Thanks for starting this discussion; I hope it develops...and maybe gets someone's attention. So much to say and so little space and time.

1 - I think most would agree that effective Sports Information and Marketing are both crucial to intercollegiate athletics. I think particularly so to UCD.

To begin with, UCD isn't a hometown team in a decently large media market. That position obviously goes to Sacramento State. Our athletic programs are number two for the local print and broadcast media. And always have been, except for the Sochor era football teams. Jim Doan, SID when I was a student kept a running summary of column inches devoted to both Sac State and UCD in both the Bee and the now-defunct Sacramento Union. The Hornets always had a significant advantage, even when Joe Carlson Bob Hamilton were winning basketball championships and the Hornets were in the middle of the Far Western Conference. Even in Jim Sochor's first few years.
And Davis gets nothing from Bat Area media.

Without active, assertive and effective Sports Information and Marketing Departments, UCD has no voice. And a "voice" will become an even bigger need as we move into the Mountain West.

Secondly, with the Davis Enterprise all but defunct, and little to no coverage in the Woodland Daily Democrat, even locals have a difficult time knowing what, when and where for UCD Athletics. If UCD wants to put local community members in the stands - and I hope they do - Sports Information and Marketing has to reach them somehow.

2 - Simple writing competence would be nice. The December 18, 2024 article, "Larison, Hastings, Meyer And Rex Connors Named Stats Perform FCS All-Americans", on the UCD Football website is a case in point.

The first two paragraphs give a brief introduction and some general background. Good so far.

Paragraph three starts out, "The Aggie running back...", which is okay IF one has been following the Aggie football team. A new reader, however, is wondering WHICH of the five players in the headline is being referenced. We learn in the second sentence that Lan Larrison is the subject of this paragraph, and as it turns out, the next one as well.

Paragraph four begins, "In only 11 games played, the first team All-Big Sky conference honoree made his presence felt on each snap racking up an impressive 115 total tackles...". Hmmm. Those aren't running back statistics. But without leading with Rex Conners' name, there's definitely a disconnect for a reader.

Unfortunately, this article isn't an isolated example. I've been frustrated by poorly written article about many sports. Players who are listed on the roster as seniors are referred to as sophomores. Sport-specific terminology is misused (i.e. the terms game, set and match are used incorrectly). This particularly occurs in some of the less well-known sports on campus.

These types errors in clarity and accuracy are not the hallmarks of competent, professional sports writers. And they should be caught by competent editors / proofreaders - who should not be the person who wrote the article. As an alumnus, I'm embarrassed to have this level of writing represent the university.

Beyond the Recap:
Kudos to Nya Epps who smothered Cal Poly's leading scorer, Annika Shah, as primary defender. Her teammates also did a great job when Epps was getting a rest and when switches occurred. Shah was 8 points below her average and far below her FGg & 3PT %-ages (3/13; 1/6).
Excellent defensive adjustments by coaching staff at halftime and execution by players. The Aggies shut down Sierra Lichtie, who had been hot in. the 1st half, as well as keeping the lid on Shah.
Clara Glad had a great defensive stint in the second half as well.

Definitely a defensive battle. The Aggies made a run after the 4th quarter media timeout that CP couldn’t answer.

With UCSD upsetting Long Beach, Davis moves back to the conference lead.

Perhaps the intent is to follow the mantra of LaVar Ball, father of NBA players LaMelo and Lonzo Ball, and "speak it into being"? Maybe with some help from some talking heads looking to ride the wave of the next big thing.

You are correct in your reading of my post. I tried to point out positive and negative aspects of her time as chancellor without being specific. To those who think it inappropriate or were offended, I apologize.

Living in Davis then and now we followed the situation as closely as possible. My memory of immediate and subsequent reporting was Chancellor Katehi was present in whatever was used as the command center when the University police officer in charge called in to ask for direction. Versions of he chancellor’s response to the officer varied. She said she had forbade the use of force; others indicated she wanted the students removed. Obviously, the University police officer subsequently made a poor decision. But it was also obvious that the chancellor didn’t provide the leadership she could have. The subsequent attempt at whitewashing was another poor decision that reflected poorly on our campus.

As BlueGoldAg said previously, we’re fortunate to have Chancellor May. But to be fair, we also had Linda Katehi who did some positive things, but also made some decisions that were far more damaging to UCD’s reputation than anything Luke Wood has done so far. I see that fugawe09 just referenced this.

Davis campus leadership also was so sure that Bob Hamilton was over the hill that they pushed him out and, with poor due diligence, hired Lonnie Williams, who had falsified his resume. Williams was terminated after one season when players revolted.

