News Bits
Cal State East Bay Pioneers: "A big day for the Pios! Coach Brian Rooney has been named HoopDirt DII Coach of the Week!"
Excellent coach, excellent human being. The Pioneers own a 16-0 record and are ranked #7 in the NABC poll.
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The 6-foot-1 Cal State Dominguez Hills junior is out of Modesto Christian High and is averaging a team high 16.4 points and 3.9 boards in 14 games/13 starts and 32.4 minutes a contest. He is shooting 54%, 39% and 75%.
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"The complexities behind converting Jamaree Bouyea’s two-way contract -- Here’s why it’s most likely to happen after the All-Star break…or might not happen at all."
Jamaree (Palma High/USF) Bouyea is making his best impression yet in the NBA.
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"Connor Amundsen Named Ivy League Co-Player Of The Week"
The 5-foot-11 Amundsen is a sophomore guard at Dartmouth and graduated from Clovis North High.
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"Son of two-time NBA champion scores 29, leads De La Salle to big EBAL victory" - Davit Pachulia drills 6 three-pointers as Spartans dominate down low in back-and-forth game against Dougherty Valley High
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"NCAA Division I Cabinet adopts new transfer portal window for men's, women's basketball"
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SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week
Name: 6-foot-4 Reid Jones
School: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Year: Junior
Position: Guard
Hometown/High School: Carmichael, CA / Jesuit High
Jones nabbed three steals and blocked a shot while collecting seven defensive rebounds as No. 11 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges beat Occidental College and RV Chapman University to remain unbeaten on the year at 14-0.
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Gaels' offense is back Tuck Clarry, West Coast Round-up 1/15/2026
"After coming back from the Bahamas, the highly efficient shooting took a bit of a dive. After shooting 40% from deep in the month of November, Randy Bennett’s team shot 28.9% from deep in December. Mikey Lewis’ torrid scoring fizzled out to close out 2025, averaging 9 points per game in the final month of the year after averaging 17.4 points in November.
However, the Gaels have a strong defense and the primary option in Paulius Marauskus to weather offensive woes, although they did lose their lone matchup against a Quad 2 opponent during that timeframe. Due to the slow pace at which Saint Mary’s likes to play, drastic dips in efficiency make the margins precariously thin.
Certainly, in their last three games and for the better part of January, the offensive numbers have begun to return to the Gaels’ favor, making them a clear tier above any league opponent outside of their rivals in Spokane. That was evident in their 14-point win over San Francisco on the road this Tuesday, an environment in which they had lost last season.
In that win, sophomore point guard Joshua Dent bullied his matchup of Ryan Beasley, scoring 19 points and recording 7 assists and 4 steals with 0 turnovers. Dent has been unbelievable for Saint Mary’s in conference play, holding a 142 offensive rating while playing over 37 minutes per game. The Aussie shot 26.7% from three in non-conference games but has been a 44% shooter from deep in league play.
Dent’s performance has helped lift the scoring burden for Lewis, who has seen improved efficiency as of late. Lewis is coming off back-to-back double-digit scoring outings after four games scoring 8 points or less. Getting both guards going at the same time would help them tremendously as they face Santa Clara on Saturday and Gonzaga on the road to close out the month."
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Notes from the Big Sky Conference
"...Through 17 appearances Montana’s Money (Oakland High) Williams is the Big Sky’s leading scorer, averaging 19.5 points per game for the Grizzlies.
Northern Colorado’s Quinn (Bellarmine College Prep) Denker leads the league in assists, dishing out 6.7 per game in 15 appearances for a total of 100 overall..."
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Kevin Sweeney: "The targets of the game-fixing scandal rocking college basketball today were clear:
- Players making limited NIL money
- Players on low- and mid-major schools
- Players on losing teams with little to lose
More on the patterns that connect this scheme: "The College Basketball Players and Teams Implicated in Federal Game-Fixing Indictments"
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"Top 28 All-Time Players of De La Salle Martin Luther King Jr. Classic"
Mitch Stephens looks back at his choices for the top players who played in a local annual hoops event.
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The 10th annual Crush in the Valley Basketball Showcase returns to Napa, CA at Napa Valley College on January 23-25, 2026. The Crush in the Valley Basketball Showcase is presented by Napa Valley College Athletics and is co-hosted by Salesian College Preparatory HS and NextMax Inc. and will once again be the premier High School basketball event in Northern California.
This star-studded event will feature future NBA players and some of the best teams and players from around the country and some of the best boys High School programs in Northern California.
