$200K is very big amount of NIL for a player who averaged 5.1 ppg. I wonder where that kind of NIL money is coming from? Williams rated 5 stars out of high school and was headed to Memphis before he got arrested on 9 felony gun charges.

On the heels of Sacramento State hiring Shaquille O'Neal as general manager and Mike Bibby as head coach, ex-prep phenom Mikey Williams told ESPN on Tuesday that he has committed to play for the Hornets.

Williams transferred out of UCF to play under the tutelage of Bibby and Shaq at a basketball program adding big names. The freshman guard averaged 5.1 points in 14 minutes per game over 18 games for the Knights last season.

Williams left Memphis for UCF following an April 2023 arrest in which he faced nine felonies and a lengthy prison sentence after he was charged for allegedly firing a gun at a car full of people who had arrived at his home. The charges were reduced, and he pleaded guilty in November 2023 to a single felony count of making criminal threats with provisions that would allow him to avoid jail time.

He was sentenced to a year of summary probation in August and his felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, clearing the way for him to make his collegiate debut with the Knights last season.

Williams never played a game for Memphis, as he was away from the team while the legal process played out.

Williams, a 6-foot-3 guard with 3.3 million Instagram followers, was considered a five-star prospect early in his high school career, when he garnered national attention -- and praise from some of the NBA's top stars, including LeBron James -- for his dunking exploits and YouTube mixtapes.

Sacramento State is slated to open a new basketball facility on campus this fall. University president Luke Wood, an alum and the youngest president ever appointed in the California State University system, has been aggressive in his approach with the athletic programs, and the additions of Williams, O'Neal and Bibby showcase that.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/44923348/ex-hs-phenom-mikey-williams-leaves-ucf-sacramento-state

Carson Conklin, Sac's outstanding QB, has transferred to Fresno State. It's apparent that Marion could care less about working with any of the players from last season's roster. He's committed to getting the best FBS transfers he can find even if that means letting go of some really good players who were already on the roster. Players have been leaving in droves lately.

Here is a very thorough scouting report on Marcus Wilson:

https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/7/6/23786393/washington-state-mens-basketball-recruit-marcus-wilson-2024

Bibby signed Shaquille O'Neal's son, Shaquir O'Neal, recently and is now looking at former NBA player, Nate Robinson's son, Ny'ale Robinson:

:lol:

My wife and I stayed for most of the game.

Pinnick looked good and threw that beautiful bomb to Gbatu. Unfortunate that he got injured early. Harper and Rasor took all the snaps after Pinnick went down and looked pretty good. It looks like we have depth at QB.

Our WR's, Gbatu, Dobbins and Jones are not big but they sure are fast and athletic. Jordan Fisher looked great and Matteo Perez looked good too. Fisher has that quick burst of speed and is very elusive and Perez looked like he had more speed than I remember from last season.

The offense moved the ball pretty well and the defense made some nice stops also. It's hard to tell who really stood out because the coaches are changing players so often.

The only negatives were the number of injuries and our FG kicker missing 2 out of 3. Pinnick looked pretty discouraged when he got injured after he got pulled down awkwardly from behind. There must have been about 5 more players that got nicked up but most looked like fairly minor injuries.

We moved our season tickets into section 123 near DrMike and AgAlum so we're looking forward to meeting them and sitting around some avid Aggie fans in the fall. Go Ags!

Buchanan excelled as a ball-pursuing linebacker last season with a career-high 114 tackles and was also a strong blitzer with five sacks. He led Cal-Davis in tackles for two straight seasons before transferring to Cal for his fifth college season. He was mostly a quarterback growing up and in high school.

"I worked extremely hard, four years at Davis, and I feel all that work came to point where I was able to show what I was able to do on a national stage," Buchanan said. "I'm just super grateful to get the opportunity.

"I'm going to give everything I've got to this organization. I think about Raven linebackers, obviously Ray Lewis kind of epitomizes what a middle linebacker was for me growing up. I'm super-excited to learn from guys like Roquan (Smith) and just pick their brain."

The Ravens lost inside linebackers Malik Harrison and Chris Board during free agency and entered the draft looking for depth at the position. Third-year linebacker Trenton Simpson is returning, but his playing time decreased late in the 2024 season after beginning Week 1 as the starter opposite Roquan Smith. Buchanan can compete for snaps while also contributing on special teams.

