Son of NBA's Zaza Puchulia leads De La Salle into MLK Classic against California No. 6 team St. Joseph

Beyond all-around offensive skills, Davit Puchulia's biggest contributions may be an 'engaging, warm, welcoming' personality says his coach, whose inexperienced team is a surprising 17-2

De La Salle junior Davit Pachulia, oldest son of former NBA veteran Zaza Pachulia, is the Spartans leading scorer after slim playing time last season on De La Salle's North Coast Section Open Division championship team. / Photo by Sam Stringer

The measurement of Davit Pachulia’s game can be found all over the basketball court, says De La Salle coach Marcus Schroeder. 

The lights out three-point shooting — he made six of them en route to a career-high 29 points last week in a win over Dougherty Valley — the post up moves, the interior passing, the drives to the basket, are all impressive. 

The fact he is the son of a NBA player, 16-year veteran and two-time champion with the Golden State Warrior Zaza Pachulia, makes the 6-foot-4 junior not only a player of great interest but also a player with growing potential.

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He played little last season, sitting behind three All-League front line players, including the program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder Alec Blair, who is not at the University of Oklahoma. 

But now he’s the team’s leading scorer along with 6-7 senior forward Mariano Lopez-Aarden at just over 13 points per game heading into Monday’s 28th Martin Luther King Jr. Classic which De La Salle’s hosts. 

The Spartans, a surprising 17-2 after losing four starters off last season’s 28-5 team, face the sixth-ranked team in the state St. Joseph-Santa Maria (20-2) with tipoff slated for 4:20 p.m., the fifth of seven games on the slate.  

Pachulia has been coming on really strong, making a game-winning contested layup at the buzzer to beat Oakland 44-42 on Jan. 7 and earning Player of the Game honors Jan. 3 in the only boys game at the Sabrina Ionescu Showcase, a 53-21 win over Lodi.

De La Salle junior Davit Pachulia poses with WNBA star and Bay Area product Sabrina Ionescu after he was selected the Player of the Game Jan. 3, 2026 following a 53-21 win over Lodi, the only boys game in the Sabrina Ionescu Showcase. / Photo by Sam Stringer

“Davit is getting better and better and his body is getting bigger and stronger and quicker,” said Schroeder, the former St. Mary’s College associate head coach in his fifth season at De La Salle, where led the Spartans to their last state championship in 2006. “His conditioning and defense are his biggest areas of growth. But he’s already a dynamic offensive player.” 

Love of kids, basketball

Where Pachulia is also already evolved is revealed every time Schroeder brings his young children Ruth (age 6), Frank (4) and Dane (2) to practice. 

“He always makes sure to say ‘hi’ to them, engage with them, make them feel welcome,” Schroeder said. “He’s just got a real good, warm personality. He’s a real giver and fun to be around.” 

What could be more important than that? 

The apple apparently doesn’t fall far from the tree there, Schroeder points out, noting that Zaza, though not a favorite of opposing teams, was always wildly popular among teammates, as is Davit with the Spartans. 

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Zaza Pachulia attends almost every De La Salle game and has since Davit was a junior varsity player as a freshman, Schroeder said. 

Davit’s sophomore brother Saba began at De La Salle but transferred to Las Lomas-Walnut Creek, where he scored a team-high 22 points Tuesday in a 65-51 loss to Acalanes-Lafayette.

Zaza, Davit exude 'team and toughness'

“I have a great relationship with (Zaza),” Schroeder said. “He and (wife Tika) care way more about their sons’ personal development and well being than just basketball.” 

Sasa Pachulia doesn’t pry or overstep his parental bounds, says Schroeder, who soaks up any information the former Georgia national team player has to offer. 

“He obviously knows basketball and has played at the highest level,” Schroeder said. “I have great respect for him. He was such a tough player and a great teammate. That’s exactly what we constantly try to teach here: Team and toughness.” 

The Spartans (17-2) have evolved greatly in those departments since the start of the season when the team was learning to play together. 

With 6-2 point guard Ibrahim Monawar (12.5 points, 5.1 rebounds per game) as the only returning starter, many figured the Spartans would be in a rebuild mold for the 2025-26 season. Instead with the vast improvement of Pachulia and Lopez-Aarden, and the addition of 6-8 post Olanre Owoborade, a transfer from Heritage, De La Salle has flourished, including opening the rugged East Bay Athletic League with three straight victories. 

In the 75-66 win over Dougherty Valley, Pachulia’s outside shooting opened up the inside for Owoborade and Lopez-Aarden, who dominated the shorter and quicker Wildcats, combining for 34 points and 18 rebounds. 

Davit Pachulia comes down and drills a midrange jumper, two of his 16 points during a win over Lodi on Jan. 3, 2026 in the Sabrina Ionescu Showcase / Photo by Sam Stringer

In a 53-43 win over at Dublin on Friday, Pachulia was cold from outside, but his defense, passing and rebounding (nine rebounds) complimented the interior work of Lopez-Aarden (19 points, 14 rebounds) and clutch play of Monawar (12 points) to record the tough victory over the 14-6 Gaels. 

Life aplenty after Tounde Yessoufou

The rest of the EBAL schedule presents challenges every night as eight of the nine foes are ranked in the Bay Area’s Top 25 teams.

None will present more challenges than St. Joseph, however.

Though the Knights lost the then state’s all-time leading scorer Tounde Yessoufou — now at Baylor and a projected NBA lottery pick — to graduation in June, they are more than formidable, featuring the the Price brothers, Julius (a Stanford signee) and Malcolm, a junior, who combine to average 43.6 points per game. 

Third-year starter Gunner Morinini (13.9 ppg), a lights out shooter, along with interior threats Williams Sacre (6-8 sophomore) and Abdoul Bare (6-10 senior) give opposing coaches night sweats figuring out how to slow them down. 

They average a state-best 87 points per game. 

Coached by Tom Mott since 2009, the Knights have won at least 20 games 11 times since then, including 31 each of the last two seasons and at least 25 each season since 2019-20. 

“St. Joseph Always has a great program led by a great coach,” Schroeder said. “Their guards have been with them for a couple years now and they are very good players that are experienced and have played on the biggest stages in high school basketball. … This should be a great challenge.”