Potpourri, Oct 12

News Bits

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Joe Davidson: "Tough day. After 38 years at The Sacramento Bee, I was part of sweeping company layoffs. My last day is Oct. 9. I love my job & my role in the community. I thank coaches, athletes, media & especially readers & followers. I’m not done working. I’m excited about what’s next."

"Joe Davidson, veteran Sacramento sportswriter, to join Abridged by PBS KVIE"

"Entire Sac Bee sports team eliminated in sweeping McClatchy layoffs"

McClatchy is the newspaper version of dead man walking. Growing revenue by firing staff is the last stop before ending all publications. McClatchy has been in trouble for years but being purchased by private equity in 2020 was the death knell.

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"Scouting Gene Roebuck and his fit at California". Ranked #46 nationally, he stands 6-foot-5 and is out of SoCal.

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"Mirkovic and (Andrej) Stojakovic Named Preseason All-Big Ten"

Stojakovic is 6-foot-7, 205 and out of Jesuit High, California and Stanford.

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Verbal Commits: "Minnesota and Stanford offered 2028 Masters School (NY) F Damian Mojica."

Mojica stands 6-foot-8 and has 12 previous offers.

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Verbal Commits: "2028 Link Academy (MO) G Jordan Mitchell has received an offer from San José State."

His other offers: UNLV, Xavier, Texas Christian, Oklahoma State, Viginia Tech, Morehead State, Western Kentucky. He has taken an unofficial to Louisville but I can't locate an offer.

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"Pacific Union College Welcomes Brandon Broome as New Athletic Director"

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Lakeshow 3SSB: "Congrats 2027 Davit Pachulia on his recent commitment USFDonsMBB! PROUD of all the hard work DP!! #LakeshowFam."

The 6-foot-4 Pachulla is a shooting guard also out of De La Salle High. He is the son of former NBA player Zaza Pachulia who stands 6-foot-11 and played for the Golden State Warriors. In 2026, Davit played for the Under 18 Georgian National Team.

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In May, 2023, former San Jose State University assistant coach Donald Williams came aboard at Southern Utah University as an assistant coach and remains in Cedar City. Williams also worked with the Oakland Soldiers AAU program as well as other colleges in the west.

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The 2026-27 Chabot College roster is up and it is loaded with NorCal talents:

• Johnathon Chapple G So 6'1 Oakland CA Oakland High
• Devon Mack G So 6'1 Oakland CA McClymonds High
• >Cayden Kelly G So 6'4 Reseda CA Cleveland High
• John Paul Ozumba W So 6'7 Redwood City CA Sequoia High
• Antonio Kellogg Jr. G So 6'3 Oakland CA Ygnacio Valley High
• Zander Harris G Fr 6'2 Oakland CA Castro Valley High
• Claxton Ladine W Fr 6'5 San Jose CA The King's Academy
• Jed Ladine G So 6'0 San Jose CA Turlock High
• Angelo Solanoy G So 5'10 Daly City CA Summit Shasta High
• Bernard Waldon W Fr 6'5 Castro Valley CA Castro Valley High
• Emmanuel Tritas W Fr 6'5 Hawaii Golden State Prep Academy
• Dominique Trotter F So 6'5 Richmond CA Oakland High
• Khalil Jones F So 6'9 Oakland CA Riordan High
• Wes Bookman G Fr 6'3 San Francisco CA Edison High
• Eziekiel Dop-Willette G 6'4 Oakland CA Fremont High
• Stephen Moore G 5'8 Washington High/Fremont
• Xavier Proctor Montgomery F 6'6 Oakland CA San Leandro High
• Devin Santos G 5'11 Hayward CA Mt. Eden High

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"St. Martin’s (Aaron) Landon to lead return of Seawolves’ men’s basketball"

Landon played locally at Davis High and also at Monterey Peninsula College before entering the coaching ranks.

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"Velasquez promoted to Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Landon departs for Sonoma State"

Velasquez played and starred at Cabrillo College.

