Potpourri, Jan 31

News Bits

Wed, Jan 29 NCAA D1 scores

UConn 72 , DePaul 61 box. Aidan (Campolindo High/St. Mary's) Mahaney scored 10 points in 17 minutes, shooting 3-9 overall. He also enjoyed two assists.

Texas Tech 71, Texas Christian 57 box. Chance (Bethel High/Prolific Prep/Grand Canyon) McMillian produced 16 points plus three assists in the win.

Kansas State 85, Oklahoma State 57 box. In the victory, Coleman (Antelope Hawkins/Prolific Prep/Illinois) Hawkins stuffed the stats sheet with 15 points, nine boards, six assists, three steals and a trio of rejections.

Southern Methodist 76, California 65 box. The Bear were again minus Andrej (Jesuit High) Stojaković due to a hip injury and Mady Sissoko was sidelined by a concussion. The remaining team wasn't going to top the Mustangs on their home court minus two critical players. Nick Kranz/Write For California game report.

St. Mary's 67, Santa Clara 54 box. The Gaels shot but 40% in the victory and held the host Broncos to 35% in this low scoring pairing that featured an amazing 30-0 run by Coach Randy Bennett's crew. The Moraga-ites won the battle of the boards 39-25. Santa Claran Carlos Stewart Jr. was the leading scorer by far with 24 points. "Saint Mary’s uses 30-0 second-half run to take down Santa Clara 67-54"

Stanford 70, Syracuse 61 box. The Syracuse hoops program of late is not similar to the powerhouse teams of earlier decades and had no answer for Maxime Raynaud's 21 points, 15 boards, three assists and three steals. The Cardinal also committed just nine turnovers and only 10 fouls. "Stanford Basketball Hangs on to Beat Syracuse" Dylan Grausz

Thu, Jan 30 NCAA D1 scores

Montana State 70, Sacramento State 58 box. The Hornets like #29 so much they reached it twice as the poor shooting, save for Julian (St. Joseph Notre Dame/Chico State/CCSF/U Alberta) Vaughns with 19 points, continued. Try 35% overall shooting. Add in 15 turnovers.

Montana 92, Portland State 78 box. At home, Money (Oakland High) Williams scored 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists in 26 minutes coming off the bench.

UC Riverside 60, UC Davis 58 box. Ty Johnson finished with 20 points but didn't shoot well and teammate Connor (Dougherty Valley High) Sevilla tallied 15, shooting 6-9 overall plus 3-5 from long distance. The Aggies fell on a Riverside three-pointer with four seconds remaining.

Cal State Northridge 78, UC Santa Barbara 71 box. 6-foot-6 Mahmoud (Santa Teresa High/West Valley College/Cal State San Bernardino) Fofana just missed posting a double-double with 12 points plus nine boards for the victors.

Pacific 70, Washington State 68 box. Call this a major upset for the Tigers and great for the Stockton area fans to see it live! Ralph Elias led with 18 points and teammate Lamar Washington provided 13 points, eight assists, five boards plus a trio of steals. Washington buried a trey at the 0:47 mark of the second half and then threw a pass for Jazz Gardner's layup with five seconds left. Pacific was out-shot by almost four percentage points but did manage to better WSU in rebounding 34-24, and earned 19 assists on 28 baskets.

Wed, Jan 29, CCCMBCA scores

Skyline College 69, Las Positas College 68

John Bynum Jr.: "A late free throw from Achilles Woodson after his and one lay up helps Skyline pick up a 69-68 road win over undefeated Las Positas."

Matt Schwab: "Top players for Las Positas in tonight’s overtime loss to Skyline:

• Elijah Mobley 19 pts, 5 reb
• Jorren Edmonds 17 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl
• Elliot Mobley 12 pts , 2 reb, 3 ast
• Jaden Woodard 10 pts, 7 reb

Note: Edmonds forced OT with dramatic fg at end of reg.

CCCMBCA: "#17 Skyline 69, #1 Las Positas 68; Skyline shocks #1 Las Positas with a three-point play with .2 seconds left in OT. The loss snaps Las Positas' 20-game win streak and drops the Hawks into a tie with San Francisco in the Coast-North. Feb. 4-LP-SF will meet at Las Positas."

