ first Final Four.
And why not? SDSU has five straight NCAA Tournament trips, consecutive sell-out seasons at Viejas Arena, and the new Jeff Jacobs J.A.M. Center practice facility that will open in 2015.
Being a part of it all has been sweet.
“It’s nice to see that the hard work you’ve put in is paying off with great crowds and the new facilities,” says O’Brien. “It’s just adding to the prominence of San Diego State basketball.”
