SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

[PointGuard]

The Jamie Monroe Big West Review

UC Irvine won twice including beating conference-leader Cal Poly and their 7-game win streak moved them Anteaters all the way up into sole possession of 2nd place in the standings. Long Beach State won both of their games the final week of the regular season. UC Santa Barbara’s end of the season slump continued as they lost both of their games and dropped down to 3rd place in the standings.

Cal State Fullerton lost twice including a final game loss to Hawaii that dropped them into a tie for last place with the Rainbow Warriors. After a disastrous 2/3’s of their season, Hawaii ended up winning half of their final 8 conference games. Since Hawaii beat Cal State Fullerton both times they faced them they will enter the conference tourney as #10 seed with the Titans being the #11 seed. Should Hawaii win their opening round game in the tourney, they may have preferred to be the #11 seed and go up against #3 seed UC Santa Barbara (now on a 3-game losing streak), rather than as the #10 seed, having to take on #2 seed UC Irvine (now on a 7-game win streak).

Here's the Big West Conference Final Standings:

Cal Poly: 17-3, 22-7, NET 19
UC Irvine: 14-6, 20-9, NET 128
UC Santa Barbara: 12-8, 19-12, NET 108
Cal State Northridge: 11-9, 13-16, NET 241
Long Beach State: 11-9, 14-15, NET 264
Cal State Bekersfield: 10-10, 13-16, NET 284
UC Davis: 9-11, 10-19, NET 317
UC Riverside: 8-12, 12-17, NET 327
UC San Diego: 8-12, 12-17, NET 259
Hawaii, 5-15, 5-24, NET 349
Cal State Fullerton, 5-15, 7-22, NET 335

Player Stat Leaders:

Scoring (ppg): Mike Forrest (Cal St. Northridge)—19.4; David Barrett (Cal St. Bakersfield)—18.1; Corey Heideman (UC Davis)—17.4; Michael Dahle (UC Irvine)—15.2; Jamie Howard (UC Santa Barbara)—14.3

Rebounding (rpg): Sean Neely (UC Riverside)—7.8; Sean Fox (UC Santa Barbara)—7.6; David Barrett (Cal St. Bakersfield)—7.0; Marc Hayes (UC Irvine)—6.9; Andrew Mann (UC Davis)—6.8

Assists (apg): Jayson Miller (UC Davis)—5.3; Speedy Ray (Long Beach St.)—5.2; Kevin Morris (UC San Dieg9)—4.8; Nathan Rivera (UC Santa Barbara)—4.8; Anthony Green (Cal St. Bakersfield)—4.6; Lydell Pederson (UC Riverside)—4.6

Steals (spg): Shamar Levy (UC Santa Barbara)—3.2

Blocks (bpg): Andrew Mann (UC Davis)—1.6

[PointGuard]

San Luis Obispo Tribune

BIG WEST TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Round 1

#11 seed Cal St. Fullerton—73, #6 seed Cal St. Bakersfield—69
#10 seed Hawaii—71, #7 seed UC Davis—67
#8 seed UC Riverside—60, #9 seed UC San Diego—41

Quarterfinals

#4 seed Cal St. Northridge—72, #5 seed Long Beach St.—62
#3 seed UC Santa Barbara—63, #11 seed Cal St. Fullerton—51
#2 seed UC Irvine—82, #10 seed Hawaii—65
#1 seed Cal Poly—59, #8 seed Riverside--41

Cal Poly jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead. Outstanding D in the first half held the Highlanders’ shooting to just 23% which allowed the Mustangs to steadily move further in front. By the end of the half Cal Poly was up 36-20. The Mustangs continued to harass UC Riverside in the 2nd half. The Highlanders finished hitting just 29% of their FG’s and made 17 turnovers. Even though Cal Poly didn’t shoot well (35%), they made just 6 turnovers. Leading the way for the Mustangs were: Nikolos Ivelitsch—11 points; Calvis Barnes—9 points and 8 boards; Scotty Lee—9 points; Edouard LaTouche—9 points; and Trey Small—8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks.

Semifinals

#3 seed UC Santa Barbara—66, #2 seed UC Irvine—58
#1 seed Cal Poly—78, #4 Cal St. Northridge—61

The Matadors hung with the Mustangs for most of the first half, but Cal Poly was able to go ahead by 7 at the break even though Mike Forrest dropped in 10 points for Cal State Northridge. Then the Mustangs went up by 15 after 6 minutes of play in the 2nd half and led by 20 with 12-1/2 minutes to play. From thereon they cruised to an easy victory. The Mustangs were led by Trey Small—15 points; Danny Preston—11 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists; Scotty Lee—10 points and 4 assists; Nikolos Ivelitsch—8 points; and Dekker Chambers—7 points and 7 boards.

