Jason Stewart, head coach of San Dieguito Academy high school’s boys basketball team, gives instructions during a timeout during their victory over Scripps Ranch High School for this yaer’s CIF San Diego Section Division III championship.

 Charlie Neuman, Special to the Arizona Daily Star

Jason Stewart knows what he’s looking for.

In both a basketball player and a biotech and pharma executive.

A business recruiter by day and a championship-winning high school basketball coach by night, the former Arizona walk-on sees more commonalities than dissimilarities in the two pursuits.

β€œWhen I’m talking to execs, I’m looking for humility,” he said. β€œThere are brilliant people who can’t hold a conversation. I’m looking for a good boss. We talked about alphas vs. quiet confidence. Those are the most productive teams.”

In his own house β€” at San Dieguito Academy, where he just came off his eighth season and first CIF-San Diego Section title β€” he is the alpha and the omega, the buck-stops-here kinda guy.

In his role as a recruiter, he is playing the role of talent scout for someone else’s team, at the whim of someone else’s team construction.

Jason Stewart holds the CIF San Diego Section Division III trophy following his team’s 57-46 victory over Scripps Ranch High School.

β€œFrom the business side of things, I have to look at what the GM wants; I’m not here to tell them how to build their team,” he said. β€œI work in the top five in pharma, and they might want all superstars and not care about chemistry, but maybe they have success with that. It’s about personality fit.”

But of course, as a 5-foot-11-inch walk-on point guard, he also favors the role players.

β€œWhat you begin to learn is that some of these majors, the secret sauce is partnerships with smaller biotechs, and they’re the ones getting them going from early on,” Stewart said. β€œIt’s whatever culture they want. Those smaller biotechs may have more chemistry, no pun intended.”

Stewart understands a thing or two about chemistry.

In his time at San Dieguito Academy, which followed a stint as assistant coach at San Diego’s Santa Fe Christian private school, Stewart has instilled a set of core values that have held strong.

When Stewart took over the program, the Mustangs were 6-21. Then they made the regional playoffs, then the playoffs again, then the quarterfinals and then the semifinals. Then last year, they won it all for the first time in nearly six decades, and Stewart was named San Diego Union-Tribune boy’s basketball coach of the year.

β€œWe have a set of core values, a lot of which were developed at Santa Fe Christian,” he said. β€œAs any coach, I’ve had some trials with parents. But what helped me is my former boss, I saw him implement values when parents were all over him. I added my own nuances, but that established a foundation, and since doing that, regardless of any team’s record, all of these guys have the same curriculum and come out the same as young men. That is the foundation. And because of that, the record continues to grow.”

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