Grand Canyon spent over $1 billion to build 10 new athletics facilities not so long ago. — yolohw

Data from the NCAA Race and Gender Demographics Database shows that among Division I men’s college football student-athletes in 2020, 36.5% were white, 48.4% were black, 3% were Hispanic/Latino, 0.3% were Asian.

Race and Gender Demographics Database shows that among Division I college football head coaches in 2020, 81.7% were white, and 15.6% were black, with other minority groups also severely lacking representation. For Division I College Football Offensive Coordinators, 82.7% were white, and 14.8% were black. For Defensive Coordinators, 74% were white, and 20.6% were black. Additionally, for all other assistant coaches, 51.8% were white, 40% were black, 1.1% were Hispanic/Latino, and less than 1% were Asian.

as they have like 400 offers out.... — SochorField

1. Elijah Pepper (Warwick Senators)‍

Pepper stands out not just as the league’s top scorer with an astronomical 49.75 points per game, but also as the most complete offensive threat. He shoots 54% from the field, makes nearly 9 threes per game, and gets to the line frequently — converting at an 89% clip. Beyond scoring, Pepper contributes across the board with 6.5 assists and 6.25 rebounds per game while keeping turnovers and fouls relatively low. His exceptional blend of volume, efficiency, and playmaking gives him the highest Impact Score by a significant margin.

As Sacramento State angles for its chance, Marion and Bibby are trying to take the Hornets to heights never seen in town.

“I want to make the NCAA Tournament this year,” Bibby says. “I wouldn’t say it’s a failure if we don’t, but that’s our goal.”

With the transfer portal, any team that gets all the right pieces in place from year to year can mold itself from an afterthought into a contender, Bibby says.

Sacramento State signed former prep phenom Mikey Williams, who intended to start his career at Memphis but never played there after he was charged with nine felonies for allegedly firing a gun at an occupied car in April 2023. Williams had his charges reduced, pleaded guilty to one felony and served a year of probation that led to that plea being reduced to a misdemeanor. He spent last year at UCF, averaging 5 points a game.

Meanwhile, one of the football staff’s most effective strategies is to flood the market with offers, whether or not they’re realistic targets.

Offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell, the No. 1 recruit in the country, is headed to Miami and likely never considered Sacramento State. But when he got an offer from the Hornets, he posted it on social media.

“It was big for branding: Why is this big-time five-star No. 1 recruit posting?” says C.J. Pollard, who runs Sac State recruiting. “I just wanted to make it cool, and the only way to make it cool was the top dudes setting the trend. ‘I need you to report our offer and tell ’em we’re coming after you.’”

Pollard also noticed that the FCS, unlike the FBS, does not have a rule banning photo shoots on unofficial visits. Instagram is now plastered with photos of recruits in a full Sac State uniform, posed in front of a carefully curated set full of Hornets swag.

“The funny thing is we’re now on the dream-school list,” Marion says.

Brennan Marion comes to Sacramento State after being the offensive coordinator at UNLV. Marion was a record-setting receiver for Tulsa as a player. (Courtesy of Sacramento State)

Stephanie Nguyen, a California assemblymember who graduated from the school in 1997 and is a member of the Sac12 Committee, says the enthusiasm around the school is visible. When she’s at public events, people throw their pinkies in the air to signify “Stingers Up.” The school’s ambitions have been brought up to her at the state’s Capitol.

“I go to Costco now,” she says, “and Sac State stuff is there.”

But for all the moves and momentum, Sacramento State is still waiting, without a future home for its football program. If the donor base, so excited at the prospect of being an FBS football program, doesn’t see significant movement, will those gargantuan financial promises dwindle?

Will the millions of dollars in media rights Wood says are attainable come to fruition?

And, above all else, is Sacramento State, for all its chest-pounding readiness, ever going to be offered a seat at the table?

The Hornets, with all their newfound recruiting swagger, could start by winning some games.

“All eyes are going to be on us,” says Lafayette transfer running back Jamar Curtis, the current FCS career rushing leader. “We’re popping, we’re buzzing across the internet, so there’s definitely going to be a lot of people against us.”

• Attract big names, whether they sign on or not. In December, former NFL star quarterback Michael Vick was linked with the vacant Sacramento State football coaching position, generating more headlines. Orr confirmed preliminary talks with Vick took place, but nothing substantial materialized.

Vick was hired as the head coach of HBCU Norfolk State, and Sacramento State hired Marion, whose offense helped UNLV make back-to-back Mountain West title games.

In late March, Bibby was hired, making $560,000 annually, according to his contract. A month later, O’Neal agreed to become the university’s general manager for men’s basketball. Shaq’s son Shaqir has signed with the Hornets.

Mike Bibby had assistant coaching stops with the Puerto Rican national team, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies summer league teams and the NBA G-League Ignite. He was also head coach at Shadow Mountain High School in Arizona. (Michael Chow / The Republic / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

Bibby saw the role of general managers expanding nationwide and thought, “Let me ask Shaq.” The unpaid role is part talent identification, part donor stimulation, part just, well, being Shaq.

“With a guy like Shaquille O’Neal, you don’t tell him what to do,” Bibby says. “Shaq does what the hell he wants to.”

• Play to vacancies in the media market. Sacramento has been trying to balloon its sports presence in recent years beyond its beloved Kings.

The city was granted expansion rights by Major League Soccer in 2019, and plans for a new downtown soccer-specific stadium were greenlit, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed plans, and its primary investor withdrew funding in 2021.

Major League Baseball’s former Oakland Athletics are playing home games in Sacramento’s Triple-A stadium before they complete their permanent move to Las Vegas.

• Attempt to write your own script. Sac State has yet to establish itself as a must-see sports draw. Former football head coach Troy Taylor led the Hornets to three Big Sky championships in 2019, 2021 and 2022, the first conference titles ever won since joining in 1996. The women’s basketball team, which made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2023, went 15-18 last season. The men’s basketball team went 7-25.

But now that the Hornets believe they have organized for the big time and are prepped to splash cash on stadium and facility upgrades and finally build consistent winners in revenue-generating sports, Orr believes there’s no reason his school can’t join the crowded Northern California sports scene. The school reported $419,000 in ticket sales for all sports in fiscal year 2024.

“We’re the only top-20 media market in the country that doesn’t have an FBS program,” Orr says. “This market is thirsty for something like this.”