Nor Cal Basketball Central/Kevin McCarthy

Team Rampage is Back and Ready to Battle

Brandon Bracy Solano College Associate Head Coach, Vallejo High boys basketball coach and Team Rampage 17U Elite Head Coach has assembled a new edition of his Team Rampage 17U National Roster. It's a 10 player collective consisting of:

(commentary via Coach Bracy)

Dom Johnson 5-foot-11 Frontier High (Bakersfield) 2027: "A freak athlete already with a college build, he's great at slashing, getting downhill and playing above the rim as a man-child. Owns a 3.5 GPA."
Eddie Ramey 6-foot-1 South High (Bakersfield) 2027: "Eddie has played with us since his sophomore year, he's a Gary Payton-type who shoots the three ball pretty well and excels on defense (similar to Donavyn Hernandez). Has a 4.0 grade point average."
Bryce Busam 6-foot-2 Oakdale High 2027: "He can really shoot it, has a quick release on his shot and shoots well on the move.
Jonah Jackson 6-foot-1 Antelope High 2027: "Jonah started at Antelope High, then transferred to Fairfield High and is now back at Antelope High. He's a sniper, close to a three-level scorer and one of the top scorers in his area who averaged 25 points per game."
Bryce Ademayo 6-foot-6 St. Patrick-St. Vincent High 2028: "A great scorer, he was 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 a year ago and is having a great summer. I'm really high on him. He and Joenathan (Jones) have the most upside."
Nasir Callahan 6-foot-4 Rodriguez High 2028: "Nasir is in his first year with us and he and Bryce (Ademayo) are major downhill players. He's a decent shooter with wing skills who really runs the court and is best in the open court .He's a long athlete, a late bloomer and we're expecting another growth spurt from him."
Samson Helsby 6-foot-0 Ben Holt High (Stockton) 2028: "Has a crazy motor and is really physical, a Josh Hart-type with a nose for the basketball. I call him our X factor. You know what effort you will get from him."
Donavyn Hernandez 5-foot-8 Oakdale High 2028: "He's tough and doesn't back down, a very steady guard.
Silas Hightower 6-foot-2 St. Patrick-St. Vincent High 2028: "One of our babies, we've had him since the sixth grade. He's a great mid-range scorer and will be playing a prominent role at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High.
Joenathan Jones 5-foot-10 Jesse Bethel High 2028: " Another one we've worked with since sixth grade, he was a scorer but is now accepting the role of a true point guard, knowing what his team needs from him. Also a good defender, I know what I'm going to get out of him every game."

According to Bracy, "we're not tall but have a lot of guards who are physical." He added, "I really appreciate the parental support me and my staff receive. We're now playing in the Recruit/Look Boys Basketball Circuit which focuses on events in Midwest cities." Team Rampage just finished participating "Nashville Summer Live" which ran from July 9-12.

Potpourri, July 13

News Bits

Player Performance Evaluation

“What Serious Evaluators Actually Look For At Camps Like Pangos”

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"Most Influential High School Coaches in Northern California"

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"Jock Landale Agrees to a One Year Deal to Stay with the Atlanta Hawks"

and

"Four-Year Gael Harry Wessels Signs with San Antonio Spurs Summer League Team"

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6-foot-10, 180 Shaqere "Shaq" Kizzee out of Dallas' Carter High has been offered by San Jose State University. He's a 2027 prospect.

and

"SPARTANS SIGN FRENCH GUARD AURÈLE BRENA-CHEMILLE FOR 2026-27"

He's a 6-foot-4 point who is 22 years old.

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"Former Bulldogs basketball manager charged. How Fresno State gambling scandal unfolded"

Robert Kuwada breaks down the Fresno State basketball betting scandal. Proof that it's not just power programs who face such situations.

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"MEN’S BASKETBALL SIGNS PENN STATE TRANSFER SASA CIANI"

"Sacramento State head coach Mike Bibby announced the signing of 6-10, 240-pound forward Saša Ciani, who will transfer from Penn State.