The event will include 2 Top 10 ranked teams in the country (Prolific Prep #2) and Southeastern Prep (#7), as well as 10 top 15 Nationally ranked players at one event. This is a must-see event for NorCal high school basketball fans to watch this type of basketball talent in one setting.
Please note this year’s event will be at Napa Valley College and serve as a homecoming for Prolific Prep who moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL this past off-season.
The Crush in the Valley Basketball Showcase will feature 18 games in 3 days featuring Salesian College Preparatory HS, Archbishop Riordan HS, Modesto Christian HS, St. Joseph HS Santa Maria, St. John Bosco HS, Clovis North HS, Moreau Catholic, Vanden HS, St. Mary’s Berkeley HS, Brave Christian School, Fremont HS of Oakland, and Fortune Early College.
Notable Nationally Ranked Players
Class of 2026:
- Caleb Holt (Prolific Prep) - #5
- Bruce Branch (Prolific Prep) - #6
- Christian Collins (St. John Bosco) - #8
- Toni Bryant (SEPA) - #14
- Jaxon Richardson (SEPA) - #15
- Davion Adkins (Prolific Prep) - #56 Kansas Commit
- Julius Price (St. Joseph's Santa Maria) - #86
Class of 2027:
- CJ Rosser (SEPA) - #1
- Obinna Ekezie (SEPA) - #2
- Beckham Black (SEPA) - #3
- Rudy Anderson (Prolific Prep) - #8
- Brandon Mason Jr (Albuquerque Prep) - #87
Class of 2028:
- Jayden Robinson - #25
Class of 2029:
- Drayden McDaniel (Prolific Prep) - #1
Game Schedule
Friday, January 23rd:
- 1pm Golden State Prep Grey (CA) vs. PHH Prep National (AZ)
- 2:45pm Golden State Prep Black (CA) vs. Elev8 (CA)
- 4:30pm Mode Prep (WA) vs. Albuquerque Prep (NM)
- 6:15pm Prolific Prep (FL) vs. DNA Prep (CA)
- 8pm Southeastern Prep (FL) vs. Bella Vista Academy (AZ)
Saturday, January 24th:
- 9am Fremont HS (Oakland, CA) vs. Fortune Early College (CA)
- 10:45am Brave Christian School (CA) vs. Vanden HS (CA)
- 12:30pm Moreau Catholic HS (CA) vs. Clovis North HS (CA)
- 2:15pm DNA Prep (CA) vs. Southeastern Prep (FL)
- 4pm Archbishop Riordan HS (CA) vs. Modesto Christian HS (CA)
- 6pm Bella Vista Academy (AZ) vs. Prolific Prep (FL)
- 7:45pm Salesian College Preparatory (CA) vs. St. Joseph’s Santa Maria (CA)
- 9:30pm St. John Bosco (CA) vs. St. Mary’s College Berkeley (CA)
Sunday, January 25th:
- 8am Golden State Prep Black (CA) vs. PHH Prep National (AZ)
- 9:45am Golden State Prep Grey vs. Elev8 (CA)
- 11:30am Southeastern Prep (FL) vs. Albuquerque Prep (NM)
- 1:15pm DNA Prep (CA) vs. Bella Vista Academy (AZ)
- 3pm Prolific Prep (FL) vs. Mode Prep (WA)
General Admission: Ticket Prices are $15 for Friday and Sunday General Admission. Saturday Ticket prices are $20. To purchase tickets in advance, please click the link below.
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D1 Scores
St.Mary's and USF matched up in San Francisco and the Moraga-ites led 42-28 after 20 minutes. The game concluded 82-68 in favor of Coach Randy Bennett's bunch. Per usual, Paulius Murauskas paced the Gaels in scoring with 21 points, Joshua Dent shot 10-10 at the foul line to finish with 19 points (plus seven assists and four steals) and Mikey (Prolific Prep) Lewis shot an efficient 4-7, 2-3, 4-6 to tally 14 points. Really Big Andrew McKeever came off the bench to grab a team high 17 boards plus added 10 points and six assists. Ryan (Dougherty Valley High) Beasley led the Dons with 15 points and seven assists and teammate David Fuchs posted a 12 point, 11 rebound double-double. St. Mary's out-shot their hosts 50% to 44% and finished 22-25 at the foul line to 5-13 for USF. game report
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Stanford paired off with North Carolina in Maples Pavilion and the Cardinal nabbed a 95-90 win after being down by two points at halftime. Freshman guard phenom Ebuka Okorie led the way with 36 points (12-20, 3-5, 9-11 shooting) as well as nine assists versus one turnover, Ryan Agarwal finished with 20 points powered by 5-9 shooting behind the three-point line plus Jeremy Dent shot 6-7 on trey attempts to also finish with 20 points. As a team, Coach Kyle Smith's crew 57% overall alongside 57% on 28 trey shots. Stanford earned 20 assists on 32 made baskets and is now 13-4 overall, 2-2 in the ACC. Stanford Daily game report
Kevin Sweeney: "Stanford just beat North Carolina’s reported $14 million roster with:
- 36 points from a freshman ranked outside the top 100
- 20 from a D2 transfer
- 20 from a RS junior who had never started a game when Kyle Smith arrived in 2024.