City College San Francisco 98, College of San Mateo 59

West Valley College 79, San Jose City College 75 OT>

College of the Sequoias 104, Columbia College 73 box CoS shot 61% overall as Jordan (Hanford High) Haire enjoyed a 24 point, 10 rebound double-double and teammate Cameron Kelly almost reached the next step with 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists but the stat sheet was owned by Rashaud (Sheldon High) Bradley and his 43 points. Forty Three!

Chabot College 87, Cañada College 73

Cabrillo College 84, Hartnell College 56

DeAnza College 73, Ohlone College 66

College of Alameda 90, Solano College 70

Napa Valley College 72, Merritt College 71

College of The Redwoods 96, Shasta College 88

Yuba College 110, College of Marin 57

Mendocino College 80, Contra Costa College 72

Fresno City College 62, Porterville College 39

Gavilan College 80, Monterey Peninsula College 62

No games on Thursday

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Damarion Vann-Kelly: "After a great conversation with Coach Williams!! I am blessed to receive an offer from Southern Utah."

Don't see this as The One.

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"Cal-Hi Sports Northern California Boys State Basketball Player of the Week Connor Sheridan (Portola) Jr.

We’re really going off the beaten path to find this week’s NorCal boys’ honoree. The town of Portola is in Plumas County with a population of just over 2,000 and is a lot closer to Reno, Nevada, than any other California city. It’s also home to one of the largest railroad museums in the nation and is surrounded by tall trees on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The Portola High Tigers have a tall tree of their own with the 6-foot-9 Sheridan and as one might expect a player like that playing other small town competition puts up off-the-charts totals. A good example is one game from last week that Connor had in a 67-59 win against Biggs. He had a double-double of 24 points and 24 rebounds plus eight blocks and six steals. In his other game last week, Sheridan pocketed 19 rebounds plus 22 points and seven blocks in a win vs Hamilton.

There were other weeks in which Connor could have been chosen for this honor, but the best one of 49 points and 25 rebounds came in the very first game vs Plumas Charter in a 91-73 win and at that time we were in our last week of selecting football players of the week. He also had 40 points in a January victory vs Oroville High.

For the season, Sheridan is averaging 25.3 points, 15.8 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game. It takes 1,371 career rebounds to make the Cal-Hi Sports all-time state list and Connor is well on his way to reaching that. He had 1,147 entering his first game this week on Tuesday vs Maxwell. He also has 287 career blocks, but that all-time state list isn’t as deep and currently sits at 622 to qualify for it.

One never knows about how good a player from a place like Portola can be, but Connor has also been playing for the famed Oakland Soldiers AAU club team. That has put him in front of college coaches and analysts like our own Ronnie Flores. In Ronnie’s just updated Class of 2026 Hot 100 Player Rankings, Sheridan checked in at No. 69 just behind Ty Ingram of Los Angeles Westchester."

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"Basketball player alleges discrimination in lawsuit against San Jose State coaches"

It's from 2017 and I imagine this was settled but does any know the outcome? Hit me up if you happen to know.

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"Ardarius Grayson takes over fourth quarter, leads Oakland Tech to gutsy win over Fremont-Oakland"

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"Sons of Warriors’ Pachulia find their way in US basketball scene at De La Salle. Zaza Pachulia’s path from the Republic of Georgia to the NBA was far different from the path his sons are navigating in the East Bay"

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"Mottashed shines but Corsairs fall to Lassen, drop to second in GVC"

The above is a College of the Redwoods update.

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"Jalen 'The Jewel' Stokes hits the court sprinting, scoring, winning for Dougherty Valley"

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Obinna Ekezie Jr.: "Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Auburn. I really appreciate this opportunity."

This is BIG, BIG time. Gonna be a some large sums of NIL $$$ coming Ekezie Jr.'s way. He is a 2027 7-footer at Prolific Prep.

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"Best performances in Northern California high school boys basketball (Jan. 20-26)"

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Potpourri, Jan 29

News Bits

Mon, Jan 27, NCAA D1 scores

Arizona 86, Iowa State 75 OT box. For ISU, Dishon (St. Patrick-St. Vincent High/Washington State/Charlotte) Jackson scored 10 points, brought down 10 boards, rejected a pair of shots and pilfered a pair of steals.

Incarnate Word 74, New Orleans 58 box. For IW, Dylan (Healdsburg High) Hayman scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds, recorded seven assists and nabbed a pair of steals.