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Isaiah Silas: "Brandon Hahn (@brandonhahn23) commits to Pepperdine after a productive summer with Lakeshow 3SSB. Across 3SSB play, Hahn posted 28.8 PTS/70, 11.4 REB/70 and 1.81 STL/70 on 64.6% TS.

Hahn stands 6-foot-7 and attends Granada High. He was also offered by UC Riverside and Montana State.

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Gabe Camarillo: "Score from today’s closed-doors FresnoStateMBB scrimmage vs. Cal Poly. Bulldogs won 97-87 and Clemson transfer Jake Heidbreder led all scorers with 31 points (9/16 from 3pt range)." 6-foot-6 Cayden (St. Mary's High-Stockton) Ward led the Mustangs with 19 points. BOX SCORE

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"Kings’ Maxime Raynaud Leaves Court In Wheelchair After Knee Injury"

The backup center is beginning his second year and is out of Stanford.

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Potpourri Oct 5

News Bits

Jonathan Givony: "NEWS: Creighton transfer Fedor Zugic has committed to Santa Clara, agent Misko Raznatovic tells DraftExpress.

The 23-year-old Montenegrin wing averaged 5.2 points in 16 minutes per game last season. Has two years of NCAA eligibility remaining."

He stands 6-foot-6, weighing 215 and is transferring over from Creighton.

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Verbal Commits: "2027 Golden State Prep (CA) G Amir Cummings has received an offer from California."

He's a 6-foot-5 point.

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Verbal Commits: "Congrats to 2027 Haoxiang Huang on his commitment to Fresno State."

He stands 6-foot-7 and was offered by the Bulldogs in mid-July.

and

Golden State Prep Basketball: "Congrats to BJ Gill on his commitment to Lamar University."

Gill is a 6-foot lefty point who was offered on September 20.

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"WEST COAST (CONFERENCE), WIDE OPEN"

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The Mountain West will hold its annual basketball media day at the Palms Casino Resort next Wednesday. The event will feature all 20 of the league's head coaches (10 men's coaches, 10 women's coaches ) and two players each from the men's and women's programs.

Nor Cal players repping their teams are:

• Hawaii — Isaiah (St. Francis High) Kerr, Sr., G
• San Jose State — Pasha (Valley Christian High) Goodarzi, Jr., G; Robert (Archbishop Riordan High) Vaihola, Sr., F
• UNLV — Tyler (Granada High) Harris, Sr., F

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Former Palma High guard Noah Allen has joined the Hawai'i staff this season. He played for the Hawai'i squad in 2016-17 after three seasons at UCLA.

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Sam Kayser: "NEWS: 2027 4⭐️ Stefan Ilic is down to four options, a source told LeagueRDY:

• Arizona State
• Saint Mary’s
• George Washington
• ABA League

Ilic is a 6-foot-9 forward out of Canada and is ranked a four-star prospect by Rivals."

Might come down to Mickey versus Randy.

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"ICE has abducted a college athlete. What are the NCAA and universities going to do about it?"

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Pete Thamel: "Sources: Stanford men’s basketball is hiring Dan Grunfeld as the program’s new general manager. He’s a former captain and All-Pac-10 player for the Cardinal. He comes from private business, where he was a vice president at Lightspeed Venture Partners."

He is the son of Ernie Grunfeld, the former NBA player and general manager/executive.

and

"Stanford men’s basketball primed for progress heading into the fall"

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Rocco Miller takes a look at new Oregon State head Coach Justin Joyner and the Beaver coaching staff plus the 2026-27 roster. Joyner assisted for seven years at St. Mary's and prepped at De La Salle High.

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Gavin (Modesto Christian High) Sykes, the 6-foot-4, 215 Long Beach transfer (now at Texas Christian) and Big West Rookie of the Year, shot 7-9 from three point range to score 35 points in a recent secret srimmage versus Southern Methodist. SMU won 101-98.