Kyle Smith. Always doing more with less."
Then, Duke cooled down Stanford, leading 35-19 after 20 minutes in Maples Pavilion. The final: 80-50. The Cardinal had no answer for Cameron Boozer who scored 30 points (shooting 12-17) and grabbed 14 boards, Jeremy Dent-Smith was the sole Stanford-ite in double figures scoring with 18 as the Dookies out-shot their hosts 56% to 35%.
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In the Leavey Center, Santa Clara took down visiting Pacific 85-69 to go 15-5 on the season, 6-1 in the WCC. The Broncos led by just two points at the half. Christian Hammond led the victors with 18 points and teammate Allen Graves scored 17 while pulling down a team best eight boards. For the Tigers, Ralph Elias got back into gear with a team high of 17 points, one better than teammate Justin Rochelin. Pacific got up 12 less shots but buried 50%of their overall attempts, the same percentage for three-pointers and won the battle of the boards 34-24. But 21 turnovers compared to seven for Santa Clara was a dooming factor. game report
In a low-scoring pairing, host Santa Clara bested St. Mary's 62-54 after leading 32-25 at the half. 6-foot-4 sophomore Christian Hammond led the Broncos with 25 points and, although his squad shot just 41%, the Gaels finished with 32% accuracy. In 36 minutes, Paulius Marauskas finished with a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double but he was the sole Moraga-ite to score in double figures. Amazingly, he attempted just SEVEN shots, FIFTH on Coach Randy Bennett's team on the night. Credit Santa Clara's defense for having something to do with that number. Gael guard Mikey (Prolific Prep) Lewis shot 1-11 overall, 1-6 on three-pointers to finish with five points.
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Duke led host California 37-30 after 20 minutes but the teams were tied at 41 points apiece with 14 minutes remaining. The score was 50-47 at the 10 minute mark. Then the Dookies pulled away to a 71-56 conclusion.Center Lee Dort paced the Bears with both 14 points and nine rebounds. Cal's backcourt starters Justin Pippen and Dai Dai Ames shot just 2-11 and 3-11 respectively and frontcourter Chris Bell finished at 2-12. Write For California game report.
California jumped out to a 54-37 halftime lead at Haas Pavilion versus visiting North Carolina and held on to grab an 84-78 ACC victory. Justin Camden led the Bears with 20 points and backcourters Justin Pippen and Dai Dai Ames each tallied 19 points. Cal shot 50% overall plus 14-26 on three-pointers
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USF hosted Washington State and Junjie Wang led with 15 points (4-4 on treys), Gulliermo Diaz Graham enjoyed 14 points (4-5 on threes) plus Ryan (Dougherty Valley High) Beasley provided 13 points plus six assists and three steals as the Dons held on for an 85-80 victory. The nets were ablaze as the home team shot 54%, 55% and 83% while the visitors displayed 58%, 48 and 67% accuracy. The difference turned out be be USF shooting 15-18 at the foul line versus an extremely paltry 2-3 for WSU.
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UC Davis jumped out to a 32-24 halftime lead over Cal State Fullerton. The Titans eventually drew closer but the Aggies prevailed 74-69. Four UCD starters scored in double figures with Connor (Dougherty Valley High) Sevilla owning the foul line at 11-13 on his way to 14 points. Coach Jim Les' squad shot 46% overall to 38% for the Orange County-ites and out-boarded their opponents 46-32. game report
Up north a bit, UC Davis edged UC Irvine 75-72 in a statement win over the projected Big West Conference winner. This despite being out-shot 47% to 39%. But going 20-30 at the charity stripe to a very commendable on accuracy but just 13-13 for the Orange County visitors. Nico Rocak led the Aggies with 17 points and Carl Daugherty Jr. contributed 14 (shooting 5-7 overall, 3-4 on trey attempts), continuing his sharpshooting of late.
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Pacific took to the court in Corvallis and owned it 81-64 in a success versus Oregon State. 6-foot-7 Canadian senior forward Ralph Elias was back at it with 20 points plus 13 rebounds and his primary partner in balling out was 6-foot-2 Lithuanian Kajus Kublickas who tallied 15 points in 20 minutes on 5-7, 3-4, 2-2 shooting accuracy. The Tigers shot 54% overall (plus 9-21 on trey attempts) to 42% for the Beavers.
