Potpourri, Nov 6

News Bits

"An End of an Era: Greg Clink Announces Retirement"

Another look at Greg Clink's departure.

Let's hope he comes back to Chico or somewhere else. He's too good a coach and a person to not be running a program.

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The first national signing period for D1 men's basketball begins on November 13 and runs through November 20. In October 2024, the NCAA elected to eliminate the National Letter of Intent (NLI). The NLI has been a major part of the college recruiting process for 60 years, starting in 1964. The National Letter of Intent (NLI) will be replaced with financial aid agreements between the NCAA and student-athletes. The NCAA Division I Council has endorsed this change, which will affect the Class of 2025 and those that follow.

There is a second signing period beginning in April. Also, coaches can now sign 15 student-athletes, up from 13.

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Simply Basketball: "Congratulations to Mark Lavrenov on his commitment to Sacramento St."

Attending Rocklin High and playing with the Oakland Soldiers, at 6-foot-9, 230, he brings the beef. Displays good hands and, most importantly, a willingness to work. Also had offers from Cal State Fullerton and Idaho.

This link will hopefully get you to a Lavrenov feature.

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Verbal Commits: "2025 Panola College (TX) G Khoi Thurmon has received an offer from Pacific."

Thurmon is a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard.

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Verbal Commits: "2025 Prolific Prep (CA) G Darryn Peterson has committed to Kansas."

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Monday Nov 4 NCAA D1 Men's Basketball Results

Santa Clara defeated St. Louis 85-78 on a neutral court as 6-foot-7 senior guard Adama Bal led with 24 points. Remember that he sought validation for entering/staying in the 2024 NBA draft but eventually returned to school. He shot 7-13 overall, 3-7 and 7-8 respectively.

Stanford handled University of Denver 85-62 behind 24 points on 10-15 shooting from 6-foot-5 junior guard Oziyah (Modesto Christian) Sellers, a transfer from USC. 7-foot senior forward Maxime Raynaud had a strong start of the season with 16 points, 12 boards, and 6 assists.

UC Santa Barbara didn't have any trouble taking down San Francisco State at 96-47 with freshman forward Zion (Archbishop Riordan) Sensley totaling 11 points and five rebounds in his debut.

Pacific took care of William Jessup University 92-65 as 6-foot-7 Elias Ralph finished with 30 points shooting 13-15 overall. Ralph is Canadian as is the Pacific head coach. 6-foot-7 Wyatt Studer weighed in for WJU with a team high 22 points.

St. Mary's scored 76 points to 69 for Towson as Paulius Murauskas provided 14 points plus 13 rebounds to the Gael cause and teammate Luke (Piedmont High) Barrett finished the night with 14 and 11.

Outscored 33-26 in the second half, San Jose State University fell 58-55 to Western Illinois. The host Spartans shot 3-26 from three-point range. What never is a good sign is center Robert (Archbishop Riordan) Vaihola led SJSU with three assists.

Hawaii Hilo came a long way but host Montana was minus any aloha in winning 92-61. Money (Oakland High) Williams has returned to the team and started, playing 27 minutes while contributing five points and five assists. Te'jon (Salesian Prep/Cal Baptist/City College San Francisco) Sawyer also started scoring 10 points and grabbing seven boards in 21 minutes. Former Sacramento State guard Austin (Sonora High) Patterson totaled 12 points

California topped Cal State Bakersfield 86-73 as Jovan (born in Oakland) Blacksher Jr. led the Bears with 16 points. Coach Mark Madsen's crew shot just 7-23 from long distance but lived at the foul line (31-40).

Tuesday Nov 5 NCAA D1 Men's Basketball Results

Texas Tech 94, Bethune-Cookman 61 box For the victors, 6-foot-6 forward Darrion (Capital Christian Hihj/Nevada) Williams posted a 17 point, six rebound, six assist line while teammate 6-foot-3 guard Chance (Bethel High/Golden State Prep/Grand Canyon University) McMillian was right behind with 17, five and five.

San Francisco 86, Cal Poly 78 box The Dons outscored CP by four points in each half to grab the victory. 6-foot-6 frosh Tyrone Riley IV led USF with 26 points and teammate Malik Thomas provided 23. On the Cal Poly side, 6-foot-7 Ethan (Half Moon Bay High/Colorado Mesa) Menzies ended with five boards, three assists and two points (taking just one shot).