A native of Slovenia, Ciani is the Hornets' 11th and final signee for the 2026-27 season. He joins the following players who have signed with Sacramento State:

Larry Hughes II • G • CSUN
Chidi Nwigwe • G/F • Wasatch Academy
Giannis Asimakopoulos • F • Colby JC
João Das Chagas • C • UAB
Marcus Wilson • G • UC Davis
Osiris Grady • F • UC Riverside
Ridvan Tutic • F/C • Stonehill
Mason Hunt • F • Pima JC
Melvin Stubbs Jr. • G • Sandra Day O'Connor HS
Ashton Pierce • G • North Mecklenburg HS"

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"St. Mary's Men's Basketball 2026-27 Roster Breakdown"

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Potpourri, Jun 29

News Bits

6-foot-7 sophomore Ahsan Huff, the top rebounder in the state of California community college ranks (17.2 per game), is moving on from Columbia College and heading to Cal State Dominguez Hills in the Southland. Congrats.

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In the initial round of Tuesday's first round of the NBA draft, Stanford's 6-foot-2 freshman guard Obuka Okorie landed in Detroit at #17.

At #19, Santa Clara's 6-foot-9, 225 freshman forward Allen Graves went to Toronto.

FYI: In 2022, 6-foot-5 Jalen Williams was drafted by Oklahoma City with the 12th choice out of Santa Clara. In 2023, 6-foot-4 Brandin Podziemski was selected with the 19th pick out of Santa Clara by the Golden State Warriors. Bronco Coach Herb Sendek and his staff and working it.

6-foot-7, 240 AK Okereke has signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. Starting out at Clovis North High, he spent three years at Cornell and this past season at Vanderbilt.

6-foot-7 Canadian Elijah Mahi is a free agent signee with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He attended West Valley College and then Santa Clara.

6-foot-7 Canadian Elias Ralph is staying close to his college program, signing as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings. He is out of Pacific.

6-foot-7 free agent forward Chris Bell is moving on from California to the New Orleans Pelicans.

6-foot-9 Graham Ike has signed as a free agent forward with the Golden State Warriors. You can't boo him now even if he is from Gonzaga.

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"Cal Men's Basketball G TT Carr returns to the Bears"

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"Tarleton State TX Men’s Basketball signs incoming freshman Caeden Hutcherson"

Out of Dream City Christian in Arizona, the 6-foot-4 Hutcherson spent his first three high school seasons at St. Ignatius College Prep and then Archbishop Mitty as a sophomore and junior.

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Verbal Commits: "2028 Archbishop Riordan (CA) G Boss Mhoon has received an offer from Utah."

He's 6-foot-5, 190 and sports a 4.0 grade point average.

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"San Francisco Lands Versatile Forward Ben Oosterbaan"

and

"Dons Welcome Dynamic Guard Yoav Vitlem"

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RecruitLook Hoops: "2026 - Dashel Wiley commits to the University of San Francisco! It's been great working with the Wiley family & being part of Dashel's journey!"

The 6-foot-4 Wiley is out of Las Vegas and averaged 22.7 points per game this past season.

and

Verbal Commits: "2028 Centennial (CA) G Joshua Agbo has received an offer from San Francisco."

A 6-foot-4 guard, this is his eighth offer and that includes Stanford and California.

and

Verbal Commits: "2027 Mater Dei (CA) F Zain Majeed has received an offer from San Francisco."

He's a 6-foot-7 forward with a 4.3 grade point average.

and

John Chepkevich: "NEWS: Dylan Bordón has committed to San Francisco, sources tell DraftExpress. The shifty, aggressive 21-year-old Argentinian guard has spent the past four seasons in Spain, earning ACB, EuroCup, and Champions League experience. 19 PPG and 5 APG for Canarias’ LigaU affiliate."

