Aggie men’s basketball goes international with talented recruits from Europe and Australia
Moving to the Mountain West, UCD will have a record 17 home games this season
For the last five years I’ve had the distinct pleasure of providing color commentary for UC Davis men’s basketball on Sactown Radio (1140 AM) alongside play-by-play announcer Greg Wong, one of the most talented broadcasters on the West Coast.
Wong, who has also called games in a variety of sports for Stanford, Washington, USF and others, does the heavy lifting by describing the intricacies of every ounce of action, serving as the eyes of folks who are following the game at home or in the car only with their ears.
My job is what I call “potshot journalism,” where I react to Wong’s call, but do my best to never interrupt him. During timeouts we have a chance for a little humor, correcting each other’s grammar or explaining how it came to be that what was once the University Farm was now playing Division I basketball in a large arena built over the sacred ground where Jack Hanna and his buddies developed the first tomato harvester.
Greg has never heard of Jack Hanna. I used to mow Jack’s lawn.
I’ve been hooked on Aggie basketball since my dad took hold of my five-year-old hand and walked me up the stairs to the varsity court in Hickey Gym.
Twenty or so years later I was a newly minted sportswriter for the local newspaper, a dream job that nevertheless required a vow of poverty.
Fast forward another 55 years and you’ll find me sitting to Greg’s right in a cramped booth high above the action at the University Credit Union Center, which I still refer to by its original name of Rec Hall.
Wait. Add all those years together and I think that makes me 110.
As part of our pre-game prep, Greg and I are provided a detailed “pronunciation guide” from the sports information directors for each school that will be competing that afternoon or evening.
When I was five years old attending games in the cramped quarters of Hickey Gym, I didn’t need a pronunciation guide.
And I didn’t need one in my early days as a sportswriter in the simpler days when UCD stalwarts had simple, unmistakable last names like Thomas, Wood, Ford, Frost, Campbell, Johnson, Shepard, Larkin, Steed, Douglas, Underwood, Olson, Cordova, Granados, Rivers, Cooper, Cranford, Crawford, Cupps, Donnell, Hansen, Henderson, Slater, Jones, Kirk, Indart, McWilliams and Towne.
The toughest names I came across as a writer long ago were Baranco, Neumayr, Smrekar and Rabedeaux. (Rab-uh-doo).
My how things have changed.
Last season we had a Rocak and a Sevilla. Simple enough, right?
But is “Ro-chak” or “Ro-cack?”
And is it “Suh-veeya,” rhymes with “see ya” or “Suh-villa,” rhymes with vanilla?
Or something else altogether.
With the home team, you learn right away how to say their names, but with the visitors, you get only one crack at them before they’re done and gone.
Greg and I agree that blowing a player’s name, home or visitor, is a mortal sin.
On the greatest agricultural campus in the world, you can butcher a steer or a hog, but you cannot ever butcher a basketball player’s name, first or last.
To prepare for the 2026-27 season that begins in earnest November 2, Greg and I will be heading to New York City to visit the United Nations in order to familiarize ourselves with the international names on the Aggie roster.
Newcomers have arrived from France, Greece, Germany, Austria, Australia, Poland and seemingly even Mars.
In no particular order, they are Veniamin Abosi, Clarence Massamba and Nnadalu Noble, the first basketball player in NCAA history to have a first name that begins with a double “N.”
Then there’s Aleks Szymczyk. Vanna, I’d like to buy a vowel.
The tongue twisters ease up a bit with the addition of Julian Dabrowski, Koby Moir, Caspian Jones and Julian Margrave.
No matter how you pronounce their names, the incoming talent is readily apparent.
Aggie head coach Jim Les, one of the best game-day coaches in America, says, “This group checks every box with size, skill and athleticism. And they’re walking into a special moment for our program as we begin our inaugural Mountain West season. Our staff is excited to get to work and build this team.”
Clarence Massamba is a 6-5 guard from Paris who played last season at Tennessee.
