The crowd at Pauley Pavilion erupted when senior James Diefenbach scored a layup on UCLA basketball Senior Day, March 7. Only a minute remained in the game, and the Bruins had already sealed an easy win over Oregon, but there was a moment of pure elation when Diefenbach dropped the ball through the hoop. The student section chanted his name.
Diefenbach sacrificed a starting role on the UCLA volleyball team for the chance to play UCLA basketball, but he didn’t do it for applause, attention or accolades.
“The main thing wasn’t to play,” Diefenbach said. “I didn’t come in here to get serious minutes. I just wanted to be a part of this program. I wanted to live this basketball life.”
In 2004, Diefenbach came to UCLA and joined the volleyball team, and he won a national title with the team in 2006. But before his final year at UCLA, Diefenbach switched teams. Now, a reserve forward on the UCLA basketball team, he plays an important role in practices but rarely appears in games.
The story of Diefenbach’s transition begins during the fall of 2006 when he first tried out for the basketball team with his volleyball teammate, Brett Perrine.
Diefenbach had played high school basketball at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, but two serious knee injuries hampered his career. He grew up a UCLA basketball fan, and he loved college basketball in general.
After the tryout, which UCLA assistant coach Scott Garson oversees, the basketball coaches told Diefenbach he made the team, but there was an issue. Because he was already on a volleyball scholarship, NCAA regulations prohibited Diefenbach from actually playing in a game that season. He could only practice and travel with the basketball squad.
Diefenbach joined the basketball team anyway and traveled to the Maui Invitational that fall.
“I’ll never forget the first time I held a Bruin basketball jersey that had my name on it,” he said. “That was the most surreal feeling.”
Still, Diefenbach returned to the volleyball team that winter for the 2007 season, when he became one of its most important players. In 2008, Diefenbach led the volleyball team in blocks, and coach Al Scates expected him to start this season.
But Diefenbach kept thinking about his basketball dream.
“I’d been playing volleyball the last four years, so I knew what to expect,” Diefenbach said. “And I love volleyball, I really enjoy playing it, but I just knew that if I didn’t take this chance to play basketball, I would really regret it.”
Ten years ago, Scates helped volleyball star Danny Farmer join the football team. Farmer became an All-American at UCLA and later played in the NFL.
“When Diefenbach told me he wanted to play basketball, I didn’t say “˜Oh no, don’t do that.’ I did not want to influence his decision,” Scates said.
Diefenbach was not promised a spot on the basketball team. He spent an entire summer conditioning, and then tried out for a second time in the fall. He was once again asked to join.
“It was a really hard situation,” Diefenbach said. “I loved my time playing volleyball. All my best friends are on the team, and they have a great group of guys. It was really hard to walk away from that.”
The volleyball team has struggled with injuries and a lack of depth this season, Scates said. Diefenbach would have helped because of his size and athletic ability, and his leadership skills.
“He is very vocal on the volleyball court,” Scates said. “We miss him a lot.”
Diefenbach said he will rejoin the volleyball team “the day after” basketball season ends, but neither he nor Scates is sure if Diefenbach will be able to adjust and contribute to the team immediately.
In switching to basketball, Diefenbach has already forfeited his volleyball scholarship. He received no scholarship from the basketball program.
Diefenbach has played in only nine games this season. He’s scored two baskets; both came in blowout victories. But Diefenbach believes he made the right decision. He relishes the overall experience, the opportunity to travel with the team and competing in practice against players who will one day reach the NBA.
Teammates Alfred Aboya and Josh Shipp both praised Diefenbach and said they were happy to see him score in the final minutes against Oregon.
“(Diefenbach) just loves the game of basketball,” Shipp said. “He does all the little things in practice for us every day. He’s a great addition to the team.”
In a basketball world in which star players like Shipp and Aboya are endlessly scrutinized, Diefenbach is almost invisible. Diefenbach joked about being so obscure. During one pregame shootaround in Berkeley, before the Bruins faced California, he was warming up with Shipp, point guard Darren Collison and shooting guard Michael Roll. Cal students, standing just a few feet away, heckled and taunted Shipp, Collison and Roll. The Cal students “were going nuts,” Diefenbach said.
No one said a word to Diefenbach.
“I’m not the one who people will point their fingers at, so I just try to do my best to stay positive out there and encourage all the other guys,” he said.
Diefenbach has traveled with the basketball team throughout the season, and he will be in Philadelphia this weekend for the NCAA Tournament. On the road, he rooms with fellow walk-on Blake Arnet, but he said he is friends with everyone on the team and that it is a very tight group.
Diefenbach is a serious student, and he has been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll seven different quarters. After he graduates this spring, he plans to attend law school. He has already received admission to law schools at Arizona State University and the University of San Diego. He is also considering UCLA, Cal and Washington, but he has not yet heard from those schools yet. For now, Diefenbach only wants to savor his experience in the NCAA Tournament.
“Growing up, March Madness was always my favorite time of the year ““ the thrills and all the shots at the buzzer,” he said. “Just to be a part of that, I know is something I’m going to take with me for the rest of my life.”
With reports from Farzad Mashhood, Bruin Sports contributor.