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The first bold theft for UC San Diego’s Hayden Gray, the Division I basketball leader in steals per game, happened as a kid. Gray targeted a Kobe Bryant-signed basketball his older brother collected at a basketball camp.
Brazen stuff.
“I was the annoying little brother,” Gray said. “He took it back real quick.”
Gray, who won a state title at Santa Fe Christian, laughed at the memory. His daring decision in the moment in no way foreshadowed a burgeoning crime spree.
Now, though?
Entering Sunday’s game at Idaho, Gray is averaging 3.7 steals, which is the most in the country by a healthy margin. He began with four in a season-opener against now-No. 23 San Diego State, sparking a run of at least four in eight of his first nine games for the 8-2 Tritons.
Five against Pepperdine.
Four against Sacramento State.
Two against Seattle.
Four against LaSalle.
Four against James Madison.
Four against Toledo.
Four against LaVerne.
Four against UC Santa Barbara.
The basketball-swiping drumbeat has been remarkably consistent. See ball. Pounce.
“I don’t think there’s one thing,” said Gray, when asked to offer a peek behind the defensive curtain. “I think my coaches do a good job of giving me the freedom to go make a play. And my teammates do a good job of covering me up if I don’t get it and rotate and fix it on the other side.
“I don’t think there’s a rhyme to it or a reason, but I have the freedom within our defense to go make plays.”
There’s more to Gray’s game, to be clear.
A 6-foot4 senior who transferred to UCSD a season ago after two seasons at Division II Azusa Pacific, Gray averages 10 points a game, has played the most minutes on the team and is one year removed from leading the Tritons in assist-to-turnover ratio.
There’s only one set of stats that make him singular in college basketball, however.
The toolbox that has produced all those steals is a comprised of length, anticipation, aggressiveness, tricky-to-teach feel and basketball IQ.
“We trust him to make good decisions,” Tritons coach Eric Olen said. “It’s not like he’s getting it half the time and half the time hurting our defensive possession. He’s able to do it kind of low risk. He picks situations where he has a good chance to get it without putting us in a disadvantaged situation.”
Understanding his ability to blend all the elements that flip possessions starts by rewinding a couple of seasons.
As a sophomore at Azusa Pacific, Gray piled up 55 steals against 47 turnovers. When he transferred to Division I a season later, he nearly did it again.
As a junior with the Tritons, he finished with 55 steals and turnovers. For each giveaway he committed, Gray created one in return.
“Hayden’s just about winning. He’s trying to help us win,” Olen said. “He understands that one of the ways he can really impact our team is being disruptive defensively.”
The culture of sports and basketball in particular values flash over substance. ESPN’s “SportsCenter” highlights incredible dunks. Who highlights steals?
Asked to pinpoint his best laced-up larcency, Gray paused.
“It probably was our last game (against Bakersfield),” he said. “It was a sideline out-of-bounds play. They threw it in and I got it in the backcourt. It’s a play that a lot of people let happen. OK, a team’s going to throw it in the backcourt and we’re going to set up on defense.”
Gray identifies the predictable and mundane, then makes the moment anything but.
“He has really good length and plays with a ton of anticipation,” Olen said. “He reads the game well. He has this ability to make plays both on and off the ball.
“All he cares about is winning. It’s like the cliche thing, it’s amazing what you can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit.”
Gray said the most singular part of his game involves continuous calculus.
“It’s about picking my spots, knowing the time and score, the foul situation,” he said. “There’s definitely factors that go into whether I’m more aggressive or less aggressive.”
Is it possible to keep up the absurd pace?
“I think it’s possible,” Gray reasoned. “I think the way we play defense allows me to make plays and go do it, but it’s not the first thing I’m thinking about. We’re focused on winning.”
It would be interesting to tell his family about his unique slice of a college basketball season.
“Sure, that would be pretty cool,” Gray said.
The much larger goal is doing damage in the Big West tournament and chasing a possible trip to the NCAA Tournament a season after becoming unshackled from a probationary period while transitioning to a full-fledged member of Division I.
Steal a bid?
“Last year we finished second (in the Big West), so we would have had that bye in the conference tournament, but we didn’t get to play in it,” Gray said. “So I think everyone kind of has a sour taste in their mouth because they know how good we were last year and had the pieces to do it.
“That’s fueled the fire a little bit.”
Protect your basketballs. Just ask his brother.
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