"For me, special teams is going to be a priority," Buchanan said. "I'm super-excited to play special teams. I played special teams in college."

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/teddye-buchanan-ravens-fourth-round-nfl-draft

The following is from a post on the Hornet forum:

Okay everyone… here’s the 2025 All FBS Potential On Paper Team, all info from 24/7 Sports.
Man I hope the team building from the inside is matching the excitement from the outside.

Jaden Rashada - signed ASU, 44 national, 4 star/97 rating
Jordan Anderson - signed OSU, 253 national, 4 star/91 rating
Mikey Henderson - Signed OU, 307 National, 4 star/90 rating
Sam Adams II - signed UDub, 298 national, 4 star/90 rating
Brennon Scott - signed UNLV, 478 national, 3 star/88 rating
Damian Henderson - signed CSU, 475 national, 3 star/88 rating

Agiye Hall? Signed Bama/Texas/UCF, 45 National, 4 Star/97 rating… not signed
Itayvion Brown? - Minnesota/Sparty, 299 national, 4 star/90 rating… not signed

Jordan Herman - Florida/Charlotte
Savion Red - Texas/UNR
Diesel Gordon - UDub/Butler JC
Brodie Tagaloa - Nebraska
Warren Smith - Wazzu
Bear Tenney - Utah (not signed yet)
Rodney Hammond - Pitt
Deven Wright - Boise State/Texas State
Ricky Lee - UAB
Cardell Williams - Tulsa
Jace Wilson - UTSA
Nick Booker Brown - UTSA (not signed yet)
Jordan Williams - CSU
Oscar Moore - UTEP (not signed yet)
Malik Tullis - Eastern Michigan
Melvin Swindle - Eastern Michigan
Dylan Hampsten - SJSU
Dean Abdullah - SDSU
Logan Tanner - SDSU
Tim Conerly - UNLV
Keith Conley - UNLV
Damian McDaniel - UNLV
Davis Ambuehl - UNLV
Sammy Norris - UNLV

https://bigskyfans.com/threads/2025-offseason-portal-tracker.29969/page-18

Nick Booker-Brown a DL from USTA recently committed to Sac. He was suspended last year by USTA after being arrested for alleged aggravated robbery.

[/quote]SAN ANTONIO – A University of Texas at San Antonio football player has been suspended after he was arrested and charged with alleged aggravated robbery.

Nicholas Ryan Brown, listed on the UTSA football roster as Nick Booker-Brown, was taken into custody Thursday night, Bexar County jail records indicated.

Brown, 23, was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center Friday on two aggravated robbery charges stemming from a Feb. 3 incident. Both charges are considered first-degree felonies.
Records said each aggravated robbery charge carried a bond of $75,000, totaling a bond of $150,000.

Brown has since bonded out of the Bexar County Adult Detention Center, records showed.
San Antonio police told KSAT Saturday that Brown’s Thursday night arrest was due to an incident unrelated to the aggravated robbery charges.[/quote]

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/06/15/utsa-football-player-suspended-following-aggravated-robbery-arrest/

It looks like former Riverside head coach, Mike Magpayo, may have stepped into a mess as the head coach now at Fordham:

NEW YORK -- Fordham men's basketball must vacate wins across two seasons and former coach Keith Urgo was hit with a two-year show cause under NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations.

The Rams were placed on three years of probation and must vacate 41 wins over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons for impermissible benefits during recruiting visits. The program also was fined $35,000 plus 2% of the men's basketball budget.

Former director of basketball operations Trevonn Morton was hit with a three-year show cause for misleading NCAA investigators and former athletic director Edward Kull was hit with a one-year show cause.

Fordham said in a statement it cooperated with the NCAA Committee on Infractions and self-imposed sanctions prior to completion of the investigation.

The improper benefits included a photo shoot at Times Square, jet ski rentals and tickets to New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and New York Giants games.