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On the mainland, Hawai'i led Cal Poly 41-36 after 20 minutes. It only got worse as the islanders shot 52% as a team to 38% for the Mustangs in an 86-66 final score. 6-foot-3 sophomore Aaron (Salesian Prep) Hunkin-Claytor led the visitors with five assists as the starting point guard. Hamad Mousa paced CP with 17 points but had an off-shooting night (6-19 overall, 2-13 from long distance) and also committed six turnovers. game report
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Sacramento State used a 49-30 second 20 minutes to take down Northern Arizona 83-69. Hornet Prophet Johnson was raining fire and brimstone on NAU with 29 points in 38 minutes alongside six boards, six steals and four assists. Local Mark (Rocklin High) Lavrenov posted an 11 point, 10 rebound double-double in 24 minutes off the bench, hardy work for the 6-foot-8 freshman. game report
In overtime up in the capital, Sacramento State got by Northern Colorado 93-89 as guard Prophet Johnson hailed holy invective upon the visitors to the tune of 30 points and freshman forward Mark (Rocklin High) Lavrenov dialed in on #17 with that number of points as well as rebounds. For UNC, guard Quinn ((Bellarmine College Prep/West Valley College) Denker enjoyed a line of 29 points, 11 assists, six boards and four steals.
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6-foot-3 sophomore Cayden McDaniel scored 21 points on 6-9, 1-2, 8-8 shooting but William Jessup University fell at home to CUI 81-77.
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San Jose State University finally landed a Mountain West Conference victory by grounding visiting Air Force 70-62. Redshirt freshman guard Ben (Monterey Trail High) Roseborough again led the Spartans, this time with 19 points, sophomore guard Pasha Goodarzi tallied a career high 18 points (4-8 on trey attempts) and Adrian Myers chipped in with 15 plus a team high seven rebounds. Roseborough and Goodarzi each played all 40 minutes. The Spartans shot 47% as a team. San Jose was again missing its starting backcourt as Colby Garland and Jermaine Washington were absent due to concussion protocols and starting center Yaphet Moundi remained sidelined with a leg injury. game report
San Jose State University may soon not have enough healthy players to send out a starting five the way bodies are falling by the wayside. Redshirt freshman guard Ben Roseborough had just returned from injury and was making a solid impression as a scorer and creator — he has returned to the injured list. Leading scorer Colby Garland and backcourt running mate Jermaine Washington also sat out this one as did the sole serviceable big on the roster Yaphey Moundi. So UNLV came to town and exited with a 76-62 victory. Freshman guard Melvin Bell Jr. scored 22 points and also led with eight rebounds for SJSU. But for multiple recent games, the Spartans allowed an opponent to shoot above 50% (54% for the Runnin' Rebels).
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Cal State Northridge enjoyed the hospitality down in San Diego to the tune of 84-79 as 6-foot-6, 195 senior forward Mahmoud (Santa Teresa High/West Valley College) Fofana shot 5-5 overall to eventually finish with 12 points and had the backboards named after him due to, count 'em, 17 caroms.
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Cal State Northridge posted a three-point halftime lead over Long Beach State but Da Beach out-scored the Matadors by 10 in the second 20 minutes to grab an 87-80 road success. The primary 49er seeing red being freshman guard Gavin (Modesto Christian High) Sykes who finished with 32 points, built heavily by shooting 15-16 at the foul line.
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Host San Diego State handled New Mexico 83-79 with Miles (St. Mary's High-Stockton) Byrd tallying 21 points for the Aztecs. He shot 5-9, 3-6, 8-9 and also provided eight boards, four blocks, three steals ans three assists.
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Powered by a team high 17 points from Aidan (Campolindo High/St. Mary's) Mahaney (6-11, 3-6, 2-2 shooting), UC Santa Barbara sent Hawai'i back to the islands via a 77-62 victory in The Thunderdome. Mahaney also provided four rebounds and a team best four assists.
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Other Scores
Cal State East Bay went to 15-0 with a 75-62 defeat of host UC Merced. Tyree Campbell led four Pioneers in double figures scoring with 18 points. On the flip side, Pawllos (Valley Christian High/Chabot College/College of San Mateo) Habtom paced the Bobcats with 18 points and teammate Sterling (Vanden High/Las Positas College) McClanahan contributed 14 points.
Then, Cal State East Bay did it again with a 71-57 victory versus host Cal State Stanislaus. Make that 16-0 on the season, 10-0 in the CCAA for the Pioneers.