He stands 6-foot-3.

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Verbal Commits: "North Carolina C Ivan Matleković is transferring to Pacific."

The Tigers have landed a 7-foot, 255, hefty Croatian.

and

"Andrej Mitrevski (ex Pelister) joins Pacific"

He's a 6-foot-3 guard.

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Verbal Commits: "2027 Rolling Hills Prep (CA) F Nick Welch, Jr. has received an offer from California."

He's currently 6-foot-10, 220. Cal is his seventh offer.

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Verbal Commits: "Sacramento State and Utah offered 2028 Greater Atlanta Christian (GA) F Baer Bailey."

Bailey currently stands 6-foot-9 and tips the scale at 220.

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"The Art Of Building: Hoops, Recruiting & Humor With San Jose State HC Tim Miles"

An excerpt: "That climb received a historic boost in May, when San José State Athletics announced a $4 million philanthropic commitment to the men’s basketball program. The gift is designed to support player retention, talent acquisition, and critical operational needs, but Miles sees it as more than a line item.

“It’s the wind beneath your wings,” Miles said.

The commitment grew from conversations that began roughly 18 months earlier, when an anonymous donor group asked a direct question: What would it take for San José State to make the NCAA Tournament? Over months of meetings with the donor group and university leadership, the program built out a vision to operate like a top-three Mountain West program."

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John Bynum Jr.: "Kanyon Rice (Yuba) committed to Chaminade University. Rice averaged 9.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists last season for the 49ers."

He's a 6-3 sophomore out of Rocklin High and now headed to Honolulu.

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Modesto Junior College Men's Basketball: "Excited to welcome 6’8 F/C Jayden Fakhouri to Pirate Nation! The former Venture Academy standout returns to Northern California after Cal Lutheran. A skilled stretch big with size, IQ, and deep range, Jayden adds versatility on both ends."

He's a 6-foot-8, 255 sophomore-to-be and out of Venture Academy in Stockton.

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John Bynum Jr.: "Zion Yeargin (Chabot) has committed to Cal Poly Humboldt. Yeargin averaged 18.9 points and 5.8 rebounds last season for the Gladiators.

He's a Salesian Prep graduate.

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Verbal Commits: "2027 Bella Vista Prep (AZ) F Jalen White has received an offer from San José State."

He's 6-foot-7 wing.

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Chico State Men's Basketball: "We are extremely excited to welcome Donjae Lindsey to the Wildcat family!! Donjae comes from Stanislaus State Warriors, where he averaged 12.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 50.8% from the field and 38.3% from three."

Lindsey is out of Weston Ranch High.

and

Chico State Men's Basketball: "We are extremely excited to welcome Mike Wilson to the Wildcat family!! Mike comes to Chico State from Dominican University, where he started all 28 games and averaged 9.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 33.8% from three."

He's out of Sacramento High and Sacramento State.

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Tobias Bass: "NEWS: Kimario Sherman Jr. will take an official visit to Santa Clara, July 20-22nd. The 7’2 prospect has recently received offers from Ohio, Iona, Stetson and East Carolina."

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Verbal Commits: "2027 Salesian (CA) G Nathalio Gray, Jr. has received an offer from Loyola Chicago.

The 6-foot-1 guard has transferred over from The Branson School and also plays AAU ball with Team Lillard. He also owns offers from Washington State, Nevada, Yale and UC San Diego.

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Meet Noah Kirsch-Lopez

In the 2028 class and attending St. Ignatius, 6-foot-6, 210 pound Noah Kirsch-Lopez is a unique player and person on and off the basketball court. Why so? Because in addition to his plus rebounding and scoring contributions on the hardwood, he is constantly studying with an unyielding focus what's taking place in front of him on the court, analyzing and processing what he is seeing and learning what offensive and defensive techniques work, when and why. Even when he is taking a breather on the bench during a game, he continues to study the action and dissect what is happening. Secondly, might he find himself in the stands at a game or watching one on the television, be it college or the NBA, it's always another opportunity for studying and learning, adding to his repertoire of knowledge. Add in his perusing game film and that completes the triad of his continuing construction of basketball knowledge.