Championship

UC Santa Barbara—57, Cal Poly—54

Cal Poly hit just 29% of their shots in the first half. Not only did they shoot poorly, but UC Santa Barbara blocked 9 of the Mustangs shots in the half. But the Gauchos only led by a 29-24 score at halftime. Calvis Barnes was a one-man scoring machine for the Mustangs in the 2nd half and continually got them back into the game. But the rest of the team failed to produce. No other Cal Poly player scored more than 6 points other than Calvis Barnes who finished with 25 points and 9 rebounds.

[PointGuard]

The Jamie Monroe Big West Review

The Big West Tourney yielded no surprises until the championship when UC Santa Barbara, which had lost twice to Cal Poly, turned the tables on the Mustangs and came away with an exciting upset victory. That ensured the Gauchos of an NCAA Tournament bid while the 24-8 Mustangs would have to wait to see if their record would get them into the Big Dance…or would be relegated to a lesser tournament as non-champions of the Big West typically are.

The #1 seeds in the Selection Show were: Miami (FL) (30-2); Missouri (26-7); Oklahoma State (28-6); Oklahoma (25-8).

Big West teams in the Big Dance are:

UC Santa Barbara (22-12) is the 13th seed in the East Region and will take on #4 seed Cincinnati (27-8). The Gauchos are led by SG Jamie Howard (14.1 ppg) and C Sean Fox (11.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg).

Cal Poly (24-8) is the 8th seed in the South Region that will go up against #9 seed Murray State (24-9). The Mustangs primary scoring is spread out amongs 8 players, led by SG Nikolos Ivelitsch (10.4 ppg), PG Danny Preston (9.2 ppg), PF Calvis Barnes (8.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg), and SF Trey Small (8.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg).

The only other Big West team that will be part of a post-season tournament is:

UC Irvine (21-10) is the #2 seed in the South Region of the CIT Tournament. That Anteaters leading scorers are PF Michael Dahle (15.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg), SG Nate Bruce (12.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg), and C Chad Thompson (10.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg).

[PointGuard]

The Jamie Monroe Big West Review

Well, folks. The Big West didn’t last long in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, just one game each. So a pretty poor showing.

NCAA Tournament

Round 1

Cincinnati—58, UC Santa Barbara—51 (Jamie Howard—17 points, 5 reb)

Murray State—88, Cal Poly—73

The Mustangs fell behind 14-2 and continued to trail as the Racers SG Joel Sarchet tossed in 14 first half points. At halftime Murray State’s lead was 48-42. The Mustangs went ice cold from the field in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half and fell behind by 15. They made a run that cut the lead to 8, but then let the Racers run away again. Murray State’s SG Joel Sarchet and SF Sam Braddick both averaged over 18 ppg during the season and outdid themselves in this game by scoring 25 and 21 points, respectively. Scoring for Cal Poly were: Edouard La Touche-11; Trey Small-10, Calvis Barnes-9, Scotty Lee-9, Derrick Chambers-8, Danny Preston-8, Nikolos Ivelitsch-6, Victor Collier-6, Estell Luton-6.

Things went a little better in the lowly CIT Tourney where UC Irvine showed some life.

CIT Tournament

Round 1

UC Irvine—98, Appalachian State—77 (Nate Bruce—33 points, 4 rebounds, 3assists, 4 steals)

Round 2

UC Irvine—73, Monmouth—61 (Michael Dahle—17 points, 5 rebounds)

Round 3

Baylor—75, UC Irvine—73 [OT] (Michael Dahle—22 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks)

Championship Games:

NCAA: Miami (FL)—90, Mississippi State—81
NIT: Louisville—77, Louisiana State—59
CBI: Wisconsin—64, St. Bonaventure—62
CIT: East Carolina—62, Baylor--58

[PointGuard]

2037-2038 SEASON

Rob Benchley, Athletic Director

Another very successful season just concluded and now onto a new one. Let’s take a look at Coach Aura’s coaching record:

Coach Frederick Aura’s Division 1 Coaching Summary:

2019-20: Towson, 18-15, .545, unranked, 6th (tie) in CAA, No post-season tourney
2020-21: Towson, 13-17, .433, unranked, 5th in CAA, No post-season tourney
2021-22: Towson, 24-9, .727, unranked, 2nd in CAA, NCAA (Round 1)
2022-23: Towson, 27-7, .794, ranked 24th, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Round 2)
2023-24: Towson, 30-4, .882, ranked 15th, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Sweet 16)
2024-25: Towson, 25-8, .758, unranked, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Round 1)
2025-26: Boston College, 21-17, .553, unranked, 10th in ACC, CIT (Finals)
2026-27: Boston College, 25-10, .714, ranked 25th, 3rd in ACC, NCAA (Sweet 16)
2027-28: Boston College, 34-5, .872, ranked 2nd, 1st in ACC, NCAA (Final 4)
2028-29: Boston College, 30-6, .833, ranked 2nd, 1st in ACC, NCAA (Round 2)
2029-30: Boston College, 26-9, .743, ranked 8th, 2nd in ACC, NCAA (Round 2)
2030-31: Boston College, 30-8, .789, ranked 8th, 1st in ACC, NCAA (Champions)
2031-32: Cal Poly, 15-15, .500, unranked, 2nd (tie) in Big West, No post-season tourney
2032-33: Cal Poly, 16-15, .516, unranked, 4th (tie) in Big West, No post-season tourney
2033-34: Cal Poly, 26-8, .765, unranked, 2nd in Big West, NCAA (Round 2)
2034-35: Cal Poly, 21-12, .636, unranked, 1st in Big West, NIT (Round 1)
2035-36: Cal Poly, 25-10, .714, unranked, 4th in Big West, NCAA (Round 1)
2036-37: Cal Poly, 24-9, .727, unranked, 1st in Big West, NCAA (Round 1)

CAREER RECORD: 430-184, .700

Our incoming recruit class has been ranked as the 57th best in Division 1. There was one other Big West team in the top 100: CSU Fullerton at #67. UC Santa Barbara has decided to move from the Big West to West Coast Conference. They were always tough competition for us, but we’re sorry to see them go. The Big West will now have 10 members. Coach Aura has asked me to set up a tough pre-conference schedule this year.

Our coaching staff remained intact. We will have 2 scholarships to fill this year and a little under $40,000 available for recruiting. None of our players are transferring away from us…so we’ll not be participating in the Transfer Portal.

[PointGuard]

Bryan King, 1st Assistant Coach (recruiting)

Just 2 scholarships to fill this year. We’ll again focus on the West Region and try to pick up a guard and a big man. Unless we can get the right recruits this summer/fall, we hope to save enough of our budget to go after someone this coming spring since there’s often some very good recruits who have not yet chosen the college they intend to attend.

[PointGuard]

Zahara Carter, Assistant (sports administration)

Good news! SG Nikolos Ivelitsch has been nominated for the Norton Award. Nikolos transferred to Cal Poly following his freshman year at Syracuse. He’s been a starter for every game both at Syracuse and during his 2 seasons here. He’s averaged in double figures every year. Following his first season with the Mustangs, he was the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year and named to the Big West All-Conference 2nd Team.

Coach Fred Aura said, “This is a well-deserved honor for Nikolos. He’s been such a solid player his entire collegiate career. He’s been a good scorer each and every year and this season should be no different. He’s been our highest scorer each of the two seasons he’s been with us. We’ve had good scorers throughout our entire lineup while he’s been with us, but if not, he probably would have been a league leader in scoring. He also does a good job on the boards. And maybe most importantly, he is an outstanding defender who can shut down talented opponents and gets more than his share of steals and blocks. Although we haven’t done it much, he could and has played the point well for us. Being a good student is a prerequisite for the Norton Award and Nikolos is a very good student who works hard, not only on basketball, but his academics.”

(Privately, Coach Fed acknowledged to me that he likely is the biggest detriment to excellent players like Nikolos who are nominated for the Norton Award. That's due to Coach Fed's desire to spread the scoring out amongst his starters and several reserves so tjat the top scorer, rebounder, or assist leader for each game is likely to be any one of them rather than the same player most every game. He said he also likes to play a deep bench which results in all of his starters getting less minutes on the court than those who play for coaches who keep their starters on the court well over 30 minutes every game. So his players who are nominated for the Norton Award therefore have less impressive stats.}

[PointGuard]

Rob Benchley, Athletic Director

OK, I set up the schedule Coach Aura had requested…a TOUGH one. Those 5 straight away games against some very good teams will definitely be a huge challenge. If we win a couple of those, our NET ranking should be pretty strong.

@ Mississippi
UMASS
@ Colorado
AKRON
SAINT LOUIS
@ #25 Arkansas
@ Gonzaga
@ Baylor
@ Brigham Young
@ #24 Cincinnati
BUFFALO

[PointGuard]

Bryan King, 1st Assistant Coach (recruiting)

We got our men. It was a tough battle to get the two recruits who have now given us verbal acceptances of our scholarship offers interested and willing to agree to come to Cal Poly. But we did it. Both are high 3-star rated players who were rated as 4-star early in the summer and just slipped a little.