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Jaylen Smith Running to the Border

6-foot senior Jaylen Smith was first witnessed by San Diego Coach JR Blount when the former was participating in a tournament in Indiana with the Team Lillard travel squad. Blount obviously liked what he saw as he later told Smith "we want and need you." Smith was also privy to a text Blount sent to the Team Lillard staff that read "I gotta have him."

Expressing that fervent desire paid off for the first-year head coach as Smith announced his commitment to the Toreros on September 17. He will officially sign in November. Smith tripped to San Diego September 3-5 so he enjoyed a long look at the coaches, the basketball program and the school.

So why Blount and the University of San Diego, besides the obvious? "I chose San Diego for a number or reasons. I could see myself living there if I got hurt and couldn't play. San Diego plays in the West Coast Conference so my friends and family can see me play at St. Mary's, USF, Santa Clara and Pacific. Flying to San Diego takes only about an hour and a half so my family will be coming down when they can make it."

But his rapport with Blount is foremost. "He is very genuine and he recruited me the hardest." In fact, Smith was so sure, he took no other visits. Plus, "they didn't put me in a box. I'll be playing as a lead guard and also off the ball."

For the record, when asked to detail what he does best on the court, Smith offered, "I'm an elite scoring threat, especially from mid-range and the elbow and I can get to my spots but I'm also a playmaker and a defender. I'm good at picking up tendencies when defending and I'm working on consistently applying constant on the ball pressure."

Asked about leadership, Smith said, "It's improving. I've gotten better at using my voice. I was fairly quiet as a freshman and sophomore but I've blossomed and found my voice."

Regarding his goals for his freshman season as a Torero, "I want to help get the program on the (basketball) map, to make USD known as a basketball school. I won't be satisfied until we get into the Final Four. When I started at Amador Valley High, it wasn't a basketball school. But we made an NCS appearance in my sophomore season and, then as a junior, we finished in third place in the NCS."

Smith played his first three years at Amador Valley High but the program violated eligibility rules last season and is now on probation and banned from the postseason for the next two years. So he has transferred to Granada High for his senior season.

With a mother having played high school basketball and father with high school and community college hoops experience, it's no wonder Smith landed on a basketball court. He dabbled early on with multiple sports but thanks to exposure to seeing Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard, "I became, for sure, obsessed with basketball in the fifth grade" and that has been his sole sport ever since. So much so, he explained, "basketball is my therapy, it clears my head. I feel better when I'm heading to a court or a gym."

His best basketball moment came when "Team Lilliard won the 2025 16u championship in a South Carolina tournament. Nobody expected us to win and we proved everybody wrong. The whole place went quiet."

About his connection to Team Lillard, Smith recalled his initial training session which took place when he was in middle school. "My first workout with Team Lillard was the hardest I've ever experienced." But rather than shying away, Smith was drawn in. "Team Lillard is not just a team, it's a family, a real family. Coach Raymond Young and Coach Phil Taylor really want me to succeed as a person and as a student and as a basketball player.

Affable, confident, willing to put in the work to continue his rise, it's not a stretch envisioning Smith being a major asset at his next hoops stop.

Potpourri, Sep 28

News Bits

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Recruits Zone - Blake Smith: "INFO: 2027 four-star guard Archie Weatherspoon V has committed to Cal Poly over Creighton, California, UNLV, & more, he tells recruitszone. Highest rated recruit in Cal Poly history, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings."

‘27 Four-Star Archie Weatherspoon V Commits to Cal Poly

He's a 6-foot-4 two guard.

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Sam Kayser: "NEWS: 2027 4⭐ Keaundre Morris has committed to Saint Mary’s, he told LeagueRDY. The 6-foot-1 guard chose the Gaels over Arizona State, Washington, San Diego State and many others. #84 overall in the SCNext100."

He tripped to Moraga September 9th-11th. Morris cancelled a planned October visit to Arizona State.

"Top 100 recruit Keaundre Morris commits to Saint Mary's"

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"Rivals recruiting service now charging hundreds for ranking evaluations"

I guess it was to be expected but it seems like a money grab to lure fringe prospects. Hasn't the turnip been squeezed dry?