Kirsch-Lopez is already making noise as he was recently named to The San Francisco Chronicle 2025-26 All-Metro Honorable Mention squad as a sophomore. To a query about his best hoops skills, Kirsch-Lopez quickly offered, "What I hope makes me special is my basketball IQ, rebounding and shooting." Note what he lists first in his response.

Also, Kirsch-Lopez currently plays AAU ball on the Adidas 3SSB circuit with the Sin City Select out of Las Vegas..

Leadership

Later in our conversation, the subject of leadership was broached and in particular his includes quite a telling achievement. Besides being on his school's Student Council, as well as the Service Club and Block Club. In middle school, Kirsch-Lopez won the school's Changemaker Award after landing a grant to financially help with fulfilling the needs of underprivileged kids. What an amazing achievement for anyone at that age or older considering most of us were achieving very little beyond surviving in middle school.

Regarding his presence on his St. Ignatius squad, he said, "I think of myself as a leader. How hard I play shows," giving him the credibility necessary in interacting with his teammates. "I'm always work to be a better teammate and I'll see what the team needs and try and fill in the gap. I also work to pick up teammates if they are down or something has gone wrong."

Minus any previous family treading the hoops path, Kirsch-Lopez participated in baseball, soccer and basketball when he was younger but watching Steph Curry and Draymond Green drew him to focus on the latter. That and the enticing back and forth speed of the game.

One event early on solidified with him that he was on the right road.

Early Recognition

"What has always stuck with me is early on (fifth/sixth grade) attending a (Golden State) Warriors camp featuring 300 players. At the end-of-the-week awards ceremony, I was named Hustle Player of the Week and was given different kinds of Warriors paraphernalia." Then, a few minutes later it was also announced, "I earned Player of the Week award and received gear autographed by Steph Curry. I was super happy." If his family has a home safe, then it's likely the Curry-signed apparel is residing there.

Kirsch-Lopez sports a 3.8 grade point average which will make him attractive to a broad academic range of college suitors, including high academic colleges. He's unsure of a major as yet, but is leaning towards "the business/finance sector". At the D1 level, he sees himself "likely as a guard or an undersized wing."

He thanked his parents for "all their time involved and the money they have spent on traveling" thus far in facilitating his basketball journey, "all my coaches who believed in me" and 'my longtime trainer Kenny Hatch," who also played at St. Ignatius as well as Cañada College and Texas A&M International.

Trainer Kenny Hatch on Kirsch-Lopez

Here's Hatch on his protege: "Noah has been great to work with - we started when he was in the 7th grade. He's been a competitor since the first session we had. He goes hard in every drill, takes the coaching that I give him, etc. You can tell he wants to play this game at a high level and that he has a passion for it."

"I told him to use me as a resource to navigate the basketball world - as it's not easy. Same with his parents. I've told them to always reach out if they had questions about schools, basketball, etc."

"I'm excited to see him develop in the next few years. He's definitely a division 1 player - as I have already received messages about him from Division 1 coaches asking me about him, his game, family, etc. so I know he's not far from his goal of playing Division 1 basketball."

With two remaining seasons of high school eligibility, Kirsch-Lopez will undoubtedly emerge from Honorable Mention to a higher status as he continues to gobble up basketball information like an AI algorithm and apply it accordingly.

Potpourri, Jun 15

News Bits

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USF adds a sextet of talent.

"Men's Basketball Inks Elite Scorer Abdul Bashir"

and

"Dons Add Local Forward Jaroslavs Pihtovs"

and

"San Francisco Signs Center Ismaila Diagne"

A native of Senegal, he's a 7-footer coming off being a member of the Gonzaga basketball squad for two seasons.

and

Adam Tyson: "1000% Committed."

