SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Nov. 6, 2022) – The college men's basketball season is here, and that is no exception for UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball. The team is kicking off the season right here in the Thunderdome as they welcome San Francisco State for the first contest of the year.
"We are so excited to start another season of UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball on Monday," said Head Coach Joe Pasternack, who is beginning his sixth season with the Gauchos. "We hope to see our community and students packing the seats to start this year off on the right note."
LOOKING AT THE SEASON
The Gauchos are coming off a 17-11 season last year and are expected to make a huge impact in The Big West. Almost all preseason polls slated UC Santa Barbara as the No. 1 pick to win the regular season.
For Pasternack's team, they return most of the starting lineup and key reserves in All-Big West Honorable Mention recipient Miles Norris, Big West Freshman of the Year Ajay Mitchell, Josh Pierre-Louis, Ajare Sanni and Calvin Wishart. Along with that, the Gauchos brought in an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention grad transfer from Cal in Andre Kelly as well as Zach Harvey, who comes to UC Santa Barbara from Cincinnati. The team also brought in a Top 100 freshman in Koat Keat Tong, a CIF Player of the Year who competed for Crean Lutheran in high school.
With all of this talent, multiple players were sure to get the recognition. Kelly was selected as The Big West's Preseason Newcomer of the Year while Mitchell earned a spot on The All-Big West Preseason First Team.
SCOUTING THE GATORS
San Francisco State played the Gauchos last season that they counted as an exhibition. The Gauchos finished that game with one of the highest-scoring games in UC Santa Barbara's history. This match will also be the first of the season and count as an exhibition for this Division II team.
The Gators bring back Toby Okwuokei, who was named to the CCAA Preseason Watch List. Last season, Okwuokei led San Francisco State with 12.8 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game. The senior also received All-California Collegiate Athletic Association Second Team honors at the end of the 2021-22 season. The Rancho Cucamonga native transferred to SF State from Citrus College, where he was an All-WSC First Team selection.
Following a seventh-place finish in their conference last season, the Gators were chosen in the preseason coaches' poll to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the CCAA. The team lost one of their biggest contributors in Sean Orr, who averaged 10 points a game and 5.5 rebounds per game for SF State.
The Gators only have two seniors this year along with only four juniors on this 15-man roster. The other senior, Bryson Ryan, only averaged six minutes a game across 20 appearances last season.
San Francisco State are coached by Vince Inglima, who will begin his sixth season with the program in tonight's match. He has a .509 win percentage heading into this game with a 58-56 record.
The Gators ended the season as one of the best teams in Division II when it comes to forcing turnovers. They ended the season 21st in their division, forcing opponents to 16.27 turnovers. They were also a strong rebounding team as they were ranked 44th in Division II in rebounds per game with 38.38.
This team brought in four freshmen including Caleb Oden, a redshirt freshman coming to the Gators from Nevada. The other three freshmen were All-Conference honorees in their high school conferences.
WHEREABOUTS
Fans can catch all of the high-flying action in the Thunderdome this Monday, Nov. 7, when the Gauchos start the 2022-23 season with a 7 p.m. tip off. This first game at home will welcome the Santa Barbara Boys and Girls Club, the Page Youth Center and the Santa Barbara YMCA.