Tue, Jan 28, NCAA D1 score

San Diego State 71, San Jose State University 68 box. The Aztecs fought back from being down by 20 in the initial 20 minutes to take the lead late in the second half. Miles (Lincoln High) Byrd was active in the charge and 7-footer Magoon Gawath played prominently throughout, finishing with 24 points. Spartan big Robert Vaihola didn't attempt a shot in 30 minutes. The Viejas Court crew shot 51% overall but SJSU shot 48% on 3 three-point attempts.

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Mon, Jan 27, CCCMBCA scores

no reportable scores

Tue, Jan 28, CCCMBCA scores

Modesto Junior College 73, Cosumnes River College 59 box MJC shot 38% and won, making nine treys to CRC's two and sinking 18 foul shots to five for the fallen. Jake Williams tallied 26 points alongside nine rebounds for CRC.

Folsom Lake College 90, Sacto City College 84

American River College 69, San Joaquin Delta College 65

Diablo Valley College 71, Diablo Valley College 66

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Verbal Commits: "2027 PHHoenix Prep (AZ) F Javon Bardwell has received an offer from California."

He currently stands 6-foot-7 and is known for jumping ability and overall toughness.

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"'Randy's been his co-pilot for 22 years': Inside the life of LeBron James' fixer"

Shocked that ESPN didn't limit this to subscribers. Dave McMenamin did a terrific job here.

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Brandon Cole: "Will (Corbett) is currently a big west guard. If he continues to develop his jump shot like he has, which anyone who sees his work ethic believes he will, he won’t be anything less than WCC. Keep working..."

He is 6-foot-2 Bellarmine Prep guard.

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UC Merced Bobcats: "Congratulations to Cameron (Bishop O'Dowd) Brown for being named the California Pacific Conference Offensive Player of the Week!"

Last Saturday, the 6-foot-2 Brown scored 30 points in a win over Simpson University. He shot 9-15 from the floor and 11-12 at the foul line. Brown also grabbed a team high six boards.

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"How Ole Miss' Jaemyn Brakefield is using his NIL money to help raise a 16-year-old"

Gotta always congratulate a good heart.

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Team Esface: "Ryder Bush having a stellar senior season with Riordan HS helping team start 6-0 in league play! Holds offer from Sac St & Fresno St."

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Brandon Bracy, founder of Team Rampage, has just started a team fundraiser. Please go here to help out.

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[Matt Norlander] Breaking: "The University of Florida has closed its Title IX investigation of men's basketball coach Todd Golden and found no evidence to support allegations against Golden."

More.

Some of the accusations were bizarre but also provable yea or nay. Sounds like the nays won. I imagine some coaches were planning on making a bid for Golden's job.

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"Top Nine Unchanged; Remainder of Poll Shaken Butte is this week's biggest mover..."

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Memphis Grizzlies: "🌟Well, Well, Wells…🌟

🐻 11.9 PTS

🐻 38.8 3P%

🐻 3.2 REB

Jaylen_Wells is headed to 2025 All-Star Weekend after being selected to the Rising Stars game. Show out for the 〽️."

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"Sonoma State group blasts plan to cut athletics department, files federal complaint"

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Jake Lieberman: "6'5 guard Damarion Vann-Kelly out of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College tells me that he's been in contact with UNLV, EWU, NKU, Loyola Marymount, Oregon St, Radford, Richmond, WKU, Wyoming & SHSU.

Former FIU commit. 18.6 PPG (57.3% 3PT)."

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Prep scores and more

Crush In The Valley FINAL Game 8:

• Clovis North HS (CA) 69
• Vanden HS (CA) 49
• Player of the Game: Clovis North G McKae Amundsen 24 points, 7 assists

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"Prep roundup: Salesian no match for St. Joseph superstar Tounde Yessoufou St. Mary’s-Berkeley, O’Dowd snag wins at Crush in the Valley showcase."

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"Crush in the Valley Showcase live score updates recap: St. Joseph, Prolific Prep score big wins"

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The Grind Session:

FINAL Prolific Prep (CA) 81

Rosemary Anderson (OR) 78

• Player of the Game: Obinna Ekezie Jr. 24p 12r 6b
• Winters Grady 23p 1r 2a 1s
• Hunter Carter 31p 6r 3a 2s
• Quincy Byas 25p (5/8 3PM) 5r 1a 1s 1b

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The Grind Session: "Darryn Peterson is making his case! 🔥 With 27 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals in Prolific Prep’s win over Dream City Christian, he’s climbed into the top 2 nationally and is already being talked about as a top prospect for the 2026 NBA Draft."

