Potpourri, Sep 8

News Bits

Brandon Jenkins: "𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦: JRob Croy, the No. 106 overall recruit in the national 2026 class, tells 247Sports he has committed to Saint Mary's. "My goal is to come in, raise expectations, and make a Final Four."

Not a surprise but more importantly a very solid get for Coach Randy Bennett. He's a 6-foot-5 combo guard coming off a Stanford visit (July 29). Commit article

Wonder if having former Gael guards Mickey McConnell, Joe Rahon and EJ Rowland on the St. Mary's coaching staff and as 'trainers' was one factor?

Croy had offers from USC, Oregon, Gonzaga, Texas A&M, Clemson and others. A number of schools likely didn't bother given the Croy family connection to St. Mary's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-s_AUJlIY8

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Play Overseas: "Skylar is heading overseas! ✈️🇬🇧 We’re excited to announce that UC Merced Bobcats graduate, Skylar Robinson will be continuing his basketball career in England this fall! 🏀 The former UC Merced MBB forward has accepted a postgraduate student-athlete opportunity at a university in the UK that will see him return to the court for another season and pursue his MBA."

The 6-foot-8 Robinson played at Chabot College, California High and Dublin High.

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"Pallacanestro Trieste Signs Mady Sissoko, Bringing Physicality and an Inspiring Life Story"

The 6-foot-9 former Cal big is heading overseas.

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Folsom Lake College Coach Bill Benford is filling out his roster:

FLC Men's Basketball: "The pieces keep falling into place! Welcome to the Falcon Family."

AND

FLC Men's Basketball: "Another move in reconstruction process! Welcome to the Falcon Family."

AND

FLC Men's Basketball: "Making moves to change things in Folsom, CA! Welcome to the Falcon Family."

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"Ex-Warriors player Jeremy Lin, who launched 'Linsanity,' retires from basketball"

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Verbal Commits: "2029 Dorsey (CA) G Axl Bland has received an offer from San Francisco."

Bland is a 6-foot-7 (for now) point.

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"Spartans HC Tim Miles Justifies Adding Turkey’s Eren Karakaya Late Into the Recruiting Cycle"

Portions of this read like it is AI-written but more information is contained here in the SJSU press release.

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Bryce Winters: "After a great conversation with Coach Lunt and Coach Hellstrom, I am excited to announce that I have received my first official Division III offer from Pacific University."

Winters is a 2026 6-foot-2 combo guard attending Menlo-Atherton High.

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JT Harreld: "After a great conversation today with Coach Justin Lunt. I am very blessed to announce I received my first offer to play college basketball at Pacific University. Go Boxers!"

The 6-foot-8, 185 pound Harreld attends Palma High and is a 2026 talent.

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Cole White: "AG2G!!! After a great conversation with Coach Cobb. I'm blessed to receive a Division 1 offer from The University of Montana."

White is a 6-foot-1 2027 guard attending Archbishop Riordan and playing AAU ball with the Oakland Soldiers.

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Lakeshow AAU: "Coaches Clinic led by two of the best #LakeshowFam"

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"CSUB assistant coach arrested for trafficking woman across 3 states after anonymous tip"

Arrest isn't conviction but all this looks really, really bad.

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Dushawn London: "Cal has offered four-star point guard Jamaal McKnight Jr., of Long Island Lutheran Basketball a source tells 247Sports."

At first, I thought it was John Calipari who offered.

AND

Verbal Commits: "2026 Parish Episcopal (TX) F Hudson Lucas has received an offer from California."

He stands 6-foot-9 with Nevada and UT San Antonio having also offered.

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Second-year Cal Poly Assistant Coach Sam Walters is also now the recruiting coordinator for the Mustangs. He previously assisted at West Valley College and UC Santa Cruz after playing at UC Santa Barbara and Colorado Mesa. Walters is a graduate of Soquel High (just south of Santa Cruz) and played for his father Stu, who is a sports legend in the county.

"Walters, in his upgraded recruiting coordinator role, will now be instrumental in assisting international players through the recruitment and visa processes./p>

“Sam has done a remarkable job helping our international student-athletes navigate the admissions process,” CP Head Coach Mike DeGeorge said. “His intelligence and attention to detail have made it clear he’s ready to coordinate our recruiting efforts.”