Sacramento State 106, Cal Maritime 44 box Behind EJ (City College San Francisco/Idaho) Neal's 16 points, Sacramento State rushed out to a 53-16 first half lead. Neal also collected five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a pair of blocked shots. Teammate Jacob Holt also went for 16 points. For CM, 6-foot-6 sophomore Jake (Benecia High) Matteson finished with 12 points plus seven boards.

Washington 79, UC Davis 73 box Senior guard Ty Johnson provided 35 points, powered by shooting 13-16 at the foul line, but UC Davis fell short against host Washington. The Aggies shot just 6-27 from three-point range.

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Friday, Nov 1 California Community College Men's Basketball Results

Host City College San Francisco took College of Marin apart at 109-63. West Valley College fell to Moorpark College 77-70. 6-foot-1 former Oakland Tech standout Robel Zemmo led the Los Gatos-ites with 20 points. He shot 7-12 overall, 3-6 from long distance. In support, 6-foot-4 Jake (Las Lomas High) Davis finished with 18 points and a team high seven boards.

College of the Sequoias had little trouble with Feather River College at 81-56 as a 41-24 second half broke the game open. 6-foot-4 guard Tyree (Burbank High) Gill led the victors with 16 points. San Joaquin Delta College topped Gavilan College 66-58 in a tournament game played at Cabrillo College. Folsom Lake College bested Los Medanos College 74-69.

Mendocino College was seven points better than tournament host Cabrillo College. Solano College proved to be 14 points better at 87-73 versus Monterey Peninsula College. College of the Siskiyous took down Napa Valley College 91-79. Santa Rosa Junior College beat Foothill College 80-74. Cañada College edged Diablo Valley College 68-60. In a tight one, College of the Redwoods scored 80 points in besting Sacramento City College's 76 points.

Saturday, Nov 2 California Community College Men's Basketball Results

John Bynum Jr: "Top ranked San Francisco picks up a 89-68 home win over 7th ranked Santa Rosa moving to 2-0. King (Archbishop Riordan) Wilhite and Mason (Alameda High) Harris both scored 12 points to lead the Rams."

John Bynum Jr: "In a battle between two top five programs in Northern California, Chinedu (Kimball High) Nwankwo had 25 points and Matt (Archbishop Mitty) McAndrews added 23 points as 4th ranked San Jose used a late run to pick up a 84-80 home win over 3rd ranked Modesto." A Matt McAndrew sighting! A big time one at that.

John Bynum Jr: "Cameron Kelly had 15 points and Jaiden (Hanford High) Haire added 14 points as 2nd ranked Sequoias slipped past 15th ranked Compton 81-79 to move to 2-0 on the season."

CCCMBCA: "Sacramento City highlights tonight:

• Sid (Monterey trail High) Duplesis - 25 points and 6 Rebs
• Jayden (El Dorado High) Ferreira - 21 points and 5 Rebs
• Aaron (Elk Grove High) Gillyard - 13 points, 7 ast, 4 Rebs

All Tournament: Sidney Duplesis and Jayden Ferreira"

Panther guard Sid Duplesis is on his way to another all-state honor.

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Ohlone College MBB: "2-0!! Ohlone 98-82 Orange Coast

• Adam Zalmai 20 pts
• Amos Hodgson 16 pts, 4 stl
• Ashton Proctor 16 pts, 6 reb
• Gabriel Lopez 12 pts, 15 reb
• Anthony Lacy 9 pts, 4 reb
• Omar Babikir 6 pts, 6 ast, 4 stl"

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Hartnell College Men's Basketball: "The Panthers return from Coalinga with a 102-98 victory in triple overtime.

• Finn Powelson with 27
• Gunner Larson with 18
• Daniel Canfield with 17
• Blake Dibble with 16
• Ty McUne with 12"

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John Bynum Jr: "Jacob Dallas had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Jermiah Collins had 16 points as Siskiyous moved to 2-0 with a 85-80 victory over Folsom Lake."

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Two players on the 2024-25 Santa Cruz Warriors squad, Golden State's GLeague team, stand out for their Nor Cal connections:

Out of Marin Catholic, 6-foot-3 Joey Calcaterra attended both UC San Diego and then UConn where he earned a ring as a member of the national champion Huskies.