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The Grind Session:

FINAL Redwood (CA) 54

Moreau Catholic (CA) 50

• Player of the Game: TT (Redwood) Carr 22p 14r 5a 2s 3b
• Tyler White 10p 2r 1b
• Kellen Hampton 15p 9r 1a 2s
• Isaiah Clendinen 11p 2r 4a

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Potpourri, Jan 27

News Bits

Fri, Jan 24 NCAA D1 scores

No reportable games

Sat, Jan 25, NCAA D1 games

Minnesota 77, Oregon 69 box. Mike (Archbishop Mitty/Pepperdine) Mitchell Jr. didn't shoot well but dished out a game high 10 assists.

Xavier 76, UConn 72 box. Aidan (Campolindo High/St. Mary's) Mahaney scored 14 points alongside three boards and three assists in the losing cause.

Dartmouth 84, Brown 83 box. Connor (Clovis North High) Amundsen finished with 14 points and three assists in 26 minutes.

Weber State 87, Sacramento State 81 box. For Sacto, Julian (St. Joseph Notre Dame/Chico State/CCSF) Vaughns concluded with 17 points, a team high seven boards and three assists. In 14 minutes, freshman teammate Leo (De La Salle High) Ricketts produced 13 points and a team best four assists.

Northern Colorado 67, Eastern Washington 62 box. Isaiah (Tracy High/USF) Hawthorne tallied 32 points plus seven rebounds, both tops on his Colorado squad. He shot 10-16, 4-6 and 8-10.

Oregon State 83, Santa Clara 69 box. SJSU shot 10-16 at the charity stripe, OSU 21-22. The Corvallis-ites also committed just seven turnovers to 13 for the Broncos.

Stanford 78, Florida State 71 box. Maxime Reynaid was big on the boards with 14 but scored just eight points as it was backcourter Oziah (Modesto Christian High) Sellers' 25 points pacing the Cardinal.

San Jose State University 67, Wyoming 58 box. Englishman Latrell Davis was out in front with 22 points off the bench plus five rebounds for the Spartans.

St. Mary's 80, Washington State 75 box. WSU owned a three point lead at the half. Paulius Murauskas paced the Gaels with 25 points plus 12 rebounds.

California 98, Miami 94 OT box. Freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson led with 30 points in a strange shooting display (10-22 overall, 1-10 on threes, 9-10 free throws). Andrej (Jesuit High) Stojakovic did not play presumably due to injury.or illness. Write For California game report.

San Francisco 81, San Diego 69 box. The Dons held the Toreros to 37% overall shooting, 21% on three-point attempts.

Pepperdine 60, Pacific 44. box. Start with 20 turnovers, then add in 28% overall shooting accuracy plus 15% on 20 three-point heaves and the Tigers won't win any games with those stats. But the host Waves were only a little better via 13 turnovers, 33% overall shot accuracy and 20% on trey attempts.

Sun, Jan 26 NCAA D1 scores

Texas Tech 64, Oklahoma State 54 box. Chance (Jesse Bethel High/Golden State Prep/Grand Canyon) McMillian led TT with 14 points on 5-6,3-6,1-2 shooting while also grabbing six boards.

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Fri, Jan 24, CCCMBCA scores

Las Positas College 109, DeAnza College 68 LPC box. For the victors, Sterling (Vanden High) McClanahan led with 26 points and teammate Elijah (Weston Ranch High) Mobley owned a line of 20 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

City College San Francisco 96, Chabot College 74 box. The score was 56-32 after 20 minutes but the second half went 42-40 in favor of Chabot.

West Valley College 70, Hartnell College 54

Modesto Junior College 123, Folsom Lake College 91 The nets were burnin'.

Skyline College 60, Ohlone College 57

Santa Rosa Junior College 86, San Joaquin Delta College 67

San Jose City College 66, Cabrillo College 56 The Jags nab a solid home win.

Foothill College 77, Monterey Peninsula College 57

Cañada College 84, San Mateo College 80

Yuba College 100, Solano College 86

Mendocino College 79, Los Medanos College 57

College of Alameda 70, Napa Valley College 69

Merritt College 67, Contra Costa College

Cosumnes River College 86, Sacto City College 71 box. For the Capital-ers, Sidney (Monterey Trail High) Duplessis scored 33 points. CRC shot 50% overall, 3-5 from long distance and 25-35 on foul shots.