Recently the Aggies have avoided the "why on earth did she throw THAT pass" type of turnover. Early in the year those turnovers killed us against SDSU and Portland State. Now, most turnovers are coming when someone tries forces the pass into an impossible window on back cuts. Still not good, but not as egregious as the other type.

Hawaii is consistently pretty good, especially at home. Laura Beeman does an excellent job recruiting and coaching. It speaks well of Long Beach that they beat Hawaii at Hawaii to open the season. Hawaii also lost by 10 at UCSB, while the Aggies beat the Gauchos handily in the Thunderdome. UCI has been dominant, but got behind big at Riverside, and couldn't catch up. UCD has been just overpowering opponents.

Looks like the BW has several teams capable of beating anyone else in the conference. As the stronger teams start to play each other more, it's going to be really interesting

Actually UCD 80 CSU Fullerton 54.
Sabel 24 points 10 rebounds in 24 minutes. Norris 10 points 11 boards. Baker 10 points.

Sorry, didn’t hit reply, but I did. :(

Are teams 4 or 5 players?
Evanne for sure - can shoot the 3, defend, and handle the ball.
Katie Toole - can score at all 3 levels, post up and defend. Plays longer than you think she is
Morgan? - I think she’s developed her game (shooting the 3) to be a stretch 4, so probably.
Cierra Hall - Versatile; just gets it done
Tova Sabel - similar to Evanne but can post up bigger players

We only go to the women’s games - too many grandkids playing too many sports. That trumps doing both. So clueless about the men.

I agree.

I think one part of that is becoming year-in, year-out competitive with the Dakota and Montana schools. N. Dakota State has been an FCS power going back to the Jim Sochor era at UCD. But they haven’t made a move to go FBS. I imagine it’s been discussed in—house.

Our AD has stated that those schools have some facilities and other things in place that we don’t. Makes sense to become comparable to their programs before trying to move up.

I think that Sac State and the SAC12 committee see that the PAC12 needs an 8th football playing school to have any chance of being relevant - or even surviving. The PAC12 also needs a media deal. The 2 needs are definitely linked. The longer things go without one or the other of those 2 needs being fulfilled, the better Sac State's chances.

Pretty new from what I can tell.

https://www.3xba.com

Former UC Davis women's basketball star, Evanne Turner, has signed a contract with Finnish basketball team BC Nokia, playing in Korisliiga, Finland's top professional league.

Turner most recently played in the 3x3 Basketball Association (3XBA) is the first and only professional women’s FIBA 3x3 league and development program in the United States.

Senior guard Tova Sabel named to NCAA D1 Women’s Starting 5 this week.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-women/article/2025-01-08/kentuckys-georgia-amoore-leads-womens-basketball-starting-five-week-10

Earlier in the week, Sabel was named Big West Player of the Week, the 5th time in her Aggie career she’s been honored. Sabel scored her 1,000th point as an Aggie in the win over CSU Bakersfield.

Agree that Ally Fitz is starting to show she can make an impact off the bench. Definitely hoping she stays healthy and continues to develop - and stay for a fifth year. One area to improve is stronger hands on the ball. She had it stripped 2-3 times yesterday while holding it. Clara Glad is another player who is pushing for more playing time. More confident shooting the 3 and going to the basket.

The Fullerton game could be tricky. Jeff Harada usually gets a lot out of what he has, and Fullerton seems to play us tough, especially at home. The Aggies can't be looking past Thursday to the matchup with Long Beach.

Love the way Jen Gross is coaching this team. Up by 28 yesterday and she didn't like the defensive effort, so called a timeout and lit into everyone, not just those on the court. That's the second time in this homestead I've seen that. This team seems to want that accountability. They responded really well both times.

But also an indication that Riverside will be a tougher out, especially at home, than they've been for a couple of years.

Big West Score Alert: UC Irvine 54 UC Riverside 59 at Riverside. The Aggies get an assist from the Highlanders! And a BIG week ahead for UCD women, playing at Long Beach with the conference lead possibly on the line.

The Matadors’ zone defense caused problems for UCD in the first half, but the Aggies returned the favor locking down the Matadors and taking slowly but steadily control after the 1st quarter media timeout. On the plus side, having to work at it will make for a good week in practice before heading to SoCal for what are now even bigger games at Fullerton and Long Beach.

Despite the slog through the Matador zone, everyone on the floor for the Aggies was looking to be aggressive with the ball.

Unfortunately, mentoring a newbie seems to result in too many no calls. While the officials whistled a half-dozen offensive fouls when CSUN set screens, they allowed Megan Norris and Ally Fitzgerald to get mugged whenever either player made a move in the low post, and cutters were constantly grabbed.