He's a 6-foot-7 small forward attending the SoCal Academy in the Southland.

Here's a Tyson scouting report.

and

Wisdom Fode: "100% committed!!"

He's a 6-foot-3, 200 point attending Bella Vista Prep (AZ).

and

Jon Chepkevich: "NEWS: Gustav Knudsen has committed to San Francisco, his agent Jaime Alonso tells DraftExpress. The 6’9” multifaceted 23-year-old forward carved out a significant role in Manresa’s ACB and EuroCup rotation. Brings several years of Danish senior national team experience."

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Pacific Men's Basketball: "Got one from across the pond... Welcome to Pacific, Vincent!"

He's a 6-foot-8 frontcourter who first took up the game at age 10. He's Nigerian, lived in Dublin for a number of years and now his family is based in Milton, MA.

"Milton basketball star Vincent Osazee commits to Pacific"

and

Pacific Men's Basketball: "🚨We got a Tiger🚨 Nishayne is coming to the 209!"

He's a 5-foot-11 guard at Bella Vista Prep in AZ and out of Canada, Head Coach Dave Smart's stomping grounds.

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Jonathan Givony: "NEWS: SoCal Academy's Oliver Kullamae has committed to San Jose State, coach Julius Von Hanzlik told DraftExpress. The 6'3, 18-year-old Estonian PG led the U18 EuroBasket B Division in assists each of the past two seasons. High-level distributor and pick-and-roll operator."

SJSU needs a point who can come in and perform right away. The Spartan coaching staff offered him way back on 9/27/25.

"Oliver Kullamäe latest Estonian basketball star to be snapped up by US college team"

and

SJSU has apparently signed 6-foot-4 French guard Aurèle Brena-Chemille but there is a snafu with his paperwork. His coming aboard was officially announced then deleted. He's already 22 years old—don't yet know what his college year classification will be if he does become an official signee.

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Dinos Trigonis: "Former Belmont Shore F, @PangosAACamp Top 60 Game pick & @FCPPangos Premier 80 alum 6-7 2026 Caspian Jones has signed with UC-Davis. Former St. Mary's/Phoenix AZ star spent a post-grad year at CATS Academy/MA this past season. 1st team All-NEPSAC (post-grad division) has 3.9 GPA.'

The Aggies need help upfront and this guy looks solid. Love the name.

and

UC Davis Men's Basketball: "Let’s get to work 💪 1️⃣1️⃣ is back for the Aggies!"

The 6-foot-8, 220 guard talent sat out this past season after coming over from Modesto JC. He should be a major element for Coach Jim Les in the 2026-27 go-around.

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Parks Weaver: "First weekend with De La Salle."

This is a bigtime transfer for the 6-foot-4 2028 guard who has departed from Folsom High.

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Former Shasta College assistant coach Taylor Angley has returned to the school as the new head coach. Angley had been coaching the boys basketball squad at University Prep in Redding.

Here's a 2022 feature on Angley.

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"Brandon Clarke said it’s ‘just kratom.’ His death has the substance under scrutiny"

Clarke was a former SJSU player. I was prescribed kratom by an herbalist for pain issues and it was trippy. A couple of doses and I was done with it and so glad it was done with me.

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San Jose City College sophomore guard Jeremiah Butler is headed to Southwest Baptist University. He's 6-foot-2, 225 and out of Inderkum High. Butler scored 12.5 points per game this past season, shooting 47%, 38% and 71%.

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Modesto Junior College Men's Basketball: "Excited to welcome 6’10 PF Fallou Dioum to the Pirate Family! Italy / Sénégal native who played with Nanterre in France. Stretch 4. Defensive force."

and

Modesto Junior College Men's Basketball: "Excited to welcome 6’7 G/F Ladji Kante to the Pirate Family! D1 transfer from Northern Illinois via France 🇫🇷. Athletic, versatile, impact player."

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