Does this mean that we are paying Incarnate Word $75,000 to come to Davis?

Good to see Matteo Perez practicing. I think he is a reliably solid RB for us.

The Big West has now lost us, Hawai'i, SB and UCSD and they have added Utah Valley, Cal Baptist and Sac St. I think they've lost more than they have gained and leaves Irvine in a weakened conference.

This is what the WCC looks like with Gonzaga leaving for the PAC12:

Loyola Marymount
Pacific
Pepperdine
Portland
University of San Diego
Saint Mary's
San Francisco
Santa Clara
Seattle
Denver
UCSD
UCSB

Yes, Pepper had a chance to leave and make some money but he stayed. He thrived under the tutelage of Les in his time as an Aggie.

Michigan won the National Championship and 4 of their 5 starters with first year transfers. They had $10 million in NIL to offer and Arizona had $15 million in NIL. Here's the top total budgets for men's basketball for the 2023-24 season:

... yells at all the players and makes a buffoon out of himself on the court.... — Jdur

Les can be intense for sure but he doesn't come close to the intensity of many of the coaches who had their teams in the Final 16 and he isn't as intense as some of the Big West coaches like Pasternack at UCSB or Russ Turner at Irvine either.

Here's another portal tracker for the MWC that includes stats for the outgoing and incoming players including the new members of the conference also.

https://www.mwcconnection.com/transfer-portal/83991/mountain-west-transfer-portal-tracker-2026-cbk-pac-12-rankings-updated-utep-hawaii-uc-davis-gonzaga-washington-state

Damn...Wilson, Cooper, Stokes, Franklin, and Amzil all in the portal! This mass exodus makes me wonder who might be next?

We've never lost this many players in a single season. So, is this just a sign of the times in D1 basketball or is this an indicator that all is not well within our basketball program? I hate to raise that question but Les is obviously not retaining the talent he recruited last year with this many players looking for greener pastures.

I thought Bennett would be the team leader heading into the MWC. Looks like it will be a challenging rebuild year with Bennett, Epps, Baker and Norris gone.

Wow...huge loss! Unfortunately, money talks and players walk...

NIL is a disappointing reality especially for D1 mid-majors who simply don't have the funds to compete with the power conference schools. I saw that the least amount of NIL money for the men's teams in the Sweet 16 was $6 million. However, maybe lots of money isn't everything. Indiana spent $32 million on their basketball program and they didn't even make the tournament.

I think Stokes brought a needed toughness to the team and he has a huge upside since was only a freshman who earned his way into the starting lineup.

..."as the players leave the field they sing our fight song as they pass Coach Sochor's statue since they think he'd like to hear it"...this is Aggie Pride and culture at it's best....

Huge loss...losing Cooper and Stokes is not a good omen...

I'm sorry to see Cooper entering the portal. I know his injuries made it tough for him this season but I felt like he brought a toughness and quiet leadership to the team. He was also cheering on his teammates even though injuries were keeping him off the floor. He'll be missed in my opinion.

Why?

Now, if we had a cow who could retrieve kicking tees, I’d be all for it! — DrMike

:rofl:

Here's how the teams on Sac's 2026 schedule did last year:

Eastern Michigan 4-8
Mississippi Valley State 2-10
Fresno State 9-4
NDSU 12-1
UMass 0-12
Bowling Green 4-8
Ohio 9-4
Ball State 4-8
Kent State 5-7
Toledo 8-5
Central Michigan 7-6
Hawai'i 9-4

Jen has a history of finding under-the-radar post players who grow into outstanding players under her guidance.

Ags lose a heartbreaker on a 3 point buzzer beater 71-68. The Aggies were down 8 with 1:16 to go and rallied to tie the game with 6.8 seconds left. Tough way to lose.