Potpourri, Oct 26

News Bits

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"Fullerton Opens Season as CCCMBCA’s Top-Ranked Team"

CCSF is ranked #2 overall, @1 in NorCal.

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6-foot-6 Ohlone College redshirt sophomore Kiratraj "Mr Double-Double" Sanghera is attending UC Irvine but his name isn't appearing on the official Anteater roster. I'll dig further.

Our feature from earlier this year.

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"(Stanford) Men’s basketball comeback unravels in Santa Clara exhibition"

and

Up in Oregon, the Ducks defeated Stanford 85-57. game report

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"Host Utah State Aces Final Preseason Test in 101-79 Win Over Santa Clara"

The score was 41-35 Utah State at the half.

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"Providence's Miles (Lincoln High) Byrd led a dominant defense to an 87-64 win over Pittsburgh. Byrd had 17 points and 7 rebounds but didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. However, it was his defense that was impressive. He finished the game with five steals and two blocks in the blowout win..."

A 6-foot-6 graduate student transfer from San Diego State, Byrd shot 5-16, 4-12, 3-4 overall but led the Friars in rebounding (7), blocked shots (2) and steals (5) plus added three assists with zero turnovers.

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"Eighteen college basketball players will earn more than LeBron James next season"

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"College basketball's NIL arms race, from $5M to $25M+: Breaking down roster values, spending tiers for 2026-27"

"In the least surprising news ever, Duke, Louisville and Kentucky are believed to be the top spenders

However, in an interesting twist, the article claims that Duke actually has a lower payroll than it probably should, as several players have taken a “Duke discount,” banking on the marketing and exposure of the school, rather than just taking the highest offer

Alabama was one of the schools getting the most bang for their buck, with Nate Oats telling CBS “If you think you're an NBA player and want to play in an NBA system, we've done a better job of improving guys' draft stock than anybody in the country.” Not a bad sales pitch

Incredibly, despite spending most of last year in the Top 10, Iowa State is believed to have one of the smallest payrolls in the sport

Maybe the most shocking number was that Purdue is spending in the under-$10 million bracket, the same as the likes of DePaul, Seton Hall and others. Matt Painter is definitely getting bang for his buck"

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"2026 Most Impactful/Influential Mid Major Assistant Coaches" -- Silver Waves Media

Nor Cal inclusions:

• Dr. August Mendes - Sacramento State
• Brandon Cole - Pacific
• Brandon Laird - Idaho
• Chris Cobb - St. Mary's
• Damari Milstead - LMU
• Dan Sheets - St. Mary's
• Frankie Ferrari - San Francisco
• Garrett Bridges - Pacific
• Jason Ludwig - Santa Clara
• Jay Duncan - San Francisco
• Kyle Vogt - UC Davis,
• Lo Leath - Nevada
• Mike Kosich - UC Davis
• Michael Plank - Oregon State
• Rob Jones - St. Mary's.

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"Junior Hamad Mousa finished with a game high 20 points and nine rebounds and sophomore Jess Esso Essis added 17 points Friday morning, but the Cal Poly men’s basketball program – playing its lone exhibition tuneup ahead of the 2026-27 regular season – fell against Westmont inside Mott Athletics Center, 105-93." box score

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"EuroLeague, Zach LeDay and TJ Shorts named co-MVPs of Round 7"

The 5-foot-9 Shorts is out of UC Davis where he earned Big West Conference Player of the Year honors in 2018.

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Aidan Mahaney is listed on this season's UC Santa Barbara roster so it appears the 6-foot-3 guard out of Campolindo High and St. Mary's has been granted a fifth year of eligibility.

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Channel Tree Sports: "Stanford's Nick Townsend, a grad transfer from Yale and former Ivy League Player of the Year, is now eligible for his fifth year thanks to this injunction."

Townsend is 6-foot-7, 240. He'll be a key to success this season.

