ATHERTON, Calif. — Corey Le’aupepe is one of three international players on the Menlo College Oaks men’s basketball team. The other two international players are junior forward Jake Tranter from Melbourne, Australia, and freshman guard Patrick Ryan from Phillip Island, Australia.

Senior forward Le’aupepe is in a different position than his international counterparts. He has already proven himself and played as the starting center while Tranter is yet to be a starter and Ryan will probably not play much in his first season at Menlo College. You need to know a lot to see how Le’aupepe ended up where he is now. We first need back up to 2018.

Le’aupepe enrolled in Menlo College in the fall of 2018 as a freshman with a big head of hair. After playing basketball at Saint Patrick’s College, he came to Menlo College by way of Wellington, New Zealand.

Le’aupepe made an immediate impact on the Menlo College basketball program. He did not start but played in all 27 games. He played 13.6 minutes per game and averaged 5.6 points and three rebounds. His best game that season came against Life Pacific College. He scored 15 points on 5-6 shooting.

Le’aupepe’s role only got more prominent in his sophomore season. He became the starting center and only missed one game in the COVID-19 shortened season. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.1 rebounds while playing 21.2 minutes a game. He also had a monster 20-point, 12-rebound game against Northwest Christian University (now called Bushnell University) in the Bill Holtz Warrior Classic. He was named a Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Scholar Athlete.

Unfortunately, Menlo College did not have a basketball season during the 2020-21 school year. Le’aupepe could have wasted his time, but he decided to be productive instead. Le’aupepe is a marketing major and decided to get some real-life marketing experience. He was a marketing intern for Colibri Digital Marketing in San Francisco, California, from May 2021 until June 2021. But he did not stop there. In June, he began a sales and marketing internship for Team Esface Basketball Academy in Redwood City, California. He is still doing that internship now.

Basketball has resumed this season for Menlo College. They are 5-0, and Le’aupepe is the starting center once again. He had a big game against CSU Maritime in this year’s Bill Holtz Warrior Classic. He scored 22 points on 8-10 shooting in 22 minutes.

Le’aupepe is on his way to a solid senior season and hopefully an appearance in the NAIA men’s basketball championships.

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