Nice find, movielover. I'm adding a link to the start of the discussion thread:

https://csnbbs.com/thread-853823.html

Hawk is competing with some heavyweights!

Well said...firmly held, old beliefs often create tunnel vision and an unwillingness to consider other options and that can slow down progress to a snail's pace. I'm so glad that we are apparently beyond all those biased opinions assuming that high caliber athletics and outstanding academics are incompatible with each other.

That's too bad. They have a long and proud football history. D2 football is all but dead in the west.

The FIBA website is a nice find. It has complete stats for all the teams and players in European Championships. Fuller has averaged 9.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 4 games. He is 6'5 which is good size for a shooting guard.

GB has lost all of their games so far to Turkey, Montenegro, Lithuania and Croatia. The FIBA Team World Rankings has GB at #39, Turkey #17, Montenegro #31, Lithuania #6 and Croatia #8. GB will play #9 Greece next.

http://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u20/2018/team/Great-Britain

He looks impressive. Nice drives to the bucket for layups with either hand and nailing 3's. He's playing on the Under 20 Great Britain squad and scored a team high 22 in their 69-63 loss to Germany and had another team high with 20 in a 80-70 loss to Montenegro. Deng Camp re-ranked their Top 50 Great Britain players and kept Fuller at #1. He may have the talent and experience to play as a true freshman for the Ags.

https://twitter.com/DengCamp

It might not make that much difference in the BW Conference since there's generally close parity between the top and the bottom teams. I think the author made a good point in the article when he pointed out historically just how much of a difference it makes being a 12 seed playing a 5 rather than being a 14 seed playing a 3: a 12 seed has a 37.5% chance of winning vs 15% chance for a 14 seed.

Anything that can help boost the rpi for small programs will certainly be a welcome change. It gets old seeing the same programs in the higher seeds year after year. Those programs pretty much have a lock on the tournament.

I think Underwood redshirted last year and Jackson was sidelined with some illness for much of the season.

I wonder any of our new recruits, Damion Squire, Cameron Ba, Caleb Fuller and B.J. Shaw will possibly see any playing time as true freshmen as well? There's a lot of new pieces to the puzzle this year.

Wow...you don't see that very often today with the spring loaded rims. I'm hoping Underwood will be a pleasant surprise for us. It seems like he was one of those "under the radar" kids with a lot of potential who Les found and gave him a shot. Both the men's and women's teams have a lot of new faces and it's going to be interesting to watch them develop and come together this fall.

Bob Dunning remembers Fred Arp:

"We hear the term “legend” tossed around freely these days, but in the case of Fred Arp, it’s a word that fits perfectly.

Sadly, UC Davis and the widespread Aggie family lost a friend who can’t be replaced when this beloved longtime assistant football coach passed away on the Fourth of July at the age of 73.

Over the years, Aggie football has produced a number of memorable figures, but everyone involved in the program in the last 50 years — players, coaches and fans alike — knew of that legendary man and mentor who was Fred Arp.

Fred Arp gone? They may as well cancel the season. Or, better yet, play the game with extra passion, just as Fred would have expected of his charges."

Read the article here:

https://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/dunning/bob-dunning-aggie-family-hit-hard-by-loss-of-fred-arp/

Good for Chima! There's no use in crying over spilt milk but I still wonder what might have been if he hadn't gotten himself suspended last season. The team played awfully well without him but there's no question that his absence was a huge loss for us. We just might have made a repeat appearance in the NCAA Tournament...

“Fred fostered a culture around a strong work ethic, sense of humility, love for football, and love for each other, which inadvertently manifested in all of us loving him,” said Flannery. “We always played with all we had on Saturdays because we wanted to win; however, a significant part of that desire came from our wanting to impress Fred. Jogging off the field after a big sack and looking at Fred for that nod of approval is what Club Fred was really all about: mutual respect and love for each other.”

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/genrel/070518aab.html

I'm right there with you, 72Aggie.

Well this comes as a shock. Coach Arp was a truly unique, legendary Aggie who was the embodiment of Aggie Pride. We have now lost two of the most legendary pillars of Aggie football, Sochor and Arp. I'm glad we have Coach Hawkins here now to continue to carry the flame.

These games against major D1 teams will certainly be a huge challenge for us. We haven't seen this many OCC games against teams of this caliber during the Les era. With our recent success, especially in the last 2 years, I wonder if Les feels like the program has grown to a point where games against this kind of talent are the next step in continuing to progress upwards?

Last year we dominated Washington State, came very close against Washington and continued to play excellent basketball even after Chima was suspended. This tells me that we are much deeper now and depth will make a huge difference in our ability to be competitive in games like this rather than being blown out from the get go. If we lose these games by huge margins it won't look good but we'll still gain valuable experience and against elite competition. On the other hand, if we are competitive or pull a major upset, the program will gain tremendous exposure and recognition on the national level to go along with a huge boost in team confidence.

Ag Ascension!!

Oooof...Aggie fans have been hoping for an upgrade in our OOC schedule and it looks like we'll be getting that this year with games at USC and Arizona State already confirmed.

From the 247 sports website:

"Indiana and Arkansas are joining together for an event called the Hardwood Classic.

The way it works this year (2018-19), Indiana will play at Arkansas on Nov. 18, and get three home games — Montana State, UC Davis and UT-Arlington.

Next season (2019-20), Indiana will host Arkansas and also get three home games from among the four other teams in the event — UT Arlington, UC Davis, Texas A&M Corpus Christie and Montana State"

https://247sports.com/college/indiana/Article/Indiana-to-play-at-Arkansas-more-basketball-schedule-updates-119561080/

Another article about Chima lists him as one of 5 mid-major players that the author feels should get a shot at the NBA summer league:

"Chima Moneke (UC Davis): Moneke probably has the most upside of any player on this list. As a senior for the Aggies, he averaged 18.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. In fact, he was ninth in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage (29.1%). He didn’t get as much of the limelight as he could have last season due to a suspension and some legal trouble stemming from a violation of team rules. If he didn’t miss the last 10 games of the season, he could have put the Aggies into the NCAA Tournament and gotten his name out there. Not to mention he has a promising build, can shoot well, and hits 51 percent of his field goal attempts."

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2018/6/26/17505606/nba-draft-2018-summer-league-additions-mid-major-jalen-hayes-chima-moneke

The link below is for a great interview with Aggie commit, Orlando Ornealas. Cody Hawkins did a fantastic job of creating a genuine relationships with Ornealas, kept in constant contact with him. and, in the end, it made a big difference in his decision to choose UCD. It sounds like we may have swiped a good one from under the radar of the major programs.

Another comment that stood out to me:

“Education played a big role. Being a UC-Davis graduate, that paper goes a long way in life after football. The coaches made me feel like they wanted me. No other coach that was recruiting me did that. How often Coach Cody was in contact with me, that proved to me I was a priority for them. They are a program coming up. They are doing a $40 million renovation with their facilities – some great things are going on there. Plus, I get to stay in California. UC-Davis felt like a perfect fit for me.”

Are we doing a $40 million dollar renovation on our sports facilities...??

Excellent interview:

https://www.recruitingnewsguru.com/interview-talented-2019-ath-wr-orlando-ornelas-talks-california-davis-commitment/

It looks like Shaw is a perfect fit for the Aggies. He is highly regarded by his former coaches who say he is an explosive athlete with a high basketball IQ and a great work ethic. I look forward to seeing this kid play.

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/062318aaa.html