Aggie hoops for men and women tip off Monday night with a home doubleheader
UCD men take on Menlo at 5 p.m., with the women challenging Jessup at 7:30 p.m.
It used to be that the college basketball season started near the conclusion of the college football season. Not anymore. College football’s championship game won’t be contested until January 19 when the college basketball season will be well into its third month of regular season play.
Monday night, in fact, both the UC Davis women’s and men’s teams will open their seasons at home in a rare hoops doubleheader at the University Credit Union Center.
The Aggie men tip off Monday evening’s action with a 5 p.m. date against Menlo, with the women following at 7:30 p.m. against Jessup of Rocklin, formerly known as William Jessup.
The men return home Wednesday at 6 p.m. against perennial Summit League power North Dakota State, with the women in action at home Friday at 11 a.m. in their annual “Field Trip Day” game against Idaho that is likely to nearly fill the UCUC.
This will be the last season in the Big West Conference for both Aggie squads as most of UC Davis’ sports will move to the Mountain West Conference beginning July 1, 2026.
“It’s bittersweet,” said women’s head coach Jen Gross.
“It’s obviously been a great conference for us and we’ve had some great memories and a number of championships in the Big West, but change is good. Change is exciting. There will be new rivalries and new challenges and new places to travel to. Everything will be different. We’re very much looking forward to it.”
Men’s head coach Jim Les echoes Gross’ sentiments, while noting the significant challenges that the Mountain West presents.
“When we’re recruiting now, this is definitely part of the conversation,” Les noted.
“It’s a step up in many ways and we always have that in mind when we’re bringing new people into the program.”
But both coaches are more concerned with the here and now and what they will be able to accomplish in their final year of Big West play.
The Aggie women finished 21-12 overall last year and advanced to the conference tournament championship game before losing to UC San Diego. In this season’s Coaches Poll, UCD is picked to finish third behind Hawaii and UC Irvine.
In order behind the Aggies are UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, UC Riverside, Cal Poly, CSUN, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Bakersfield.
Missing is last year’s leading UCD scorer, Tova Sabel, who is now playing professionally in Italy.
But back is Megan Norris, who led the Aggies with 251 rebounds and 52 blocked shots.
Also back are defensive specialist Nya Epps and last year’s freshman phenom Ryann Bennett. Other returnees include Victoria Baker, Ally Fitzgerald, Avery Sussex, Theoni Tsami and Sahana Kanagasabay.
Freshman additions earning high praise from Gross as she enters her 15th season at the Aggie helm are Carrington Davis from Rialto, Emmy Ersdala from Sweden and Sophie Lentfer from Anchorage.
Lentfer was named as Alaska’s Gatorade Player of the Year two seasons ago as a top scorer and rebounder, while Carrington had eye-popping numbers of 28.8 points, 11.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
“With our newcomers, our challenge is to help them get to the right level of physicality and speed in the college game while helping them to stay confident about the transition,” said Gross, who is ready for the Aggies to make another run at a championship.
“Obviously, I’d love for us to have a fairytale ending and win the Big West in our final year,” said the Aggie coach.
“To win this league will take a lot of hard work and putting in the time in practice, but I think our team has a really high ceiling and we’ll be a force to contend with in March.”
Non-conference home games include Jessup, Idaho, Gonzaga, Northern Colorado and Chico State, with away dates at Weber State, Boise State, Stanford and Sacramento State, along with two games in Stockton against Jacksonville State and Milwaukee.
Les, too, is optimistic about blending his returnees with some promising newcomers as he enters his 15th season leading the Aggie men.
The Aggie coach has some significant holes to fill with some promising newcomers, but likes the buy-in and enthusiasm and hard-working mentality of this year’s roster.
Primarily among the missing is TY Johnson, who led the team in scoring with 21.1 points a game, 72 steals and 96 assists, and was an inspirational force down the stretch in a number of games.
With the Mountain West looming after this season, Les says several key parts of Aggie basketball will never change.
“Academics is a priority here,” he said. “Character is a priority here. We are not going to take shortcuts.”
The Aggie men finished 15-17 last season, including 9-11 in the Big West, suffering seven straight losses to finish the season.
“We were playing well, but then we just hit a wall,” added Les.
“We need to go 10 or 11 deep to play the way we want to play, and I think we have the players to do that this year.”
Les is excited about how a strong group of newcomers are already blending well with his squad’s returnees, but the proof will come when they start keeping score for good beginning Monday night.
“I’m really pleased with our scrimmages and I expect good things when the lights come on,” Les added.
“Our goal is always to put our guys in a position where they can thrive and be successful. Right now it seems as if everyone has their heart and their mind in the right place. They’re giving great effort and are willing to be coached. The recipe for success in college basketball is to defend, rebound and take care of the basketball. I have high expectations that this group is going to do very well.”
The Aggie men were picked smack in the middle of the pack - sixth in the 11-team Big West - in the Coaches Poll, but Les notes that picking a favorite is tricky business in these days of the transfer portal and NIL money.
Les pointed out that every school is rebuilding, given that of the top 20 scorers in the league last year, not a single one returns.
Irvine tops the poll, followed by UC Santa Barbara, Hawaii, UC San Diego, CSUN, UCD, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Riverside, Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton.
In addition to 20 Big West contests, the Aggie men have home non-conference dates with Menlo, North Dakota State, Sacramento State, Louisiana, Seattle and Pacific Union, and away battles with Portland, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon and Idaho State.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com