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Potpourri, Sep 1

News Bits

Brandon Jenkins: "Isaiah Rogers, the No. 77 overall recruit in the national 2026 class, has committed to Stanford. "I value academics, relationships, and a good fit and I feel like they checked all of those boxes."

Out of southern California, the four star point guard is the second Stanford backcourt commit in the 2026 class.

AND

Brandon Jenkins: "Darius Bivins, the No. 84 overall recruit in the national 2026 class, tells 247Sports he has scheduled four fall official visits. Bivins also is interested in locking in dates with Houston, Maryland, Seton Hall, and Texas Tech."

He's a 6-foot point out of Virginia. Isaiah Rogers' commit above may become a factor here.

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Aaron Burgin: "Significant transfer news in San Diego, as 2027 NorCal G Jaylan Virgil checked into Torrey Pines this week. Virgil holds offers from Pepperdine and Hampton, and vaults Torrey Pines firmly into the No. 1 preseason ranking discussion in San Diego."

Virgil is a 6-foot-2 point formerly at Laguna Creek High.

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"Fred Wilson is out as Inderkum boys basketball coach after 6 CIF playoff teams"

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"Men's Basketball Adds Fortune Solomon To Staff"

UC Davis Coach Jim Les has completed his coaching staff.

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"Omari Moore completes his signing with Valencia Basketball"

The best Spartan of this decade is now playing in Spain. He was to be teaming back up with former SJSU point Álvaro Cárdenas who signed earlier with Valencia but Cárdenas was just loaned out to a team in Turkey.

AND

6-foot-7 lefty Jaden Goodall, transferring from California where he redshirted last season as a freshman walk-on, has moved on to San Jose State University.

AND

"SPARTANS SIGN TURKISH CENTER EREN KARAKAYA"

At 6-foot-10, he'll be the tallest player on the San Jose State University squad. He weighs 228 pounds. The Spartans fills their biggest need.

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Parker Spees: "Blessed to receive an offer from Long Beach State!"

He's a 6-foot-9 2026 talent at San Joaquin Memorial High. This is his 7th offer.

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Dylan: "4⭐️ PF Shane Pendergrass is down to his final 6 schools and has scheduled the following visits he tells me.

• 9/5-9/7 - George Mason
• 9/12-9/14 - Louisiana Tech
• 9/20 - 9/22 - LaSalle
• 9/25 - 9/27 - Duquesne
• 10/3 - 10/5 - Cal Berkeley
• 10/17 - 10/19 - Boise State"

The 2026 talent is out of Maryland and is ranked 85th in the Rivals 2026 rankings.

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Brandon Jenkins: "Three-star forward Max VanLaningham has scheduled two fall official visits, a source tells 247Sports.

• Sept. 5-7: California Baptist
• Sept. 12-14: Montana"

He's 6-foot-7, 205 and attends Woodcreek High.

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"Juan Toscano-Anderson Brings Championship Experience to Pallacanestro Trieste"

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Updates on the San Joaquin Delta College program:

Delta Men's Basketball: "Welcome home Jalen Valverde! Jalen was the starting point guard of the Big 8 Championship and Sweet 16 team, as well as being named First Team of the Big 8 in 2019. Jalen is also a former Varsity Coach at Bear Creek High School."

AND

Delta Men's Basketball: "Welcome Mason Galvan from Enoch High School. Mason was First Team All League CCAL as well as point guard of the league championship team."

AND

Delta Men's Basketball: "Welcome JP Motta from Grace Davis High School. First team All League selection in the WACL conference. Welcome to the family!"

AND

Delta Men's Basketball: "Welcome Ceyaan Lutt from Lincoln High School in San Francisco. Ceyaan was league MVP and also led his team to the section championship."

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Fall 2025 NorCal Prep (high school) basketball teams are now forming!

We’re holding tryouts for BOYS 9th-12th grade. HIGH LEVEL 8TH GRADERS ARE ALSO WELCOME!

• Date / Time / Location: Prep Center / 2632 Somersville Rd / Antioch CA 94509
• Tuesday, August 26th / 5-7pm
• Thursday, August 28th / 4:15-6:15pm

BE SURE TO SHOW UP 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO CHECK-IN

Proper Shoes / Water / Basketball

Don’t miss your chance to compete at a high level and take your game to the next level. Register today!

