That's exciting news about the new scoreboard. It was hard for us to see the video replays clearly from our seats in section 124. So this year we moved our seats to section 120 and, now with the new "monster" scoreboard, the screen will be huge for us!

Bravo!!! It sounds like we have a chancellor that understands the exposure and prestige that outstanding athletics can bring to the university. I give a lot of credit to Ralph Hexter and Kevin Blue for really getting the ball rolling on this too.

Jonah Underwood, the 6'8 forward transfer from San Jose City College has been officially announced and is eligible to play this fall. In starting all 24 games last season for SJCC, he averaged 20.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots per game while shooting .483 from the floor. He was ranked #2 and #5 in the state in blocks and rebounds per game and had a triple double against Monterey Peninsula College with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. Underwood also comes to Davis with a 4.0 gpa.

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/080317aab.html

There's an abundance of new energy in Aggie football:

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/bruce-gallaudet-football-kickoff-party-full-of-aggie-energy/

The scheduling format for this tournament is really confusing. It appears that we play at Nevada on December 17th and the semis and finals are in Vegas on December 22-23 with other earlier games for hosts and visitors TBA.

The field is set with the Aggies, Nevada, San Francisco, Southern Illinois, Lamar, Duquesne, North Carolina A&T and Radford.

https://www.bloggingthebracket.com/2017/6/7/15736894/2017-18-college-basketball-early-season-tournaments-events-mte-neutral-site-showcases-thanksgiving

The Huskies may have struggled last year but I'll take any and all games vs the PAC-12.

The Aggies have offered 6'3 SG Jack Schwietz who, as you said, plays for the Oakland Soldiers also. He attends Findlay Preparatory Academy in Henderson, Nevada. Findlay Prep is a program that has produced quite a few players that were eventually drafted into the NBA. He has offers from the Aggies, UCSB, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/jack-schwietz

I think I saw Mason Forbes at some Aggie games last season. It's hard to miss that fro! He has offers from San Diego State, Pepperdine, Brown Cal Poly and San Jose State and there may be others.

The play of Kehei Clark got UC Davis and Jim Les a lot of publicity by the TV announcers yesterday. Clark got as much praise from them as USC's 5 star recruit Taeshon Cherry.

His stock is rising quickly with all the exposure he is now receiving so I'm sure there will be attempts by other schools to lure him away. However, he committed quickly and early to the Aggies and there are photos of him with his family wearing Aggie gear when he announced his commitment. I get the feeling that he and his family place a high value on education and the kind of integrity we have in Aggie Athletics. They obviously like Coach Les and his approach to coaching as well. He'll have a chance to shine at Davis and receive an outstanding education as well.

This is great news for the Aggies. Kehei Clark is only 5'8 but he has impressive basketball skills regardless of his height. He was very composed under pressure, shot the ball well, and made excellent decisions with the ball. He is lightning quick with either hand, has great floor awareness and makes wonderful assists. He'll have a good shot at playing as a true freshman for the Ags next year. Coach Les has gone and gotten a real good floor general.

His AAU team, the Oakland Soldiers, beat Team Takeover (Washington DC) 70-63 to win the prestigious EYBL Nike Peach Jam Championship. Clark led his team with 18 points on 5 of 9 from the floor overall (3 of 5 from 3) and 5 of 7 from the line.

You can watch the ESPN replay of the game here:

http://cdn.espn.go.com/watch/player?id=3099215

We have offered DB Delano Ware 6'0" 190 from El Cerrito HS. We are his first offer but he is gaining a lot of attention and will probably be a long shot to land. He values education so that's a big plus for us.

Former NFL DB, Mark McMillan, said this about Ware:

"Ware is a long, athletic safety with tremendous upside and is truly a SEC, Big 12 or Pac-12 caliber defensive back and should have no problem securing a scholarship as a student-athlete," McMillan said."

Off the field, Ware has been described as not only a leader on the field, but in the classroom as well. He leads the study hall sessions on campus and stresses the importance of “no player is left behind” at ECHS.

https://twitter.com/dware_nl

http://www.scout.com/college/san-jose-state/story/1785223-delano-ware-ready-to-break-out

Totally agree, 6th. I'm hoping that we will reload this year instead of rebuilding and, little by little, increase our level of competition. I hope I live long enough to see the day that we become a west coast mid-major power with an exciting OOC home schedule.