American River College 64, Diablo Valley College 63

Sat, Jan 25, CCCMBCA scores

College of the Sequoias 84, Porterville College 48 CoS box. Tyree (Burbank High) Gill enjoyed 26 points, shooting 5-10 from long distance. A 49-18 first half put the game away.

Columbia College  , Coalinga College

Butte College 87, Feather River College 71

Lassen College 71, College of the Redwoods 646

College of the Siskiyous 72, Shasta College 67

Fresno City College 78, Reedley College 54

Merced College 87, Lemoore College 73

No games scheduled on Sunday.

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Last Thursday

Tyjean (Antelope High/College of the Sequoias) Burrell scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds but San Francisco State fell 76-67 to Cal State San Bernardino.

Powered by 13-16 shooting at the foul line, Beril Kabamba scored 21 points as Cal State East Bay edged Cal Poly Pomona 67-65. Teiano (Vanden High/Sacramento State) Hardee scored on a layup and two free throws in the last 38 seconds for the victory in Hayward.

Missing leading scorer Jojo (Piedmont High) Murphy, Chico State got bopped 79-58 at home by Cal State Dominguez Hills. For the Chico-ites, Isaiah (St. Francis High/Montana) Kerr led all scorers with 19 points and freshman Cortevious (Granada High) Taylor posted a 14 point, 11 board double-double.

Jeremiah (Salesian Prep) Jones scored 21 points and added five rebounds plus three assists in the Cal State Stanislaus 95-85 net scorcher over Sonoma State in Turlock. Chris (Jesuit High/Sacramento State/Santa Rosa Junior College) Holley enjoyed a 21 point, 10 assist double-double for Sonoma. He added six boards.

Last Saturday

Caden (Capital Christian High/Yuba College) Flowers buried six treys on his way to 24 points as San Francisco State topped Cal Poly Pomona 67-48.

In a high scoring matchup, home team Chico State won both 20 minute sessions in defeating Cal State Los Angeles 95-86. JoJo (Piedmont High) Murphy was back and exploded fro 31 points on 9-16, 5-9 and 8-10 shooting respectively. Each Wildcat starter scored at least 14 points.

Jeremiah (Salesian Prep) Jones finished with 24 points but Stanislaus State could only generate a total of 54 versus 66 by visiting Cal State San Marcos.

6-foot-3 freshman guard Jordan (Clovis North High) Espinosa scored 12 points in just 21 minutes but Cal State East Bay fell 84-72 to visiting Cal State University San Bernardino.

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Timothy Finau: "After a great conversation with Coach Jeff Strohm, I am blessed to announce that I have received a Division 1 offer to San Jose State University."

Finau is a 2025 prospect, a seven-footer, weighs 230 and is a lefty. The Spartans really need a young big.

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Jake Lieberman: "6'2 2026 PG Kamai Samuels out of SoCal Academy (CA) tells me that he's gaining interest from Stanford. Offers include Fordham, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Cal & Penn State."

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Jake Lieberman: "(Jailen) Daniel-Dalton (formerly of San Francisco State) tells me that he’s been offered by CSU East Bay."

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Jake Lieberman: "6'4 2026 guard Elias Obenyah out of Salesian College Prep HS (CA) & Team Lillard AAU is receiving interest from Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, San Francisco, St. Louis, Penn State, Boise State & Texas A&M, he's told me. Obenyah just picked up an offer from USD."

Imagine being a high schooler and having Stanford, Yale, Harvard and Princeton in pursuit.

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A DJ Seeley update. Seeley is a 6-foot-4 guard currently playing in Romania. He played at Cal State Fullerton and California after graduating from Modesto Christian High.

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"What Sonoma State losing its athletics says about the future of college sports"

The link above should get past the paywall.

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The Lead: "Jaylen Wells ranks:

• 1st among rookies in scoring (11.9 PPG)
• 1st among rookies in 3PM (88)
• 2nd among rookies in 3PT% (38.8)
• 1st among rookies in plus-minus (149)
• 1st among rookies in offensive rating (115.9)
• 2nd among rookies in win shares (2.4)"

What the heck is a win share?

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"Brawl ends high school basketball game in Placer County. Will CIF enforce suspensions?"

This link should bring up video of the mess.

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Jake Lieberman: "2026 6'1 PG Mason Magee out of Basha HS (AZ) & Compton Magic has been offered by St. Louis, i'm told. Other recent offers for Magee include Grand Canyon, West Virginia, Cal, Nevada & Fresno State. Talented guard, with lots of upside."

