June 10, 2011
For participants in the upcoming WCAL basketball season, they better bring an interior game if they plan on being competitive. Mitty will have Aaron Gordon and Neil Vranicar, St. Francis will have Drew Dickey, Bellarmine will have the Thomas brothers, Sacred Heart Cathedral will have Josh Fox and Taylor Johns, St. Ignatius will have Stephen Domingo, and the list goes on and on. The Serra High Padres will be bringing up 2013 center Matt Jajeh to counter these opponents' post players.
At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Jajeh can bench press 210 pounds, squat 315 pounds, and has a vertical of 22 inches. He has a wingspan of 79 inches and expects to top out at 6-foot-7. With these attributes, his teammates call him the Enforcer.
Last year on the junior varsity squad, he led his Padres to a 14-0 record where he averaged 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 assists per game. Jajeh is a power player who is not afraid of getting physical with opponents. As a result, he models his game after Dwight Howard because he is strong and dominant in the post and is always a presence down low on defense and on the boards.
His low post defense and rebounding is very solid at his grade level. His footwork and post moves are varied and effective but he still plans on working on his footwork and quickness during his downtime. Serra will have Henry Caruso and Stephen Grosey in the interior in addition to Jajeh for next season.
During this summer, he is playing for his Oakland Kings 16U club team. Oakland Kings Coach D'Angelo Zamora was aware of Jajeh because Zamora's son, Jos'af, is a Serra teammate. Coach Zamora says, "Matt's strengths are that he is being vocal down low and is a strong defender. He does all of the dirty work for us that includes rebounding, defending, and offensive put backs. He controls the paint with his size and his counterpart, Wyvone Birden 6-foot-3 and 270 pound freshman!"
At the recent Memorial Day Classic in Hayward, Jajeh displayed his interior presence. His Oakland Kings won the Varsity White Division title while he earned MVP honors.
Coach Zamora continues, "Coach Darnell McCulloch nominated Matt for team MVP! Off the court, Matt is a great, young man with a lot of personality. He really has funny jokes before every game but is all about business when the game begins. He is a true Leader and Warrior. I knew what this kid had because I seen him and my son lead Serra JV to their first undefeated season in school history."
After this summer season and a year on varsity, Jajeh should be getting more college contact as he has none yet. He sports a 3.90 GPA as math and science are his favorite subjects and he would like to study to become an anesthesiologist.
His interest in medicine is related to his own bleeding disorder called hemophilia. The condition does not affect his play on the court but off the court he has to take extra time to avoid serious injuries or any complications. His individual goal is to be a starter at Serra and help the team to make a deep playoff run.
Watch for Jajeh crashing the boards on his Oakland Kings summer team. Then, watch for Jajeh enforcing the paint in San Mateo this upcoming WCAL season. Finally, watch for Jajeh on the college level in 2013.
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