Verner was certainly highly sought after coming out of high school and we offered him also. ESPN and Rivals had him ranked as the #44 safety in the nation. In his 2 years at Boise, however, he only played in one game. I'm not sure why...perhaps he was injured..?? He was named to the Mountain West All-Academic team so it appears that he'll do well with the Aggie Athletics emphasis on academics. He has 4 years of eligibility left. I'm looking forward to seeing him play in the fall. Welcome to UC Davis, Semaj!

I was very surprised how at how much last year's team struggled as a veteran team. Turnovers seemed to knock the wheels off the cart early in the season and then continued to be a problem. They would play great one game and then fall apart the next. I'm sure it was disappointing for everyone. So now, with Hall, Stobbart and Konrad gone, I'm not sure what to expect this year.

Here's a video interview with the new Sac State coach, David Patrick. I think they've got themselves a really good coach. He certainly has a very likable personality and he's already landed some impressive transfers already. It also seems like he's very well connected in some major basketball talent areas of the country. Sac could be making some mid-major noise under this new coach.

While looking for information about Ty Johnson, I came across a near tragic story about him from last summer. He and another college basketball recruit were shot during a drive-by shooting in May of 2021. Johnson was grazed in the back of the head and his friend was shot in the neck and seriously injured. Thank God they both survived. So many guns in Chicago...

More here: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/5/4/22419235/ty-johnson-depaul-prep-basketball-loyola-shot

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-basketball-recruits-shooting-driver-20210506-qz32e7txgzc5dls4umhveq4mei-story.html

Well, we knew Les would not be caught short of guards. Johnson has good size for a PG which will be nice to have. He had 14 offers out of high school so a lot of coaches felt that he has good potential. It looks like we should be set at G now so I'm hoping the next player we get has some good size and inside skills. That is if we have any scholarships left to give...??

We need some powerful size like that too.

UCSB just got Andre Kelly 6'9 255 PF transfer from Cal. He played at Lincoln HS in Stockton before going to Cal in 2018.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/andre-kelly

He has a short video on his Twitter page where he kicks a 73 yard FG.

Nice article about Whelan:

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/nfl-draft-will-there-be-an-irishman-taken-for-the-first-time-in-37-years-1.4865336

I watched some video on Kiir Kiir Chul Deng and he's extremely athletic, can finish high above the rim and has a nice, soft, outside shot. He appears to be a good student with a great personality as well. I think he's a real diamond-in-the-rough who has the physical talent to develop into a very high level player. Sac's new coach seems to be bringing in a boatload of talent.

Interesting story about DeAndre Henry. He was a highly touted offensive tackle in high school with lots of attention from Power 5 schools. Then he gave up football to pursue "his passion," basketball, and went from 270 pounds to 220 by his junior year.

DeAndre Henry was being hailed as one of the best young offensive tackles during his sophomore year at Phoenix Mountain Pointe.

Power 5 college football coaches were in hot pursuit of the 6-foot-7, 270-pound lineman.

Then, he gave it all up to pursue his passion — basketball.

"I knew when he told he didn’t want to play football any more, he didn't have the passion for it, he would end up doing well in basketball," his basketball coach, Kirk Fauske said. "It was his plan and God's plan to play Division I basketball. I said, 'It's time to work.'

"With DeAndre, I use the saying, 'You've got to trust the process.' He's one of the hardest-working kids in Arizona. You can't get him out of the weight room and the gym. He played with a chip on his shoulder to prove he could play Division I basketball."'

More here: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/09/04/how-deandre-henry-transitioned-football-hoops-prospect-basketball-nevada-commit/2210431001/

I think we still interior size and athleticism like a strong 6'8 to 6'10 PF that can contribute right away particularly with excellent defense and rebounding. Being an offensive threat would be a big plus too.

Nevada basketball transfer DeAndre Henry has found a new home.

The 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward from Phoenix has committed to UC Davis, where he will reunited with former Wolf Pack teammate Kane Milling, who played for the Aggies last season. Henry spent two seasons at Nevada, appearing in 33 games. Last season, he played in 15 of the team's 31 contests and averaged 1.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.7 minutes per game. He shot 36.8 percent from the field.

An undersized power forward, Henry played double-digit minutes in four games with the Wolf Pack, all but one coming during his freshman season in 2020-21. He scored a career-high seven points in a 96-74 loss to Santa Clara this season. Since the 2020-21 season doesn't count against a player's eligibility due to COVID-19's impact on the season, Henry will have three seasons of eligibility at UC Davis and be immediately eligible at his next stop due to the one-time transfer rule.

More here: https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/nevada-basketball-transfer-deandre-henry-commits-to-play-for-uc-davis

Robby Beasley will be a great addition to the Ags. He's got good size for a PG at 6'3 and he brings a lot of experience after starting all 32 games at Montana in his freshman year. He was #2 in scoring and his numbers look good across the board. Hopefully, we'll be adding a couple more high quality transfers soon also.

## SUMMARY GP-GS Min FG% 3PT% FT% R/G A/G STL BLK PTS/G
05 Robby Beasley....... 32-32 30.6 .391 .369 .824 2.7 1.8 32 6 11.8

https://verbalcommits.com/players/robby-beasley-iii

Aggie football facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/ucdavisfootball

I thought the same thing about how he compares to Manjon. Maybe not quite as quick. Manjon's spin moves and his burst of speed off the dribble are amazing. Monroe would bring the experience we need at the point.

This is awesome! My wife and I will definitely be making a road trip to SoCal for this game!