News Bits
Sam Kayser: "NEWS: Saint Mary’s guard Jordan Ross is entering the transfer portal, he told LeagueRDY. Ross is a former four-star recruit who has played the last two seasons for the Gaels. Native of Pleasant Grove, Utah. He averaged 8.3PPG, 3.1RPG and 2.6APG this season."
Why now? Gael fans have to be both shocked and crestfallen as Ross was going to be the man this coming season. Will he find a landing spot that is better for him (not likely) or is this an NIL situation driven by the enormous figures floating around of late? Does this pave the way for the return of Aidan Mahaney? Lots o' questions.
Just in -- Sam Kayser: "Saint Mary’s transfer Jordan Ross has heard from these schools since hitting the portal, he told LeagueRDY:
- Washington
- Mississippi State
- Clemson
- Gonzaga
- Iowa
- Vanderbilt
- Kansas State
- St John’s
- Washington State
- UNLV
- Seton Hall"
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Travis Branham: "Andrej Stojakovic has completed a Zoom with USC and has been in steady contact with Kentucky, a source told 247Sports. Others showing interest include North Carolina, Florida, Clemson, LSU, Cincinnati, UConn and more. A return to California is also still in consideration."
Branham also indicated that the Jesuit High grad was visiting Illinois on Monday."
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"Michigan State transfer guard commits to Santa Clara following two years in East Lansing"
Playing time is available over at 500 El Camino Real plus Coach Herb Sendek and his staff have a great rep for getting guys to the next level.
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Workin It Hoops: "NEWS: 6-foot-7 Jacob Dar is visiting Memphis today & Santa Clara tomorrow, per source. Long, athletic, sharpshooting wing who really came on during conference play for Rice. Had some HUGE games this season including 24 PTS/6 REB/2 BLK vs. UAB, 21 PTS/4 BLK/2 STL vs. Tulane, & 17 PTS/8 REB/3 BLK vs. Memphis."
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6-foot-8 Isaiah (Tracy High/USF) Hawthorne entered the transfer portal on Monday thereby breaking many a heart in and around Greeley Colorado. He enjoyed a breakout season for Northern Colorado Coach Steve Smiley with 17.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. Smiley also lost his top backcourter. Hawthorne was mostly consistent but did experience some games in which he wasn't a factor. This will be his first chance a good NIL $$$ so who can blame him. However, he will require an NCAA waiver for an additional year of eligibility.
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6-foot-9, 215 pound Nikolaos Chitikoudis, out of North Carolina A&T, recently tripped to Pacific. He would be a solid 'get' as he averaged 10.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in his sophomore season. Chitikoudis shot 54% overall but a worrisome 44% at the foul line. He also blocked 40 shots.
But much more importantly: Jeff Goodman: "Pacific junior point guard Lamar Washington has entered the portal, he told TheFieldOf68. Washington averaged 13.5 points, 5.8 assists and 5.1 boards this past season. Should be pursued by several high-major programs."
This one hurts deep as Washington was the backcourt leader and it will be really difficult to replace his production.
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Jon Rothstein: "UConn transfer Aidan Mahaney tells me that he will visit both Florida State and Florida Atlantic this weekend."
Mahaney cancelled his FSU visit but that was to take place soon after the recent campus shootings at Florida State.
Hey, how about California now that Andrej Stojakovic has portaled? Or...
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"University of California, Merced junior guard Cameron (Bishop O'Dowd) Brown was named to the Second Team Academic All-America men's basketball team selected by College Sports Communicators..."
Brown sports a 3.58 grade point average and is majoring in business and management economics.
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"Daily Journal Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year: San Mateo’s Zidane Auzarang"
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"Nevada men's basketball adds assistant coach Lo Leath, previously at Utah"
"During his decade-long tenure with the (Oakland) Soldiers (AAU team), Leath served as coach (2012-16) and vice president (2016-22)..."
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It appears that Senque Carey is no longer assisting at Pacific as his bio and email address have disappeared although his photo and phone number remain. Here is Bubbles Hawkins IV on Carey's hire last August.
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Daniel Ortiz: "Excited to announce my commitment to further my education and play basketball at Dominican University. Thank you to all my coaches for getting me where I am today and thank you to the Dominican staff for the opportunity."
Ortiz is a 6-foot-3 guard out of Oxnard College and twice earned All Western State Conference honors. He averaged 13.0 points a game this season.
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Oxnard College Men's Basketball: "Congratulations to 6’7 F Luke Ortiz @lukeortiz_44 on Committing to Dominican University! In year one he was an All-WSC first team selection and helped guide us to a 15-9 season."
A frontcourter, he averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 boards per game. They both attended the same high school so I'm guessing they are brothers even with the four inch high difference. Dominican Coach Justin Argenal gets a double pickup from the same school.
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Dylan Harms: "100% Committed!"
Committing to Simpson University, he's a 6-foot-5, 195 pound wing out of Yuba College and Bella Vista High. He averaged 10.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season, shooting 48% overall and 41% from three-point range.
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Yuba Mens Hoops: "Congrats to Yuba College forward TJ Maveety who has accepted a scholarship to U of British Columbia in Vancouver! One of the top academic institutions in the world and a Canadian basketball power!"
He's 6-foot-6 and prepped at Granite Bay High.
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Verbal Commits: "2025 Citrus College (CA) G Tyler (San Ramon Valley High/Golden State Prep Basketball) Isaak has committed to Montana."
The 6-foot-4 sharpshooting Isaak earned all-state status this past season and should fit in well with Montana's offense. He scored 18.6 points per game on 56% and 41% shooting from the floor plus grabbed 5.8 rebounds alongside 2.3 assists.
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Joe Tipton: "Cornell transfer forward AK (Clovis North High) Okereke has committed to Vanderbilt, he tells On3sports. The 6-7 junior averaged 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game this season."
Was hoping Stanford might pursue him but have no idea if such a desire was a reality.
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