Nov. 14—Jaedyn De La Cerda has enjoyed her share of great moments at the Pit, but her return Wednesday night will be something different.
De La Cerda, the former University of New Mexico and Roswell High School star, will be seated on the north bench as an assistant coach/director of operations for visiting Texas A&M Commerce — UNM's opponent Wednesday.
It's a new role for De La Cerda, who joined the Lions' staff over the summer after playing professionally for two seasons in Australia. De La Cerda was "recruited" for the position by first-year TAMC coach and longtime UNM assistant Valerie King. De La Cerda said she was delighted to get the call.
"I was super excited to get an opportunity to coach with Val," De La Cerda said, "especially when she chose me for the job. She called and offered me the position and said, 'I'll give you two weeks to think about it.' I didn't need two minutes for that one."
As a player, De La Cerda was the first recruit to commit to UNM after Mike Bradbury took over as head coach in 2016. She went on to become the first in-state player to win both a prep state title and a Mountain West women's championship at the Pit.
The latter was a bit surreal as De La Cerda dropped to the Pit floor and made "snow angels" in a pile of confetti after the Lobos defeated Colorado State on March 5, 2021 to secure a regular-season championship. There were no fans in the arena and it was one of just two home games UNM played that season due to COVID.
Always a fan favorite, De La Cerda finished her Lobo career as the program leader in wins (105), among the top 10 in points scored (1,409) and a two-time All-Mountain West honoree. Still, Bradbury said he's a bit surprised to see De La Cerda coming back to the Pit as a coach in 2023.
"We'd talked about her getting into coaching the last couple years she was here," he said, "but I really thought she'd still be playing. Jaedyn loves the game as much as anybody."
De La Cerda said that might have been the case had King not contacted her.
"Playing in Australia was a good learning experience," she said, "but my team was not the best and I'm so used to winning. I'd done some camps and started to realize I liked working with younger players, so when Val called it felt like the right time."
De La Cerda said she goes to the TAMC rec center to fill an occasional basketball fix, but she's now thinking about coaching as a potential career. In the meantime, she's looking forward to a Pit reunion — one that will mean squaring off against Bradbury and former teammates Nike McClure and Jaisa Nunn, who are now Lobo assistants.