In 36 minutes, 6-foot-4 senior Pawllos (Valley Christian High/Chabot College/College of San Mateo) Habtom scored 25 points, pulled down five boards and was credited with four assists in the UC Merced 92-77 takedown of visiting San Francisco State.
Powered by 6-foot-10 freshman Malachi (Inderkum High) Johnson's 19 points and 10 boards plus Lloyd (Downey High-Modesto) French's 18 points plus eight rebounds, Stanislaus State bested San Francisco State 81-69. Milandev (Fremont High-Sunnyvale/Skyline College) Chatha's 21 points paced the Gators. A 43-32 second half paved the way for Stanislaus to grab the W.
Jalen (Modesto Christian High) Brown tallied 17 points (9-10 at the foul line) in the Cal State Dominguez Hills 90-77 take down of Cal State Monterey Bay. CSMB was led by guard Jaden (Kennedy High) Tengan's 27 points (6-7 on three-point attempts).
Going three points better, Jalen (Modesto Christian High) Brown finished with 20 points in the Cal State Dominguez Hills 85-77 victory versus Cal State San Marcos.
Jaden (Kennedy High) Tengan's 26 points helped power Cal State Monterey Bay to a 96-82 success against visiting Cal State Los Angeles. He shot 6-13, 3-6, 7-7.
Chico State was topped by a late surging Cal Poly Humboldt 78-77 in spite of senior guard Chris (Jesuit High/Santa RosaJC/Sonoma State) Holley finishing with 23 points, eight boards and five assists. game report
Cal Poly Humboldt and host Chico State were 45-40 after 20 minutes but the former burst away to take a 96-77 victory back to the giant redwoods. Brandon (Arcata High) Bento-Jackson provided 20 points for the victors, shooting 6-9 for Humboldt with teammate Shakir (West Valley College/Cal State Bakersfield) Odenewu powering up for a 17 point, 10 rebound double-double. For Chico, Chris (Jesuit High/Santa RosaJC/Sonoma State) Holley led with both 20 points plus five assists and Robel (Oakland Tech/West Valley College) Zemmo tallied 19 points.
In 23 minutes, 6-foot-7 senior Nick (Foothill High) High scored 18 points (6-9, 1-2, 5-5 shooting) and pulled down 10 rebounds but Menlo College fell 88-85 to Chaminade in Honolulu.
Joseph (Pleasant Grove High) Espy totaled 27 points plus 19 boards in the UC Santa Cruz 88-81 defeat of host Cal Maritime.
Cal Poly Pomona went road tripping and enjoyed Demarreya (Enterprise High/Yuba College) Lewis-Cooper tallying 21 points in a 68-60 victory over Cal State San Bernardino.
Host Sierra College bested Santa Rosa Junior College 85-82 as 6-foot-6 sophomore Garret (Placer High) Dutro buried 31 points on 12-24, 6-13, 1-1 shooting alongside five boards, three assists and a pair of steals. For SRJC, 6-foot-1 sophomore Spencer (Granada High) Langowski tallied 28 points on 11-14, 1-1, 5-5 shooting and he added six rebounds plus two assists.
Columbia College bopped visiting Merced College 75-56 with 6-foot-7 sophomore frontcourter Ahsan (Vanden High) Huff scoring but six points but he certainly effected the outcome with an astounding 22 rebounds, eight offensive. As a team, the Claim Jumpers pulled down 35 boards.
6-foot-8, 220 Aussie Ted Bigg-Wither enjoyed the most compelling line in the 83-69 Las Positas College homecourt success versus Chabot College. In 36 minutes, the freshman scored 10 points on 11 shots, grabbed 13 rebounds (seven offensive) and rejected five Chabot shot attempts. He was whistled for just two fouls. game report
6-foot-7 sophomore Kodey (Weston Ranch High) Weary provided 20 points (8-12, 3-5, 1-2 shooting) plus 14 rebounds (seven offensive) in the Las Positas College 95-65 defeat of host Skyline College. A 53-23 first half margin for LPC was maintained to the end.
In the Chabot College 77-75 overtime downing of College of San Mateo, 6-foot-5 sophomore Zion (Salesian Prep) Yeargin posted amazing numbers: 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as he shot 11/17, 3-6, 3-6. His left corner catch-and-shoot jumper at the buzzer won it for Chabot. here's video of that game winner. On the season, Yeargin is averaging 18.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 58%, 32% and 69%.
6-foot-7 sophomore Travis (Justin-Sienna High/Chico State) Hightower busted out for 25 points and 13 rebounds in Santa Rosa Junior College's 74-60 loss to host Modesto Junior College.