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"Former M-A basketball coach receives termination notice /// Mike Molieri plans to fight for his job in court"

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Big West Hoops on Substack preview this season's Cal Poly squad.

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Golden State Prep Basketball: "Congrats to Jayden Russotti (NVC) on his commitment to Southern Nazarene University."

He's the 6-foot-4 son of hoops maven Jeremy Russotti. Jayden earned Freshman of the Year plus All-Bay Valley Conference honors while playing at Napa Valley College last season. In 23 games during the 2025-26 schedule, Russotti scored 17.3 points a game on 39% shooting overall plus 33% shooting on treys (63 threes). He also brought down 4.0 rebounds a night, dished out 1.7 assists and grabbed 30 steals. Southern Nazarene is located in Oklahoma. Russotti prepped at Windsor High plus Golden State Prep.

and

Marty James: "Former Napa Valley College forward AJ Loustau, named to the All-Freshman team and honorable mention All-Bay Valley, transferred to Sam Houston State University, in Huntsville, Texas. It's an NCAA-Division I school and plays in Conference USA.

Loustau averaged 12.6 points per game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field, 24.0 percent from 3-point distance, and 66.3 percent from the free-throw line. Playing in 25 games, he also averaged 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

"He was great to coach as well," said Ball. "He's so versatile. He could handle the ball for us. We tried to move him to the point guard position for a little while there, and I thought he did well handling the ball as a primary ball handler. He can defend really well, especially off the ball. He can be an elite off the ball defender. He's great getting downhill and getting to the rim as well. He did some great things."

The 6-foot-8 Loustau is out of Berkeley High and Golden State Prep.

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"If This Is It For AK Okereke's Vanderbilt Career, He's Got The Most Interesting One Of Mark Byington's Tenure"

From the erticle above ut do read the entire piece: "Okereke and his brother Ike are co-founders of Mainstreet–a company that combines media and venture capital...in running a business, produced a newsletter on Catholicism and worked through Vanderbilt’s master’s of finance program..."

Okereke graduated from Clovis West High and then took just three years to earn a Cornell degree in Economics. Now, he has signed with the Lakers but will likely play with their G League team this season.

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"KSU women's basketball player detained by ICE at Louisville airport"

Yep, rounding up the most dangerous, the worst of the worst.

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"Idaho Athletics Announces Contract Extension for Alex Pribble"

The pride of Drake High and California.

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Joe Tipton: "4⭐️ Emmanuel Ahamefule has committed to Oregon State, he told Rivals. The 6-foot-9 power forward is the No. 101 overall recruit in the 2027 class, according to Rivals.

He's 6-foot-9, 215 and attending Archbishop Riordan.

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Verbal Commits: "San José State and Weber State offered 2028 Archbishop Riordan (CA) G Boss Mhoon."

Mhoon is 6-foot-5, 190 and now has a total of 13 offers, including Stanford, California, USF, Santa Clara and Sacramento State. He attends school now in San Francisco, transferring from his former school in San Jose. He'll become a national recruit with his exposure at Archbishop Riordan.

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Verbal Commits: "2028 Tennessee Collegiate (TN) F Will Nelson, Jr. has received an offer from Sacramento State."

He's a 6-foot-6, 195 wing and California as well as LSU and North Carolina State plus others have also offered.

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Verbal Commits: "2027 Lake City (ID) F Jordan Carlson has committed to Santa Clara."

He's a 6-foot-7, 205 wing with a 3.95 grade point average.

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Verbal Commits: "2028 De La Salle (CA) G Parks Weaver has received an offer from UC San Diego."

He's a 6-foot-4 point with about 15 offers currently including California, UC Davis, Fresno State

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Verbal Commits: "2027 Winchendon (MA) G Lucas Lau has committed to Columbia."

Out of University High and the Bay City Warriors, another of Coach Randy Bessolo's guys is heading to the Ivies. Lau is a prolific scorer at 6-foot-1, 160 and adept at getting to the foul line as well as dishing out assists to teammates.