5-foot-11 Tyrell Roberts is also on the roster of the Warriors. After graduating from Woodcreek High, he finished up his college eligibility at USF.

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"Grand Canyon will become Mountain West's ninth school starting in 2026"

What a great addition considering GCU's recent hoops history with the Big Dance.

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"(Sac State) Hornets return to the hardwood with first-time frontman and reshuffled roster"

A new head coach and lots of newbie players.

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"Analysis: NBA and WNBA coaching jobs ‘don’t have a long shelf life.’ Lately that’s been 1 to 3 years"

Steve Kerr is a major outlier.

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"Humboldt holds on for scrimmage win over Dominican U"

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"Dominguez Hills Toros selected as the favorites in the 2024-25 CCAA Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll"

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"Cal Men's Basketball Season 2024 Preview: Mark Madsen's Uncertainty Principle"

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Chase Rawlins Stays Local

6-foot-6 Chase Rawlins' important decisions in his young life have been to not go down the path well tread. His process in deciding is compile the necessary information and make his call. Pressure is not a factor, whether it be internal or societal.

At the tender age of five, Rawlins sought out a personal basketball trainer and eventually decided on Danielle Viglione, an area basketball trainer, a former professional player and now Director of Player Development with the WNBA's LA Sparks. Many, if not most, male ballers would have forsaken even momentarily considering a female trainer. Not Rawlins.

A more recent Rawlins choice involved deciding on which college he would attend and thus join forces with the school' basketball program. The combo guard enjoyed multiple options including UC Davis, Hawaii, Sacramento State, Princeton, Lafayette, Cal State San Marcos and William Jessup University. He went with the nearby Davis Aggies, located just 36 miles away, even though the plan for him as a freshman is to redshirt. Again, the vast majority of male players would have turned down such a plan.

But Rawlins' redshirting will allow further refinement of his basketball skills as well as turning the weight room into a place of devotion to add strength and bulk.

Men's basketball at Davis has an unofficial nickname of GuardU due to its guards having blossomed under both the tutelage of Les and Company and in the system of play. The current star of the Aggie squad is 6-foot-3 senior Ty Johnson who is coming off a season in which he averaged per game 17.8 points, 3.7 rebounds. 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals. In the 2022-23 season, 6-foot-4 graduated senior Elijah Pepper averaged 22.5 points.

This backcourt history made a positive impression on Rawlins and he noted, "Coach (Jim) Les lets his guards operate within the offense."

“I couldn’t be happier for Chase and his family," said Coach Brandon White, founder of the Rose City Ballers, Rawlins' AAU squad. "Coach Les and Coach Nosek believe in Chase and see him being a contributor in the near future. Chase's best basketball is in front of him. He’s going to play this game for a long time. I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for him."

Rawlins officially visited UC Davis on October 21-22 after informally tripping there in late August. The evening of the first day consisted of dinner with the coaching staff and meeting with academic advisers. The next day offered time for Rawlins to "hang out with the team" and tour the campus. The result after his visit obviously demonstrates the enjoyment of his experience. A 3.85 grade point average adds to Rawlins' recruiting attractiveness n indicates he should quickly adapt to the Davis academic rigor.

What is the Davis program getting in him? "A player who works hard every single day," Rawlins explained. "My best skills are my IQ on the court and my ability to score." Add someone who will be ready to contribute when it is his turn.

Asked why he'll be signing early (this month), Rawlins offered, "it's better for me during my senior season knowing where I will be in college and who will be my coach."

Regarding his redshirting, Rawlins is fine with it because "it will give me time to develop my body and get familiar with the system." His plan is "to be a sponge" once he gets in the gym at Davis, running on a cycle of continuous learning.

One goal at Folsom High for this coming senior season is "to be more vocal" with his leadership and "also more understanding." The latter is to develop greater cognizance about what his teammates need from him in order to be their best.

He will be a Business major.

So it will be goodbye to Folsom High and farewell to the Rose City Ballers for Rawlins after this basketball season and on to an institution built around bettering agricultural policy, veterinary care and the production and care of domestic animals. But Aggie hoops is on a run powered by backcourt point achievement so maybe, just maybe, Davis' three major centers of focus will grow to become a quartet. Chase Rawlins would love to be a factor in making that happen.