• CONTACT:Terrell Woodard / (626) 592-3340 -- Madison Alexander / 925) 451-5939
• Basketball Circuit | 2632 Somersville Road | Antioch, CA 94509 US

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Fall 2025 NorCal Prep (pre-high school) basketball teams are now forming!

We’re holding tryouts for BOYS 2nd–8th grade.

• Date / Time / Location: Prep Center / 2632 Somersville Rd / Antioch CA 94509
• Monday, August 25th / 4-6:30pm
• Wednesday, August 27th / 5-6:30pm

BE SURE TO SHOW UP 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO CHECK-IN!

Proper Shoes / Water / Basketball

Don’t miss your chance to compete at a high level and take your game to the next level. Register today!

• CONTACT: Marco Bynum / (925) 871-9242 -- Madison Alexander / 925) 451-5939
• Basketball Circuit | 2632 Somersville Road | Antioch, CA 94509 US

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Help Lamont Carver Fight Stage 4 Cancer and Rare Blood Disease

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"Waterman named MBB Special Assistant to the Head Coach at New Mexico"

With Academy of Art University closing down its program, Scott Waterman is heading to Albuquerque.

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Nathan Hibbert: "Blessed to receive my first offer from Fisher College! Thank you Gotham Prospects for believing in me!"

A 2026 prospect, Hibbert is a 6-foot-5 wing and attends Vanden High. Fisher College is located in Boston.

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Brandon Jenkins: "Three-star guard Mason Magee has scheduled an official visit to #Stanford, per gabehekmat and Michael Clark."

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McKae Amundsen Makes His Call

The Idaho State basketball staff knew what they wanted, which transformed into who they wanted and a fairly quick courtship now has 5-foot-10 Clovis North High backcourter McKae Amundsen committed to playing in Pocatello for the Bengals in the 2026-27 next season. So how did this partnership come to be?

"I was offered back in April," Amundsen recalled. "In my very first conversation, I talked for 10 minutes with Head Coach Ryan Looney and he said I was their #1 guy. That made me feel good and I felt like I wanted to be there." Amundsen will actually take his official visit on September 5 so he has yet to see the school but he has certainly nailed down the hoops particulars.

Another compelling reason for Amundsen's decision is because the Bengals sport a pair of senior point guards, both newcomers to the team, graduating after this season.

His mother is an Idaho native but of Boise, three hours and thirty minutes to the west of Pocatello. The schools do reside in different conferences but a state rivalry exists. University of Idaho is in the same Big Sky Conference as Idaho State so theirs is a foremost natural rivalry even though IU is nine hours to the north.

So what does Amundsen do best on the court? He quickly and confidently reeled off "elite level ballhandling and shooting range, my ability to get by opponents (with the ball), I can set up my teammates and I'm an elite level defender."

Last season, Idaho State finished seventh in conference play for three-pointers made per game and last in the conference in three-point percentage so besides getting a new team quarterback, the Bengals are simultaneously landing a topnotch three-point marksman--a critical two-fer. ISU was also a minus five versus opponents in total assists on the season but lost top combo guard Dylan Darling and his team high (by far) 160 assists.

Then there is leadership. "I am definitely a leader and that's important this season because we have a young (Clovis North) team. I lead by example in being first to practices and games but I also know my guys. It's important to get to know teammates and how they will respond to what I say and how I say it."

Plus, add in a 3.9 overall grade point average, 4.4 this last semester, so Looney and Company will be able to rest easy regarding Amundsen's academic commitment and classroom success.

Asking a 'why basketball question' is a tad silly considering his father is a longtime high school hoops coach but Amundsen made it interesting with his reply. "My Dad never forced us to play basketball and I played every sport when I was growing up, until 7th grade. But being around my Dad the coach, I found I loved basketball. His being a coach gave me a lot of advantages. A UC Riverside coach put it best when he told me 'You see the game in another way.'"

Amundsen's best basketball moments occurred this summer. "I hit a game-winner in the Section 7 tournament game and finished with 36 points and five assists. Then I hit a game winner in the Cali Live tournament and finished with 20 points and 10 assists." In both situations, Amundsen's team was behind in the score before he buried his critical shots.

Here are videos of those two moments:

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Section 7 Tournament, June 23, 2025

Section 7 Tournament, June 23, 2025

 

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Cali Live Tournament, June 29, 2025

Cali Live Tournament, June 29, 2025

 

As for a major, Amundsen is looking at business with the direction of becoming a stockbroker.