BTW, nice to see you posting again...seems like you've been away for a while...

It's a good start in the right direction!

It's interesting that Long Beach, who consistently plays one of the most difficult OOC schedules in the nation, appears to have their schedule completed and no one else is even close to completing their schedules. I'm curious as to who made this spreadsheet?

Kevin Blue is making a huge improvement in donations to the Aggie Athletics according to a news release by the Athletics Department:

Excerpt:

July 14, 2017
"DAVIS, Calif. - When the 2016-17 academic year ended on June 30, so did a highly successful fundraising year for UC Davis Athletics. The Aggies saw a bourgeoning donor base provide support at historic levels: Donations, benefitting over 60 funds within the department, reached an all-time high of $4.9 million, breaking the previous record (set in 2010-2011) by nearly $1.3 million."

This is outstanding news. Congratulations to Kevin Blue and his staff!

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/genrel/071417aaa.html

I was surprised to see Underwood on the roster also. I thought the recruiting was done for the year.

I couldn't find much recruiting info on Underwood but I did see that, back in February, he tweeted that he had not committed yet anywhere and that Pepperdine was his first offer. As you said, maybe he'll red shirt...??

Jonah Underwood looks like a great pick up for the Aggies. He struggled in his first year at SJCC but really came into his own in his sophomore year. He averaged 20.2 ppg and 10.7 rebounds per game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 76.8% from the line last season. He is also touted as a great defender and was 2nd in the state with 68 blocks last season. We all know that Coach Les builds his teams around defense first and foremost so Underwood should fit right in and could fill the shoes of Lawrence White as an outstanding defender while bringing some offensive help as well.

The California junior college basketball blog, Signal the Light Basketball, selected Underwood to their 2nd Team All Northern California Team and had this to say about him:

"Jonah Underwood “6-9” San Jose, CA sophomore (San Jose): The “6-9” sophomore had a standout season for the Jaguars averaging 20.2 points and 10.7 rebounds last season. Underwood had a season high of 37 points against Monterey on January 6th, the “6-9” sophomore scored in double figures in 23 games and he scored over 20 points thirteen times last season for the Jaguars. Underwood had 13 double doubles and the sophomore posted a season high 18 rebounds against Los Angeles Pierce on December 28th. Underwood averaged a double double on the season and was one of the elite big men in the state as Underwood was second in the state in blocks as the big man recorded 68 on the season."

http://signalthelightbasketball.com/nor-cal/copeland-norcal-state-player-of-the-year/

There's more good news for the Ags also. Another UC Davis transfer, G TJ Shorts from Saddleback CC, was named by STLB as their Southern California Player of the Year:

"T.J. Shorts “5-10” sophomore Tustin, CA (Saddleback): The UC Davis signee had a standout season for the Gauchos despite an early exit from the post season. Shorts was a big reason why Saddleback was an elite team and had a solid showing this season. Shorts averaged 16.8 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds for the 24-5 Gauchos. Shorts shot 48% from the floor and shot 75% from the line in the 2016-2017 season. The “5-10” point guard scored in double figures 25 out of 29 games and had a season high 33 points against Riverside on December 9th. Shorts scored over 20 points eight other times during the season and had 11 assists against Cypress on January 18th. In his career at Saddleback Shorts scored 895 points, had 278 assists and pulled down 265 rebounds in 62 games."

http://signalthelightbasketball.com/so-cal/charlens-coach-year-2016-2017/

Coach Les and his staff have done a great of recruiting this year. They have brought in solid mix of young and experienced talent and it will be fun to watch this team take shape this fall. Last year's team had a special chemistry that was paramount to their success. Chima Moneke, Siler Schneider and Garrison Goode will now need to step up as leaders to help this team come together emotionally and physically. It will probably take some time to get everyone on the same page but talent is there and the future looks promising.

Go Ags!

I hope we have a decent home out-of-conference schedule this year. Last year's OOC home schedule was awful.

Nice find, tokyoag. It's going to be fun watching Chima in the upcoming season. I think he has the ability, in his own way, to be as dominant a force as Corey Hawkins was. We'll definitely need him to stay healthy and on the floor for lots of minutes as the emotional and physical team leader. Can't wait to watch him in action in the fall!

...but will we be a surprise this year and make it two Dances in a row?