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Coach Jordan Lee has assembled this season's Ohlone College squad. The bigs look to be all freshman.

• Jordan Villacorta-Bucko Guard 6'0 SO Fremont, CA / American High
• Chase Millheim Guard 5'9 Fr Oakland, CA / Oakland Tech
• Jacob Hodges Guard 6'0 SO Alameda, CA / Alameda High
• Preston Oliver Forward 6'8 FR Antioch, CA / Ygnacio Valley High
• Karan Kolappa Wing 6'3 FR Santa Clara, CA / The King's Academy
• Tariq Grant Guard 6'0 FR Alameda, CA / Alameda High
• Wil Hubbart Guard 6'0 FR Linden, CA / Linden High
• Rohan Reddy Wing 6'0 FR Fremont, CA / Mission San Jose High
• Xavier Barnett Guard 6'2 FR San Jose, CA / The King's Academy
• Ti-Zyooh Florencia Wing 6'5 FR Rotterdam, NED / Triple Threat NED
• Dylan Wherry Forward 6'7 FR Livermore, CA / Livermore High
• Gervai Maeweathers Wing 6'4 SO San Antonio, TX / Veteran's Memorial High
• Cristian Failla Forward 6'4 SO Newark, CA / Newark Memorial High
• Logan Righton Forward 6'8 FR Christchurch, NZ / St. Andrew's College
• Isaiah Lucas Forward 6'5 FR Colorado Springs, CO / Mesa Ridge High

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California fell 86-79 to Oregon State in Corvallis.

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"SAN JOSÉ STATE DEFEATS CAL STATE EAST BAY IN EXHIBITION GAME"

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Verbal Commits: "California and Kansas offered 2028 DME Academy (FL) G Kmajay Jenkins."

Jenkins is a 6-foot-6 combo guard now with 14 offers.

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"Former Cardinal prepare for NBA season tip-off"

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New West Valley College Coach Mykel Morse has posted his team's 2026-27 roster:

• Jordan Ballard F FR 6-5 Del Rey, CA / St. Bernard High
• Fuzzy Montague G FR 6-1 Portland, OR / ParkroseHigh
• Noah Cotton G/F SO 6-4 Chicago, IL / Thousand Oaks High
• Jaden Spears G/F SO 6-3 Sacramento, CA / Sheldon High
• Cheikh Diebakhate F SO 6-9 Dakar, Senegal / Crossroads High
• Jerry Williams G/F FR 6-3 East Palo Alto, CA / Menlo-Atherton High
• Andres Hall F FR 6-4 Pleasanton, CA / FoothillHigh
• Cyrus Hassan G SO 6-1 Oakville, ON, Canada / Polaris Prep
• Alonzo Hoff F FR 6-6 Beaverton, OR / Southridge High
• Keion James F FR 6-1 Portland, OR / Grant High
• Isaiah Ackerman G SO 6-4 Corralitos, CA / Aptos High
• Zion Moore G FR 6-3 Alameda, CA / Alameda High

Potpourri, Oct 19

News Bits

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Sam Kayser: "NEWS: 2027 Top-150 overall prospect Trevor Dickson has c+ ommitted to Saint Louis, he tells LeagueRDY. The 6-foot-5 guard out of Modesto Christian (CA) chose Saint Louis over offers from Stanford, UCSB, San Francisco, Fresno State, Loyola Marymount and many others."

Dickson's other offers included Califronia, San Jose State University and Santa Clara. Curiously, his list of offers at Verbal Commits doesn't list St.Louis but maybe he just tripped there, all the factors that go into deciding on a school were a plus and he quickly decided.

Dickson was named The Modesto Bee's Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season, burying 105 three-pointers.

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Verbal Commits: "2028 The King's Academy (CA) G Boss Mhoon has received an offer from UNLV."

He's a 6-foot-5 shooting guard with a 4.0 GPA and is back at The King's Academy.