Regarding initial goals once he arrives in Pocatello, he offered "just win games, win the conference championship, play as efficient as possible and earn an all-freshman honor." In 2024-25, the Bengals finished with a 15-15 record and 10-8 in the Big Sky Conference conference, good for fourth place.

Potpourri, Aug 25

News Bits

Elliot Mobley: "Back to the Midwest."

The 6-foot-1 Las Positas College guard is headed to Greenville University in Illinois.

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Chase Richardson: "After a great conversation with @mscherb2, I am excited to announce an offer to The University of California - Berkeley! Thank you to the Golden Bears coaching staff!"

Richardson is a 6-foot-2 2027 point out of Texas. Sacramento State has also offered as has Miami, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas Christian, Purdue, Mississippi, SMU, Wichita State, St. Louis and others.

AND

Verbal Commits: "2026 Tennessee Collegiate (TN) G Christian Gibson has received an offer from California."

Gibson is a 6-foot-5 combo guard.

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Sam Kayser: "NEWS: 2026 4⭐️ Alex Egbuonu has locked in the following visits for this fall, he told LeagueRDY:

• Boston College: September 12th
• Georgetown: September 16th
• Providence: September 26th
• Stanford: September 30th
• Florida State: October 3rd
• Auburn: November 1st

Egbuonu is ranked as the #51 overall player in the ESPN100."

He's 6-foot-6, 210 pounds.

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Dushawn London: "Class of 2026 PF Jaden Ghoreishi has scheduled the following official visits, 247Sports is told

• Washington State: Aug 23rd
• Saint Mary’s: Sept 1st
• Colorado State: Sept 5th
• Seattle: Sept 12th
• Santa Clara: Sept 19th"

Ghoreishi is 6-foot-9, 215 and out of Washington.

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Cade Robertson: "Extremely grateful to receive an offer to play basketball at the next level and join the family at Pacific University. Thanks to Coach Lunt and Coach Hellstrom for giving me an opportunity. Go Boxers!"

A 2026 talent, Robertson stands 6-foot-6 and attends Leigh High. Pacific U is a D3 school up in Oregon.

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"Alaska Anchorage adds Ashton Pomrehn as Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach"

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Brandon Jenkins: "𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦: Cello Jackson, the No. 149 overall recruit in the national 2026 class, tells 247Sports that he is down to nine schools. The four-star prospect has two official visits scheduled with Arkansas State and Memphis."

Jackson is 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and in the 2026 class. Let's see if the Bears line up an official visit.

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"All In: Miles Amos Ready to Lead, Defend, and Deliver for Seattle U"

AND

Envision Sports Group: "Congrats Darrion Trammell on re-signing with Kaposvari KK for another season! Darrion is one of the best point guards in Europe; coming off of a championship & MVP season."

Trammell is the pride and joy of City College San Francisco & Stuart Hall High.

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Jaylen Wells Elite: "Congrats to Tariq Lofton on his commitment to the Southern Oregon University Raiders. Thank you Matt Zosel for recruiting our guys."

A 2026 prospect, Lofton is a 5-foot-11 point attending Casa Roble Fundamental High in Orangevale (Sacramento County) with a 4.0 GPA.

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Roy Bishop Jr.: "I’m excited to announce I will be going on an official visit tomorrow to San Francisco State."

He's a 2026 6-foot-3 combo guard attending Oakland's Fremont High.

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Tulane's head coach, Ron Hunter, spoke about how his job, and those of coaches at the same level, are viewed as the first part of lots of players' careers before they make it to the power conferences. At Peach Jam back in July, Hunter had an interesting interaction with a high-major coach that cemented this belief.

"He came over to me and he said, 'Ron, you're doing a hell of a job ... getting kids ready for our level,'" Hunter told ESPN. "And I didn't know whether to be mad or to say thank you."

Guess it's a compliment to Hunter but it also simultaneously seems like a backhanded major leagues-minor leagues one.

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"Augustas Marčiulionis gives update on his foot injury"

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"Barcelona officially signs Miles Norris"

Norris is a 6-foot-7 forward who played at City College San Francisco.

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Dinos Trigonis: "UC-Santa Barbara has offered 6-7 2027 Camden McKinney (Oakland Tech/CA). Strong & skilled hybrid F is an emerging sleeper in national 2027 class."