Great story. I really happy for him and glad to see that Les and the coaching staff give athletes like Johnson, who have traveled a difficult journey, a chance to get a great education and play D1 basketball. He sounds like he'll fill in some of the defensive void left by Garrison Goode while having a more diversified offensive skill set than Garrison had.

The Anteaters ran finally ran out of gas after roaring back to take the lead early in the second half and lose 73-54. Great effort by UCI. They were most definitely the class of the Big West this season. They played like a top 25 team but ran into an incredibly talented Oregon team.

The Aggies have been out of it mentally since the tipoff. Everyone is playing timid and tight...making mistakes, standing around on offense and defense...mentally not ready to compete today.

Wow...the Aggies came out with the "deer in the headlights look" and are totally psyched out...

I saw where Obama even had them winning over K State in his bracket picks. He knows his hoops!

I think they can beat Oregon and make it to the Sweet 16. They are a solid team in all aspects of the game. Teams with agile, athletic bigs can make it tough for them but Turner threw an effective zone at K State and that worked well.

Turner is a great coach. He recruits high character players who have have high basketball IQ's similar to the players that Les likes to recruit but he will go after more bigs than Les does. He stresses defense like Les does but he has players who are serious offensive threats and create their own shot off the dribble too. We need players who have that kind of offensive ability and consistency. Of course, Shorts was the exception for us this year.

The problem I see now though is that we have no returning players who have demonstrated that they can be consistent on offense on a game to game basis. Mooney and Gonzalez have shown they can score but not with consistency game to game and Neufeld is developing offensively but he has trouble staying out of foul trouble and on the floor. I certainly hope some of new recruits can provide some offensive firepower for us.

#12 Oregon beat #5 Wisconsin 72-54 so #13 Irvine will play Oregon on Sunday.

Yes, it great recognition for the conference. I think the BW is making progress. Totally agree that the rest of the conference needs to step up to Irvine's level and the Aggies need that and soon. We can't afford to have another down year. That would really set back recruiting.

It was a really good game. Irvine won the game with their defense. They held KS to 37% overall and the also made their FT's 17-19. Max Hazzard and Evan Leonard drained some critical 3's and the Eaters were able to stay with KS on the boards. Great win for the conference.

Awesome win by Irvine 70-64! They'll play the winner of the #12 Oregon vs #5 Wisconsin.

Irvine and K State tied at the half 30-30. The Eaters are battling hard against a very tough defense by K State.

Bakersfield beat Fullerton 66-58 in the CIT at Fullerton last night.

I think that we are a tough sell right now after the season we had.

Irvine plays their first round game today at 10:50 a.m. against Kansas State. The game will be televised on TBS.

I think the Eaters have a good chance to win this game and advance. I could see them making it to the Sweet 16 if they play like they are capable of.

Go Anteaters!

From today's Sacramento Bee:

Morgan the Conqueror – UC Davis basketball star has lineage and game

Bertsch wasn’t recruited as much as she was discovered out of Santa Rosa High School.

She was long and lanky at 6-feet-4-inches. Her red face then was evidence of how much effort she put into crashing the boards, scoring inside and defending as a centerpiece to a playoff program.

The UCD coaching staff in 2014 was reviewing game film of a potential recruit playing against Santa Rosa when Bertsch caught their eye. They didn’t focus on her shot or tenacity. They saw her stride. Aggies coach Jennifer Gross wondered, “who is that gazelle?”

The UCD coaches scouted Bertsch in person. They were underwhelmed. Bertsch was battling a flu, but the potential was there. She was worth another look, and then, ultimately, a scholarship offer.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article228227434.html#storylink=cpy

Utah Valley beat Fullerton last night in the CBI Tournament 92-84 in Orem, Utah. Lamine Diane had 27 and Terrell Gomez had 22 for the Titans. The big difference in the game was Utah Valley hitting 29-37 FT's to just 13 of 20 for CSUN. The Titans forced 20 UV TO's with 16 steals. CSUN is going to be a force in the Big West next year.

He could have been sick and they didn't want him to spread a bug to the team. He got quite a bit of playing time this year and he showed promise with some time to develop more. Les does always recruit a lot of guards though so he would have competition for the a starting spot. I would be surprised if he wasn't back next year.

Les comments on the disappointing season:

“I’m disappointed in my ability to help this team navigate success, and all the attention that it brings; being able to stay true to ourselves and true to the characteristics that have made us a successful program,” eighth-year Aggie coach Jim Les told The Enterprise.

“I think we lost our way (in 2018-19), and as the leader of the program, that’s on me.”

Les, the author of three 20-plus-game winning seasons in the last five, pondered the ups and downs before offering his next thought …

“Probably what makes the flashback more disappointing is that we showed flashes throughout the year of the type of team we could be and the level of basketball that we could play at — which was a pretty high level.

“We just weren’t able to establish a level of consistency with that.


“It first and foremost starts with our mindset and that’s what made it all the more frustrating for all of us — players and coaches. We had those moments where it was all clicking. It was pretty compelling.

“We just couldn’t find that blueprint enough.”

And hints that he is still recruiting for next year:

He confirmed that his staff will remain intact and that there’s still work to do before the April 19 signing deadline.

“We’re really excited about the recruiting class we’ve already signed. There’s going to be more to come,” Les added. “It’s a talented group. The lure of coming to a world-class university in a world-class community is really exciting.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggie-mens-season-was-not-what-we-wanted/

Excerpts from the Davis Enterprise:

In regards to the Aggie blowout loss to Stanford to start the season:

“We were barely getting our (game) together,” Song told The Enterprise. “We love the matchup. We’re very comfortable playing there (at Maples Pavilion). We’ve played there almost every year. But they’re not to be taken lightly. They are a very good team. We’re ready. We’re super-excited to be playing in the tournament.”

About ESPN leaking the bracket:

Big West Conference Player of the Year Morgan Bertsch recalled when the cat got out of the bag:

“I had just gotten out of my ethics in general engineering final. I looked at my phone and it said, ‘Brackets got leaked, come to the coaches’ office.’ So, yeah, we had known for a while.”

An appreciative Jen Gross:

“As you know, it’s been crazy and little bit of an anti-climactic day for us,” the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame guard told the throng. “Although this won’t be (us) sitting on the edge of our seats, awaiting our seed, I just wanted to thank … all of the amazing fans and community that are part of our family here at UC Davis.

“I know a lot of people were down in Anaheim — and whether you were there or here at Woodstock’s watching and supporting and believing in us — that entire game, even when things weren’t going our way, your energy, your positivity helped get (that comeback) done for us.

“I know our players said every score that we got during that run, they ran back on defense, feeling tired for a second. But then they looked up at our crowd — going crazy and standing on their feet — and (the players) said it willed them to get that next defensive stop.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/so-much-for-a-surprise-aggie-women-heading-to-stanford/