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Potpourri, Sep 21

News Bits

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"USF Men's Basketball Adds Ryan Boatright to Coaching Staff"

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Verbal Commits: "2028 Dynamic Prep (TX) G Blaze Johnson has received an offer from California."

He's a 6-foot-5 guard. This one makes 19 offers to date.

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"SMU Men’s Basketball Adds Veteran Guard Oziyah Sellers"

Sellers is a 6-foot-5, 190 fifth-year guard out of Hayward and Modesto Christian.

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Think I might have missed this from earlier:

"PLNU MEN'S BASKETBALL ANNOUNCES SIGNING OF AIDAN ROLLINS"

The 6-foot-3 Rollins is the career leader at Franklin High history in points, assists and steals. PNLU plays in the PacWest Conference and is of late a perennial title contender.

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"Warriors Waive Chance McMillian..."

He'll likely be playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors again this season. The 6-foot-3 McMillian prepped at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High and Bethel High.

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Verbal Commits: "It’s Jamboree Season! 😎🏀 The NorCal Juco Jamboree is coming to the CCSF Wellness Center on September 26–27!

🎓 4-year college coaches: Please reach out to Mario Gomez at mgomez@ccsf.edu for event information.

📍 City College of San Francisco

📅 September 26–27"

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Cal Poly Men's Basketball: "The first predictions for the 2026-27 season are coming through and Blue Ribbon has Cal Poly … 🥈Second in its Big West poll! 🏀With Hamad Mousa as the Big West Preseason POY!"

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Verbal Commits: "Loyola Marymount and Saint Louis offered 2028 Moreau Catholic (CA) F/C Brendan Williams."

Don't see either one as Williams' college destination even though St. Louis is a solid program.

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Verbal Commits: "2027 Riviera Prep (FL) F/C Garang Kuol has received an offer from Sacramento State."

He's 7-foot-1, 200 pounds.

and

Verbal Commits: "2029 Riviera Prep (FL) F/C Miles Lowe has received an offer from Sacramento State."

Lowe stands 6-foot-10, weighs 215 and also owns a Virginia Tech offer.

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Former 6-foot-7 Pacific forward Elias Ralph has signed a training camp contract with the Golden State Warriors.

"Ralph, went undrafted earlier this year after spending his final two college seasons with Pacific. The Canadian forward, who worked out for Golden State in May, averaged 16.7 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 BPG and 0.9 SPG on .467/.409/.858 shooting splits in 33 games with the Tigers in 2025/26.

Ralph’s training camp agreement almost certainly features Exhibit 10 language too, putting him in line to receive a bonus if he’s waived before the regular season and spends at least 60 days with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate."

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Verbal Commits: "2028 St. Andrew's (RI) G Malachi Odugbela has received an offer from Stanford."

He's a 6-foot-6 guard. This is his sixth offer.

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Madden Hill: "After a conversation with Coach Riddick @sanjosestatembb I am grateful and blessed to receive my 4th Division 1 offer."

Hill is a 5-foot-11 2028 talent and also has offers from UNLV and LSU. Couldn't locate the 4th school he refers to. A sports hernia kept him sidelined for a couple of months and possibly limited his exposure.

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De Morro Fino Cantbasket 04Spain has agreed terms with 28-year old 6-foot-2 USA-French guard Clayton Ladine, college: Rocky Mountain, college: Skyline College, high school: Burton High) for the new 2026-27 season. Ladine, who was the assist leader at Sindri in the Icelandic Division I last season, averaged 10.9ppg, 5.6rpg, 7.8apg, and 2.2spg in 34 games. Ladine was named to the Eurobasket.com All-Icelandic Division I Second Team.

Ladine has played professionally in France (Sorgues), Germany (Kangaroos), Iceland (Breidablik and Hrunamenn), Ireland (Killorglin), and Luxembourg (Kordall Steelers Rodange).

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