Veniamin Abosi is a 6-6 guard/forward from Heraklion, Greece who spent two seasons at the University of San Francisco where he shot a sizzling 40.4 percent from 3-point range.
Julian Margrave is a 6-10 forward from Louisburg, Kansas who comes to town after spending the 2025-26 season at Omaha, where his strong academics made him a perfect fit for UC Davis.
Aleks Szymczyk, a 6-10 center from Frankfurt, Germany, gives the Aggies a familiar face in the frontcourt after facing UC Davis as a member of Cal State Northridge last season. He started his collegiate career at Florida.
Nnadalu Noble, a 6-10 forward from Vienna, Austria, arrives after a postgraduate year at Hoosac School in New York and a season at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, two of the top prep programs in the Northeast.
Caspian Jones, a 6-7 forward from Phoenix, joins the program following a postgraduate year at CATS Academy Boston. As a senior at St. Mary’s High School in Phoenix, Jones averaged 17.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
Koby Moir, a 6-2 guard from Adelaide, Australia, spent 2026 as the starting point guard for the South Adelaide Panthers of NBL1 Central, running a senior men’s professional league team as an 18-year-old.
Julian Dabrowski, a 6-9 forward/center from Warsaw, Poland developed in the Legia Warszawa Academy and was part of Legia teams that captured back-to-back Polish league championships in 2025 and 2026.
Before the arrival of the eight newcomers, the Aggie cupboard was not exactly bare.
Led by Connor Sevilla and Brayden Fagbemi, UCD has plenty of firepower returning.
Sevilla led the Aggies with 13.3 points a game and was 12th nationally in free throw accuracy at 90.3 percent while shooting 39.9 percent from long range to earn All-Big West honorable mention. He also earned All-District academic honors.
The Aggies also bring back a proven two-way guard in Fagbemi. The point guard led the Big West at 2.0 steals per game, a mark that ranked 36th nationally, while 4.3 assists per game ranked second in the league. Fagbemi led the team in both assists and steals, added 3.5 rebounds per game and closed the regular season with a season-high 16 points and five steals at UC Irvine. Off the floor, he joins Sevilla as an All-District academic superstar.
Also back from the team that went 19-14 last season are veterans Jalen Stokes, Chase Rawlins, Ylan Esso-Essis, Isaiah Chappell and Omer Suljanovic.
Noted Les, “This returning group is our foundation with leadership, experience and toughness. They know what it means to wear the UC Davis jersey, and they chose to keep building something special here. As we step into the Mountain West, I’m most excited about the growth we expect from this core. They’ve earned the chance to lead this team during this exciting transition.”
While the Mountain West is not expected to announce the league schedule until next month, UCD just released its 14-game nonconference slate that includes eight home games at the UCUC, beginning with North Alabama on November 2.
Other home games include Menlo, Incarnate Word, Alabama State, Portland, Cal Baptist, Idaho State and Pacific Union.
Away nonconference games are at Sacramento State, North Dakota State and Seattle, plus a three-game Resorts World Classic in Las Vegas featuring Omaha, Jacksonville State and Pacific.
The conference tournament will be held March 10-13 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, home of UNLV, with all 10 Mountain West teams participating.
2026-27 UC Davis Men’s Basketball Nonconference Schedule
Mon., Nov. 2: NORTH ALABAMA
Thu., Nov. 5: MENLO
Wed., Nov. 11: INCARNATE WORD
Sat., Nov. 14: at Sacramento State
Tue., Nov. 17: ALABAMA STATE
Nov. 25-27: Resorts World Classic (Las Vegas) vs. Omaha, Jacksonville State, Pacific
Tue., Dec. 1: PORTLAND
Thu., Dec. 3: at North Dakota State
Mon., Dec. 14: CAL BAPTIST
Thu., Dec. 17: IDAHO STATE
Tue., Dec. 22: at Seattle
Mon., Dec. 28: PACIFIC UNION
Home games in CAPS at University Credit Union Center