Mercury News: "Rising junior Boss Mhoon, a former The King’s Academy standout, says CCS ruled him ineligible at Archbishop Riordan until June 2027 and he won’t be attending the San Francisco school."

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Mid Major Madness: "UPDATE: San Jose State defeated Santa Clara 78-73 in a secret scrimmage. Spartans led nearly wire-to-wire and by as many as 15. Zine Eddine Bedri led SJSU with 16p. 5 Spartans in double figures. Thierry Darlan led Santa Clara with 19."

The banner is courtesy of Tyler Riggs/X.

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"Penny Hardaway says he contributed $2.6 million of his own money to Memphis' $9 million revenue sharing"

How many head coaches can afford to do this? At least two factors here: 1) Hardaway's team has to do really well this season or else and 2) he played 14 seasons in the NBA so he has cash stashed.

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"Krivas Scores 20, Arizona Defeats San Francisco 93-69 in First Exhibition"

"San Francisco was led by Dylan Bordon, who scored 22 points and handed out four assists (but nine tirnovers). Jaylen Hunter-Coleman added 10 points, while freshman guard Andrew (Archbishop Riordan) Hilman had nine points and three steals."

The score was 52-34 at the half. Box score

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"Nebraska has already sold seven used urinal troughs from Memorial Stadium"

What's next? Duke selling Cooper Flagg used jockstraps?

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"Big West Countdown Day 8, Now for the Darkhorses, #6 Sacramento St."

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"Santa Clara Voted to Win 2026-27 WCC Men’s Basketball Crown"

The WCC's 1-10 team finish projection per the WCC coaches along with the Top 10 WCC player projections are included. Santa Clara, St. Mary's San Francisco and Pacific are listed in the top five.

and

Santa Clara defeats Stanford 83-78 — "Stanford has an eye-watering 46 FTA and 19 turnovers. Julius Price shows up for the Card with 26, Anthony Batson Jr. comes off the bench with 16 in a game where there were a lot of different rotations being experimented on. Cardinal were notably without highly-touted Yale transfer Nick Townsend, who maybe would have helped with the poor rebounding on the night. Townsend was in street clothes but was highly engaged on the bench, no injury has been reported. Neck and neck throughout the whole game, a lot to work on but also a lot to love against a tourney team last year."

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"ESPN announced on Thursday that former NBA guard Jeremy Lin has joined the network’s team of commentators. According to ESPN, Lin will serve as a game analyst in addition to making appearances on NBA Today."

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John Gambadoro: "Based on what I have heard and the way he has played, Jamaree Bouyea will earn the 14th roster spot for the Phoenix Suns. Bouyea had 15 points (7-11 FG, 1-2 3Ptr), eight assists, four rebounds and one steal in 28 minutes last night."

Bouyea is a guard out of Palma High and USF. He will earn $2,584,539 if he stays up with the Suns. Guess who will be on the hook at the Alvarado Street Brewery in the off-season?

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Team Rampage Basketball: "Congrats to Alex Hamblet (2027) on his commitment to Wash U."

Out of Team Rampage and Archie Williams High before he went back east to play, Hamblet is 6-foot-8, 210 while Washington University is located in St. Louis.

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"Cal Lands Late 3-pointer To Beat LMU In Exhibition Action"

The Bears win a road game shooting 33% overall and .091 (2-22) from three-point range.

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In Ohio, Illinois topped Cincinnati 105-96 behind 24 points from former Jesuit High, Stanford and California star Andrej Stojakovic. He shot 8-15 overall, 8-8 at the foul line with no trey attempts.

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"Utah State defeats St Mary’s 97-89 -- Aggies played without Mason Falslev. St Mary’s largest lead was 3 and they trailed for the last 25 minutes. Leading scorers were freshman Kingston Tosi (USU) with 22 and Gael sophomore Mantas Juzenas (SMC) with 24."

"Aggies Earn 97-89 Exhibition Road Win at Saint Mary’s"

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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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