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UC Merced: "The first Cal Pac player to 50 assists this season: Aidan (Dougherty Valley High) Sevilla. Sevilla is averaging 4.5 APG over his last nine and is at 3.4 APG on the year."

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High School notes and quotes

"After three-quarter heavyweight bout, Palo Alto throws knockout punch to beat Los Gatos in league clash Prep boys basketball: In a game that resembled a street fight in its physicality, Palo Alto threw the last, best punch in the fourth quarter"

and

"Block party: Shot-swatting Oakland Tech shuts down the paint in victory over rival Oakland"

and

"Prep roundup: Alec Blair returns, leads De La Salle over Amador Valley; Oakland Tech girls rout Oakland"

and

"Confident Cougars: Campolindo dominates Acalanes in emotional rivalry game"

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Potpourri, Jan 24

News Bits

"‘Vallejo is home’: Former Duke standout DeMarcus Nelson honored with jersey retirement"

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Verbal Commits: "2025 Dynamic Prep (TX) G Carlsheon Young has committed to Pacific."

Young is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who lists himself as the #1 player in Oklahoma. He seems like a very good catch.

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Jake Lieberman: "6'6 San Francisco State transfer Jailen Daniel-Dalton tells me that he's heard from LSU, Mercyhurst, Texas State, San Jose State, Fort Lewis, CSU East Bay, Angelo State, University of Tampa, + others. Holds four D2 offers. 23-24 stats: 11.8 points (38.0% 3PT) & 6.6 rebounds."

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PD Web: "2026 Elias Obenyah (6’4 G) of Salesian (CA) has earned an offer from San Diego."

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Verbal Commits: "2026 Harrells Christian (NC) G Antonio McKoy has received an offer from California."

McKoy is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard.

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"San Francisco, Fullerton Remain Each Region's Winning Percentage Index Leader"

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"Jake Lieberman: "2026 6'1 PG Mason Magee out of Basha HS (AZ) & Compton Magic has been offered by St. Louis, i'm told. Other recent offers for Magee include Grand Canyon, West Virginia, Cal, Nevada & Fresno State. Talented guard, with lots of upside."

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Verbal Commits: "Lake Land College (JUCO), Panola College (JUCO), Southwest Mississippi CC (JUCO) and West Valley College (JUCO) offered 6-11 2025 Terror Prep (ON) F/C Adam Tokpah."

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"Indiana eliminates 25 athletic department jobs in preparation for revenue sharing, AP source says"

It's 2025 in college athletics, baby.

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"Lakers’ Gabe Vincent rounding into form offensively"

"How Gabe Vincent has become steadying influence for Lakers bench"

He prepped at St. Mary's High in Stockton.

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"GP2 shows love to ex-Warrior, Oakland native JTA at G League game."

Talk about a cryptic headline.

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"Preseason exhibition rules eased for DI men’s basketball teams"

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"Why Did ‘Woj’ Take a 99% Pay Cut? To Save the Team He Loves."

He is ill and absolutely needed to take himself out of the NBA coverage rat race. Bravo to Woj.

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Prep Roundup

Dublin Gael Hoops: "Dublin Gaels (18-2) 54 Ca. Rank #28, Monterey Trail (14-4) 50 Ca. Rank #27"

"Prep roundup: De La Salle, without its star, falls to Arizona power at MLK Classic"

Archbishop Riordan 75, Archbishop Mitty 46 (1-21-24) Heading to college at Texas A&M, Jasir Rencher totaled 31 points and buried nine treys for the victors.

"Top 10 high school basketball performances at 2025 De La Salle MLK Classic"

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Wed, Jan 22, NCAA D1 scores

Baylor 70, Kansas State 62 box. Coleman (Antelope High/Prolific Prep/Illinois) Hawkins didn't shoot well or often (3-9, 0-3, 2-3) and finished with eight points but excelled with nine boards and seven assists.

California 77, Florida State 68 box. Five Bears finished in double figures scoring and FSU went a measly 3-5 at the foul line.

Stanford 88, Miami 51 box. Maxime Reynaud led the Cardinal with 28 points plus 12 boards.

Thu, Jan 23, NCAA D1 scores

UC Davis 68, Hawai'i 66 box. For UCD, guard Ty Johnson scored 23 points, alongside four assists and three steals -- each a team best.

St. Mary's 71, San Francisco 51 box. Thought it would be much closer and am amazed that the Dons could only muster 51 points (Malik Thomas 1-12 shooting, the team shot 27%). The Gaels shot 61.5% overall but just 1-5 from three-point range.

