Arizona Compass (AZ) junior guard Kalek House is in the midst of a breakout season for the Dragons and in December’s Chosen 1’s Invitational event in Las Vegas, he showcased his ability to orchestrate the offense, knock down shots, rebound, and wreak total havoc for opponents on defense.
In this interview with Pro Insight’s Tyler Glazier, the two connected to discuss Kalek’s basketball journey, his game, goals for this season, what he’s learned from his father Eddie House and older brother Jaelen House, being a #dawg, and more.
For the next installment of the Pro Insight Q&A series, we present 2026 guard Kalek House from Gilbert, AZ:
Pro Insight: Talk about your basketball journey — how did you get to where you are today?
Kalek House: It starts with my family — three of my family members have played in the league [NBA], so we were around it and we picked it up at an early age and we’ve been going ever since.
PI: You guys (Arizona Compass) just defeated Brewster Academy — you’ve had a slower start to the season even though you’ve been competitive — how bad did you want to get this win tonight?
KH: Well, we wanted to get the win for ourselves honestly because we know a lot of the games we’ve lost were on ticky-tack mistakes and this game we knew we had to execute and be perfect. We did that and we got the win.
PI: How would you describe your strengths as a player?
KH: I like to get downhill sometimes, and if my shot isn’t falling then I don’t let it phase me. I play defense. I play defense all of the time, get rebounds, steals, talk to my teammates, and stuff like that.
PI: You have elite defensive instincts — does that come naturally or is that something you’ve put a lot of work into?
KH: I put in work for sure. I always want to guard the best player. I feel like I have it in me, I have that dog in me on defense and I just want to win every game.
PI: Any player you like to study, defensively?
KH: Jrue Holiday [Boston Celtics] mainly because he runs the point, too, and he defends the best players every time and runs the offense well. I like to watch him a lot.
PI: Which positions do you feel like you can defend at the high school level?
KH: I feel like I can defend 1-4 at the high school level for sure and 1-3 at the next level.
PI: Do you feel like you guard up the lineup pretty well?
KH: Yeah, the teams we’ve played recently have had some tall people — we played St. John Bosco (CA) at a tournament recently and I was guarding Brandon McCoy, Jr. I like the challenge — I’m up for it every time.
PI: Talk about your offensive development — it feels like you’ve been able to do more on that end over the past year, or so.
KH: Yeah, I just let it come to me. I don’t go out there hunting for stuff. I just let it flow with the game and it’s going to come to me eventually.
PI: Can you talk about some of the more underrated aspects of your game?
KH: I feel like I’m an underrated point guard, honestly. Like, we had Jeremiah Green just go down and he was running the point guard spot and he was doing well for us and I just want to pick up where he left off and keep playing well for us.
PI: What was it like playing in the Dolby Live venue tonight? [Primarily used for concerts, the court was set up like a stage with spotlights]
KH: It gave everyone a lot of hype, honestly. Like the energy here was just crazy and it brought fire out and we just wanted it more.
PI: What are some of your goals this season?
KH: We want to win Chipotle Nationals and personally I want to get into the top-50, for sure.
PI: What led to the decision to transfer to AZ Compass? What are you hoping to get out of the experience?
KH: Arizona Compass is a prestigious place — they produce pros — they work every day, so we [he and his twin brother Kaden] knew our basketball game was going to develop. It was really just a mindset thing — we want to get to the next level, so we wanted to take the next step to get there.
PI: What’s the latest in terms of college interest and offers?
KH: Right now I talk to Coach [Danny] Sprinkle at Washington, so it’s mainly Washington.
PI: What’s been their recruitment message to you?
KH: So when they first offered us back in June at Section 7, we talked to one of their assistants and he was saying he likes our game. We showed out there, so he was saying how much he likes our game. From there, Coach Sprinkle started talking more with us.
PI: Outside of basketball, what do you like to spend your time on?
KH: Really there’s not much outside of basketball. I’ll hang out with my friends sometimes, but at Compass we’re there from 6AM-6PM every day…so you just got to really want it. There’s not really like an ‘outside life.’
PI: So you’ve embraced the grind?
KH: Yeah, you’ve got to. I mean you’re in it every day so you’re either going to fold or you’re going to overcome.
PI: Have you always had that type of approach?
KH: I feel like early in my years I was just kind of going through the motions…but recently, like the past two years, I’ve realized that it’s getting real and that I have to step on the gas.
PI: What do you mean by “getting real?”
KH: ‘Getting real‘ as in people are playing and you’ve got to show that you really want it — and I really want it.
PI: Your father and older brother have obviously both played basketball at a high level — what type of advice do they offer you?
KH: Well my brother Jaelen is mainly like “just stay level-headed” because we both have a defensive instinct and we like getting hyper and energetic sometimes, but you just have to stay calm, breathe and everything will go good. My dad tells me to be myself and to play hard.
PI: What’s a hashtag you’d use to describe yourself on/off the floor?
KH: #Dawg. D.A.W.G.
PI: Why’s that?
KH: You can see it on the court. I do everything to win. Anything to help my team win, I’m going to do it.
PI: Ideally, where do you see yourself in five years?
KH: I see myself in the league being a point guard, defending and hitting open shots. But mainly being a point guard who runs the offense, being one of the best defenders in the league, being able to knock down the 3 ball and do what I do.
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