PF DJ Morse, a 6-7 HS senior from Red Bluff, CA. He’s presently ranked as the 156th highest recruit but has been rated as high as #46. He’s a very good shooter from inside and outside who scores well and is a strong rebounder. He’s also a very good passer. In his junior season he averaged 14.2 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.9 bpg, and 1.3 spg. We were able to sway him and his parents with our focus on academics and location.

SG Jase Carroll, a 6-1 HS senior from Rosamond, CA. While he’s presently ranked as the 154th highest recruit, he’s been ranked as high as #82. He’s a good outside shooter and scorer and likes shooting 3’s. He’s also a strong rebounder. He’s an excellent passer and a good ball hawk. He’s also very athletic. Even though he was highly interested in several Southern California schools, we still were able to focus on location to win the day.

Both should have no problem getting high enough SAT scores to meet our requirements. But we still have a nearly $15000 left of our recruiting budget and will spend some of that throughout the winter to build interest in remaining recruits on our list in the event that either Carroll or Morse blow a gasket while taking the SAT test.

[PointGuard]

Omari Aura, 3rd Assistant Coach (player development/practice)

We’re ready for games to begin this season. Our autumn practices went well. We decided to redshirt freshman SF Kenyon Farrell. He has a lot of potential but needs development so this will give him an extra year to practice with the team and gain experience and improve his skills before he’s thrown into the mix.

Our starting 5 at the beginning of this season will be:

PG: Danny Preston, 6’5” Jr—He’s been a starter both seasons he’s been at Cal Poly and averaged about 10 ppg and 4 apg and is an excellent defender.

SG: Nikolos Ivelitsch, 6’1” Sr—Starter all 3 years (one for Syracuse and two for us) who has averaged about 12 ppg, 3.5 rpg, and 2.3 apg. He also is great defensively.

SF: Eddie Erskin, 6’8” Jr—Starter as a freshman at Northern Illinois and a solid sub last season for us. Has averaged about 6 ppg and 4.5 rpg during his collegiate career. Good shooter who may average in double figures for us this season.

PF: Rodney Boykin, 6’7” Sr—Three year reserve for us who has averaged about 3 ppg and 2 rpg, but is capable of much more as a starter.

C: Calvis Barnes, 6’8” Jr—Starter as a freshman for Bryant and most of last season for us. Has averaged about 11 ppg and 5.5 rpg during his 2 seasons. Very good defensively.

Reserves:

Brandon Bailey, 6’8” Fr—Has the ability and potential to possibly become our starting PF after gaining some game experience for us. Very good rebounder and defender who also could be a good scorer for us. Will backfill at PF and C in our early games this season.

Estell Luton, 6’10” Jr—Was a starter for Chicago State as a freshman and a primary interior sub for us last season. Has averaged 7.5 ppg and 4.4 rpg during his 2 seasons. Very good inside scorer and good rebounder. Likely will be our primary backup at C this season although he’s campaigning for a starting role and could do so at PF if he comes on strong.

Scotty Lee, 6’2” Jr—Started for East Carolina as a freshman and was a primary sub for us last season at both PG and SG. Has averaged almost 10 ppg and 3 apg during his 2 seasons. Excellent scorer from outside who can ignite an offense. Will be our primary backup at PG but also get playing time at SG.

Damien Harris, 6’1” Jr—Starter for Coastal Carolina as a freshman and sub for us last season at SG. Has averaged about 7 ppg and 3 apg during his 2 collegiate seasons. Good shooter who will be the primary backup at SG.

Sam Ridnour, 6’10” Fr—Good inside shooter and good rebounder. Needs experience to develop his skills further but will get some playing time at both PF and C.

Louis Taylor, 6’8” Fr—Was a very talented HS player with good potential, but who needs to hone his skills to get a lot of playing time with us. Will sub at SF for us but I expect one of our interior players (if we want to go big) or a guard (if we want a 3-guard offense) will be the primary backups as SF.

Ronnie Kirkland, 6’4” Fr—Excellent outside shooter who can also drive. Lots of potential. Needs to gain experience at collegiate level before we can play him much though.

Walk-ons (SG Jason Brewer and PF Tyris Gunn) will be a big help during practices but likely won’t play much or at all. Both are good guys and newcomer Gunn is already greatly liked by our entire team…so they’re both good for team chemistry.