Potpourri, Nov 1

News Bits

6-foot-3, 170 guard Emmanuel Manyoun of Garden City Community College (Kansas) has cast his college hoops lot with University of the Pacific and will sign next month. He averaged 10.7 points per game alongside 3.7 boards and 2.1 assists last season at Cloud County CC, shooting 43%, 32% and 67% respectively. Manyoun made nine starts in 32 games.

More from Kat's Paw: Pacific Tigers Men's Basketball Insider.

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Ryder Bush: "Grateful to receive a D1 offer from Sacramento State University. Thank you to the coaching staff for believing in me."

Fresno was recently Bush's first offer. He's a 6-foot-2 2025 guard at Archbishop Riordan.

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"Trio of Gaels Alumni Open the Season on NBA Rosters"

Santa Clara has two talents on NBA teams in up-and-coming Brandin Podziemski who enjoyed an excellent freshman season with Golden State and heralded big guard Jalen Williams who already is a starter for Oklahoma City.

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Spartans Exhibiting

San Jose State University topped Cal State East Bay 75-61 in an exhibition pairing on Tuesday. Concerns: the Spartans shot 4-20 from long distance and posted 14 assists versus 17 turnovers. Plaudits: Robert (Archbishop Riordan) Vaihola was back on the court after missing all of last season and grabbed 16 boards (five offensive) in 26 minutes, SJSU led by 26 in the second half and held CSEB to 29% shooting. MIA for the Spartans: 7-foot Adrame Diongue, freshman shooting guard Cameron Patterson and freshman shooting guard Ben (Sacramento) Roseborough.

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According to this from Ethan Kassel, rookie Jonathan (USF) Mogbo is in Toronto's starting lineup. More.

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"Warriors Exercise Option On Brandin Podziemski"

Guess he can now afford to move out of my so-called ADU. and I can begin to park my car there again.

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Verbal Commits: "2026 St. John Bosco (CA) F Christian Collins has received an offer from Stanford."

Collins is a 6-foot-8, 170 wing.

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"Roster chaos born of NIL money and the transfer portal have turned college hoops upside-down"

Amen. As Colorado Coach Tad Boyle is quoted: "It is easier to build a roster. It is infinitely harder to build a program.”

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Here is Ersin Demir's take on this season's West Coast Conference.

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More Exhibition Games

As expected, San Diego State defended Cal State San Marcos damn near out of existence 80-39, limiting the travelers to 19 and then 20 points in each half. Miles (Lincoln High - Stockton) Byrd scored 12 points and BJ (Modesto Christian High) Davis, coming off his 28 point outburst, tallied nine. Both started for the Aztecs.

6-foot-7 Nigel (Archbishop Mitty/Idaho State/Utah State) Burris scored 14 points in an 83-63 Weber State takedown of Adams State.  He shot 6-8 overall, 2-3 beyond the arc.

UCLA handled Cal State Los Angeles 100-64 despite the best efforts of Jordan Lazo. He's a 6-foot senior out of Salesian Prep who shot 8-13 from three-point range on his way to 24 points for the visitors.

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For those in the Bay Area, remember MarJon Beauchamp? He was the subject of this November 2021 Washington Post feature all about Frank Matrisciano and his Chameleon BX training program.  Question: did Beauchamp play any travel team ball when he was here? Maybe the Oakland Soldiers? Anyway, the young man made it to the NBA (for the past two seasons) but has now unfortunately been dropped by Milwaukee. Somebody in the NBA will pick him up even if it's at the GLeague level.

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The cup of basketball acumen runneth over in the above photo starting with Terry Battenburg with 34 years as a college or high school coach, Delta Head Coach Rich Ressa, Delta Assistant Coach Eddie Hernandez and Brian Katz, a D1 head coach and community college coach now retired.

By the way, Katz has a newish book out which I loved and wrote about here. Do buy it.

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661 Hoops/Central Cali Prospects: "6’8 Parker Spees |2026| San Joaquin Memorial High was dominant at the recent Jr/Sr showcase w an event high of 39 pts & a 23p 14r game to lead all players in scoring & tied for tops in rebounding! Big season coming up for the talented junior stretch-four w a 4.0+ GPA." 

Spees needs added weight and muscle but his combo of skills and smarts should provide him with multiple options come his senior season."

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