Sacramento State 75, Idaho State 71 box. 6-foot-3 guard Julian (St. Joseph Notre Dame/Chico State/ CCSF) Vaughns tallied a team high 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, another squad best. The Hornets shot 46% overall and the same on 22 three-point attempts. ISU shot 39% overall. It's an upset plus a solid win for a team that really needed one. 

Loyola Marymount 73, Pacific 68 box. Former San Jose State University guard Myron (Vacaville High) Amey totaled 24 points for LM. He shot 5-8 from three-point range.

Santa Clara 93, Washington State 65 box. The Broncos were in control throughout, winning the first half by 11 points and the second 20 minutes by 15. SCU had five players finish in double figures scoring.

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Wed, Jan 22, CCCMBCA scores

Las Positas College 85, Ohlone College 63 LPC box. Sterling (Vanden High) McClanahan led with 22 point and teammate Jorren (Washington High-Fremont) Edmonds tallied 21. Each grabbed 10 rebounds and Edmonds' five assists and four steals were also tops.

City College San Francisco 84, DeAnza College 63

West Valley College 78, Cabrillo College 63

San Jose City College 77, Monterey Peninsula College 60

College of the Sequoias 95, Merced College 65

Foothill College 79, Gavilan College 60

Shasta College 61, Lassen College 59

Solano College 84, College of Marin 81

Yuba College 84, Napa Valley College 56

Contra Costa College 86, College of Alameda 82 CCC is on its way to a conference title.

Los Medanos College 58, Merritt College 55

Columbia College 66, Porterville College 63 Columbia is unbeaten in conference action.

Fresno City College 97, Lemoore College 81

Butte College 84, College of the Siskiyous 65

Skyline College 85, Cañada College 65

Chabot College 102, College of San Mateo 77 Gladiator Basketball: "Tonight Your Gladiators go on the road to College of San Mateo and have a strong team performance and win 102-77 and move to 3-2 in the coast north conference and 14-5 overall.

Your Gladiators were led by:

• Aaiden Burris 21pts 8rebs (7/11 64% from the 3)
• Amani Johnson 20pts 3rebs 3tls (2/4 50% from the 3)
• Zion Yeargin 15pts 6asts 3stl 2/4 50% from the 3)
• Marcellus Edwards 14pts 10asts 2stl (double/ double)
• Oz Savage 7pts 8rebs 2blks"

Thu, Jan 23 CCCMBCA scores

College of the Redwoods 96, Feather River College 85

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Sonoma State Closing Down Athletics

Citing finances, Sonoma State University is dropping all D2 men's and women's athletics. Wow. Will more similar level NorCal schools follow?

The Giacomazzi Way at LPC

Coach James Giacomazzi's Las Positas College basketball program thrives annually, currently 18-0 thus far in the 2024-25 season, and being successful on the court feeds his inner competitive fire, those of his assistant coaches and also his student-athletes. What's intriguing is that the multiple reasons for the hoops prosperity in Livermore extends far beyond teaching mere basketball concepts. Relationships are the most critical component as Giacomazzi and his coaching staff focus time and energy into developing mutual respect and understanding, establishing connectivity between each coach and each player, plus between player and player.

In his tenth season at LPC (currently 181-73, 71.2% winning percentage) and having made post-season play every year since he arrived, Giacomazzi's teams are known earning post-season eligibility and advancing deep into the playoffs, including in 2021-22 where his team went to the Elite 8 and finished 27-4. With a previous prosperous stint heading the men's basketball program at Cosumnes River College (Sacramento) for 11 seasons, Giacomazzi departed college and entered the coaching profession by assisting Percy Carr at San Jose City College for six seasons.

At age 17, Giacomazzi began playing for Carr at San Jose City College and contributed to the Jaguars winning two conference championships before transferring to, playing at, and graduating from UC Riverside. He also eventually earned a master’s degree from San Jose State University in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Human Performance and Sport Management. His hoops journey began at Washington High in Fremont with Coach Guin Boggs, on a team that won the Nor Cal championship in 1991 and became the state championship game runnerup, both in Giacomazzi'ssophomore season. He was a two-time all-league player while at Washington High, also earning 3^rd team Greater East Bay and MVP of the conference his senior year.