Urgo was fired on March 20 following the Rams' second straight losing season and a last-place finish in the Atlantic 10.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/fordham-basketball-hit-with-sanctions-for-recruiting-violations/ar-AA1DzC1K?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Former Aggie, Gus Argenal, is one of 4 finalists for the head coaching job at Riverside:

Gus Argenal, Current Head Coach at Cal State San Bernardino - Gus is right there in Riverside’s sister city of San Bernardino. Argenal’s name likely sounds familiar because he had great success as one of Eric Musselman’s trusted assistants at both Arkansas and Nevada. During that period, Argenal was a key part of seven NCAA Tournament teams, reaching the 2022 Elite Eight with the Razorbacks and two Sweet 16s. He has spent the past two years at CSUSB, guiding the D2 Coyotes to an impressive run back to the D2 Final Four in 2023-24 in his first season. An amazing achievement on the heels of Andy Newman leaving for Cal State Northridge the year prior, which left Argenal the tall task of reloading the roster.. Argenal continued his success at CSUSB by getting back to the 2025 D2 NCAAT, before exiting in the Round of 32.

https://bracketeer.org/inside-college-hoops/2025/4/21/uc-riverside-a-uniquely-complex-head-coaching-search

Several good BW players who were in the portal have committed to new schools:

Myles Che - UC Irvine to UNLV
Nordin Kapic - UC San Diego to South Carolina
Joel Armotrading - UC Riverside to Nevada

Savion Red, 5'10 210 RB transfer from Nevada, has committed to Sac. Red was the Wolfpack's leading RB last season. Sac will be his 4th school after SMU, Texas and Nevada.

Red joined Nevada for the 2024 season and rushed for 687 yards on 119 carries, an average of 5.8 yards per carry. He scored eight touchdowns, which tied for a team high with Brendon Lewis. Red's rushing total led Nevada running backs with Lewis topping the team from the quarterback position with 775 yards. Red also caught 16 passes for 74 yards.

https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/savion-red-nevadas-leading-rb-rusher-last-season-to-enter-the-transfer-portal

Marion has added Jaden Rashada, 6'4 190 QB transfer from Georgia. You have to wonder what their excellent, current QB, Carson Conklin, is thinking about Marion bringing in Rashada.

Former Arizona State football quarterback Jaden Rashada has transferred schools again; this time from Georgia to Sacramento State.

The 2023 four-star high school product (all recruiting/transfer ratings and rankings are as of 247Sports) transferred to Georgia after one year with the Sun Devils. As a Sun Devil, Rashada played three games, completing 53.7% of his passes for 5.9 yards per pass. As a Bulldog, he did not see the field.

Rashada will have three years of eligibility with FCS Sac State. He commits to the Hornets after being rated a three-star transfer portal prospect, and ranked as the No. 17 quarterback in the transfer portal. This comes two years after he was ranked as the No. 6 high school quarterback prospect in the nation.

Sacramento State adds a quarterback in Rashada who has played for or committed to four Power 4 schools (Georgia, Arizona State, Florida, Miami) just a few weeks after they applied to move to the FBS level for the 2026 season.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/college/asu/2025/04/25/former-arizona-state-football-qb-jaden-rashada-transfers-from-georgia-sec-to-sacramento-state-fcs/83282383007/

I didn't know Bill but I saw him at the Aggie basketball games. Bob Dunning's tribute to him was remarkable and heartfelt. Bill certainly lived a full and gracious life while giving back to others and paying it forward to future generations which seems to be in short supply nowadays.

Put simply, Bill was one of the greatest human beings the Good Lord ever put on this earth and we were blessed beyond measure to have him in our midst for the last 55 years.

https://www.thewaryone.com/p/recalling-the-life-of-bill-roe-who

From the Hornet forum:

According to documents obtained by The State Hornet, Sacramento State’s newly hired men’s basketball coach, Mike Bibby, is under contract until 2030 and will receive $300k per year. The 5-year deal includes multiple incentives and relocation assistance in the form of a $20k lump sum.

In the contract, Bibby will receive a supplemental talent fee of $150k, a vehicle stipend of $400/month and $15k if Sac State wins the Big Sky Conference championship.

https://bigskyfans.com/threads/2025-26-roster-and-coaches-updates.30065/

I'm sorry to see Clara Glad transfer out also. She improved greatly this past season and I think she would have seen significant minutes next season. Eastern Illinois is closer to home for her. I wish her the best.