It would be amazing if Max were ever to play for Wrexham and he showed up in one of the Welcome to Wrexham series episodes. My wife and I love that series and are currently watching season 5.

For those who may not know about the series, all of the seasons currently stream on HULU and we would highly recommend it. The series not only follows the current ups and downs of the Wrexham club, which is the oldest football club in Wales formed in 1864, it also captures the importance of the team to the the people of the community throughout the history of the town along with heartfelt personal stories of the fans and players. It is an excellent series that has created a worldwide fan base for the Wrexham Football Club and it has put Wrexham on the map and has helped revive the economy of the town.

Here are the 2025-26 final season records of the non-conference teams that the Aggies will play this season:

North Alabama 9-21
Menlo College 5-26
Incarnate Word 12-19
Sac State 10-21
Alabama State 10-22
Omaha 16-17
Jacksonville State 15-17
Portland 18-15
North Dakota State 27-8
Cal Baptist 25-9
Idaho State 13-20
Seattle 21-14
Pacific Union 2-22

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/8/5/aggies-announce-2026-27-mens-basketball-nonconference-schedule.aspx

STATS Perform FCS Preseason Poll:



https://theanalyst.com/articles/fcs-top-25-preseason-poll-montana-state-football-2026

Experienced Core Returns for Aggie Men's Basketball



Whole article here: https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/8/4/experienced-core-returns-for-aggie-mens-basketball.aspx

Thanks for the info. I just clicked on the link that was in the Athletics Department release and it opened the All American Teams list not the Big Sky Team list and I didn't catch that.

The Athletics Department has posted a press release stating that 10 Aggies have made the following FCS Phil Steele All American Teams but they don't appear to be listed on the proper teams as shown in the official Phil Steele release:



https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/8/3/football-10-aggies-earn-phil-steele-preseason-all-big-sky-honors.aspx



https://philsteele.com/2026-fcs-preseason-all-conf-teams/

That's a good point.

I forgot to mention Ylan Esso-Essis at 6'8 and 210. He's essentially new as well since he was missed the entire season last year due to injury. He'll be more familiar with the Aggies' style of play than our new recruits but we've yet to see him in action.

We all know that Les demands tough, physical defense and I expect that an emphasis was put on players who can defend with toughness especially in the interior where we have often struggled in the past. With the tenacious physicality of Rocak gone in the middle and the fact that we will be playing physically bigger, stronger teams in the MWC, Les has brought in good size and depth so he can sub more and in order to keep our bigs more fresh. Hopefully, we'll get some needed scoring from a few of these bigs as well.

I think think this is exciting time for the men's basketball program. We have a lot of unknowns with 8 new players coming in but it appears that we certainly have put an emphasis on getting bigger and stronger as we head into the MWC this year. This is the most size we have ever had.

I would imagine that it will take some time for this team to gel together and the pieces begin to fall in place as a cohesive, competitive unit with good chemistry. There will be some growing pains but we have some solid veterans that will help lead the team in Sevilla, Chappell and Fagbemi and, although he's only a sophomore, Stokes will bring the toughness he showed last season as he worked his way into a starter as a true freshman. Suljanovic made good progress adapting to the physicality of the game last year also and I expect him to continue to improve on both ends of the floor with one year of play under his belt now. It will be fun to watch this team grow and develop as the season progresses.

Eight new players officially signed and announced today:










https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/8/3/mens-basketball-aggies-add-eight-newcomers-ahead-of-first-mountain-west-season.aspx

https://www.anygivensaturday.com/forum/general-fcs/fcs-discussion/4721881-2026-pre-season-ags-poll-top-25

I think I remember Plough saying something about liking the 100 degree heat during the fall preseason camp. I guess he feels like it adds a layer of adversity and helps the players get used to competing in the heat and helps them get into shape. It looks like he got his wish with the forecast showing multiple 100 degree days in the week ahead. The heat will be less in the mornings but it's still gonna be hot!

I assume they are alluding to the fact that TJ and Chima both played for UCD and, after graduation, they went on to be very successful in professional basketball in Europe.

English translation

KCRA channel 3 evening news had a segment on Ron Gould tonight. He's now the RB coach for the Los Angeles Rams.

Ouvaroff selected the Ags over offers from Arizona, Cal Poly, North Alabama, Montana, Montana State, New Mexico State, Portland State, Sacramento State, and Washington State. That's really good to see.