Of Boggs, Giacomazzi vividly described him as "smart, a great motivator and a tenacious coach who instilled passion." He called Boggs "a culture coach long before that description became a buzzword." In a 2022 article, he said of Boggs: "He taught me the principles of the game...and strategy.” In his various tenures throughout the Bay Area and Northern California, Boggs coached in the high school ranks, at the junior college level and with four-year programs, tutoring young men and women.

So why the turn to hoops? "I enjoy the competitive nature of the game of basketball, Giocomazzi offered. "Even when I was in middle school playing at a park against high school players. I was 13, they were 18 and I learned by failure."

After college, Giacomazzi's entrance into coaching wasn't a surprise since "my Dad was a (basketball) coach at San Carlos High." But possibly of even greater importance to that career entrance was "my relationship with my JC Coach Percy Carr. I began coaching with him in 1998." Their connection is so tight that Carr was a groomsman at Giacomazzi's wedding.

Feeding off "kids graduating and getting scholarships," Giacomazzi noted "mentoring has taken a hit. When I was coming up, I started out playing just a little and that was okay with me because I had to earn my playing time. Nowadays, I’d be curious to ask a player if they want to be part of a championship team and play a little or be part of a team that may not win much but play a lot, I wonder which they would choose." Which is fascinating because think about what will be cherished by any individual 30-40 years from now.

Asked to name personal attributes he deems critical to being successful as a coach, Giacomazzi offered, "vulnerability, honesty, forthrightness and loving your players. They see how you conduct yourself around your wife and kids and that needs to conform with how you interact with them. We don't have all the answers but we just try and do things the right way. As Purdue Coach Matt Painter recently said, 'we don't conform our core beliefs to players. the players conform to what we value.' It's about who you are as a person. Are you a straight shooter who demonstrates what you say? Character matters so care for them genuinely. Value their voices by asking for their input. Be patient." If this sounds like similar advice to that of Dr. Benjamin Spock about child-rearing way back when, it is.

To a query about how he stays fresh since he's been operating a sports business for 20+ years, Giacomazzi responded quickly and succinctly: "My family and my assistant coaches. My wife and daughters have been a part of all that I have done in coaching. Also, I currently have and have had great assistants and I really value them. (Associate Head Coach) Anthony Haskett owns a Master's degree and is young, intelligent and passionate." That degree is in Exercise Science & Health Promotion with an emphasis in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention.

"(Assistant Coach) Ravi Bhambhra has three years experience running his own program at College of Alameda. Both are highly invested and that makes my job a lot easier." Bhambhra owns an M.A in Kinesiology, with emphasis on Sports Psychology, from San José State University and previously assisted at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa, City College San Francisco and Cañada College (Redwood City).

Whether it be Devin Aye (San Jose City College head coach), Jonathan James (Cosumnes River College head coach), Nicholas Podesta (Clovis West High head coach), Fred Wilson (Inderkum High head coach), Michael Lorente (Destiny Christian head coach) and multiple others, "they've all made me look smarter."

So are there any future Coach Giacomazzi's in the pipeline? "My kids are highly ranked acrobatic gymnasts who are soon to be trying out to be a part of the US National Team. They've traveled all over the nation and internationally for meets." So, there very well may be a future Coach Giacomazzi or two but it will involve Balance, Dynamic, and Combined routines rather than flare screens, backdoor cuts and the like.

What very few know about Giacomazzi is his choice of work if he wasn't coaching and simultaneously carrying out duties as LPC's athletic director. "I do have a Master in Sports Management so I like working to expand sports offerings which we are looking at doing at Las Positas College, but outside of coaching or being an AD, I’d love being a stay-at-home Dad and watch my girls do their thing." That's a critical if forever under-appreciated role and certainly involves multiple skills applied in juggling the requirements of keeping a household operating smoothly.

Maybe the phrase 'growth generator' is appropriate here. Young men, coming from high school, enter the jarringly different existence of community college basketball and classes. Giacomazzi's is a program where maturation and improvement both on the court and off as well as in the classroom is expected. How does he know he is performing his role well? Because former players call, text and return to Las Positas and visit whether it be during breaks from their four-year schools, playing professionally overseas (now has had 22 players play professionally) or after graduating. Countless of his hoops acolytes remain in touch to this day. It takes a certain degree of growth on Giacomazzi's part since determining how to connect with each player's psyche and mindset is a must towards establishing that desired sense of mutual caring.

Yes, Coach Caring would be an apt nickname for him. It's not ferocious, combative or headline grabbing—it's him, and his family, his assistants and a long list of his players are thankful.