Slack State has a better record at the Golden 1 than the Kings do.

AINO... :rofl:

Of course...the Ags play like the Kings at the Golden 1 Center... :rofl:

I guess Laird grew up in Sac. I'm surprised at how quickly UCSD became competitive in their transition. Wow.

Brandon grew up in the Arden area and went to El Camino High School. Attended UCD and was a freshman, I think, on the D-II national championship team. There is a rumor that he got some mop-up playing time in an early game at the D-II Elite Eight tournament...went in and immediately fouled someone so that he got his name in the record books. May or may not be true, but a good story.

His brother, Sean, also went to El Camino and went on to become a quarterback at St. Mary's College.

I believe he redshirted that year.

I believe he played that season:

Aggies To Hold Reunion Game On Friday
Feb. 13, 2008
DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis will honor its 1998 men's basketball national championship team this week as part of a 10th anniversary weekend at The Pavilion. The events include a game Friday night featuring the 1998 championship team against other UC Davis alumni. The 1998 team will also be honored during halftime of the Aggies' contest against UC Santa Barbara Saturday night.
All but one of the 14 players on the 1997-98 UC Davis team will be playing in Friday's game. They include J.P. Bergez, Jason Cox, Scott Darmstadt, Justis Durkee,Brandon Laird, Travon Dugar Muhammad, current Aggie assistant coach Kevin Nosek, Dante Ross, Jon Surface, John Surina, Keith Jackson, J.C. Timmons and Chris Vlasic. Current Aggie administrative assistant Duane Kouba and Justin Clymo, who were both part of Williams' staff that year, will also be on hand.
https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2008/2/13/Aggies_To_Hold_Reunion_Game_On_Friday


First-year Menlo basketball coach Brandon Laird, a member of the 1998 UC Davis Div. II national champions, is as excited about his latest recruit as Lindsey is about the opportunity.
https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2007/06/01/a-transfer-worthwhile/


2000-2001 UC DAVIS VARSITY PLAYERS
BRANDON LAIRD , 6-2, 180, Senior Guard
2.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, .299 fg%, .254 3pt% , .818 ft%, 48 ast, 23 to, 13 stl in 1999-00
Played in 12 games in 1998-99
Played in 18 games in 1997-98
Agricultural and Managerial Economics Major, from Sacramento, CA
https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/BallDIRECTORY/UCDGrads.html

FROM HIS BIO ON THE SAC STATE WEBSITE:
A graduate of UC Davis, Laird played four seasons with the Aggies (1997-01). During his four-year tenure, he appeared in 85 games and helped the Aggies to a combined record of 93-24, including a 31-2 mark in 1997-98 when they captured the Division II national title.
https://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/coaches/lairdbrandon?view=bio



Cutting and pasting photos onto the Aggie Sports Talk site is beyond my skill set at the moment, but the following sites have photos of the championship team and Brandon is included:

1997-1998 UC DAVIS AGGIES 
NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

front row (left to right) : Keith Jackson, J. C. Timmons, Travon Dugar, Dante Ross, Brandon Laird, Kevin Nosek 
middle row (left to right) : Chris Unti (mgr.), Duane Kouba (asst. coach), Justin Clymo (student asst. coach), Bob Williams (head coach), Brian Fogel (asst. coach), Trevor Shickman (asst. coach), Omar Sanchez (mgr.) 
back row (left to right) : Justis Durkee, J. P. Bergez, Jason Cox, Rick Gonzales, Jonathan Surface, John Surina, Chris Vlasic, Scott Darmstadt
https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/BallDIRECTORY/DIRECTORY96-98/Teampicture98.html

While post Justis Durkee bears guard Dante Ross on his shoulders and wing Scott Darmstadt peeks around Durkee for a look, the rest of the UC Davis men's basketball team flanks former head coach Bob Williams. To Williams' (with microphone) right are Jason Cox (smiling),Brandon Laird (holding plaque), J.C. Timmons (in the forefront of Laird), Jonathan Surface and Chris Vlasic (to Timmons' right).
Photo by Wayne Tilcock / Aggie
From the California Aggie, Friday April 3, 1998
https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/BallDIRECTORY/DIRECTORY96-98/Title.html

UCD players from the 1998 Division II national title-winning squad celebrate a win during that postseason run. The players include Chris Vlasic (55), Travon Dugar (23), John Surina (30) and current Aggie assistant coach Brandon Laird. UCD is celebrating 100 years of men’s basketball with activities on Saturday and alumni from throughout the program’s history will be in attendance. Mark Bullard/Enterprise file photo
https://www.davisenterprise.com/uncategorized/ucd-men-to-celebrate-100-years/

Quite the stack there, impressive.

I stand corrected and will add clarification. Many players redshirted their first year with Bob Williams, and many graduated after four. (Dante Ross had a year of eligibility left when he graduated.)

Both Laird and Nosek played in the semi final game (College of St. Rose?), each playing one minute. I'm told Laird committed no foul, but memories aren't perfect.

Nosek received a pass for a wide open layup with about 5 seconds to go and missed badly. (I believe Nosek never made the rotation in 4 years.)

Durkee held a massive center in check in the championship game, 11 points and 9 rebounds. Cox had18 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 of 3 on 3 pointers. Huge 3 pointer at the end. TV announcers loved Dante Ross. Attendees insist The Aggie Banda was critical. Players took Finals at the Elite Eight. What a season. Biggest championship in Aggie history.

From the Enterprise:

“We have the potential to be a good basketball team, but Sac State really took it to us tonight,” said Aggie head coach Jim Les. “We were outcoached and outplayed and everyone now knows what I’ve known all along, that Brandon Laird (Sac State head coach) is a really good basketball coach.”

“That’s Sacramento State basketball,” Laird noted. “We had a tough loss against UC San Diego and we had some heart-to-hear talks after that and our guys really responded tonight. We were fearless and aggressive and confident and it showed in the result.”

Les agreed.

“They were the aggressor right from the start,” said the Aggie coach. “We were soft and unaggressive. They contested everything we tried to do on offense and we didn’t have an answer for it. To the aggressor goes the prize of the W, so credit to them. We were just reacting to their aggression and that’s usually not a recipe for success for us.”

“We started out 2-0 and maybe got a little bit full of ourselves,” Les added. “This was a humbling experience tonight. We’ll find out who we are, but I believe in the character of this team and I’m confident we’ll respond in the right way, but we have a lot of work to do.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/uc-davis-mens-basketball-falls-to-sacramento-state/

“ We were outcoached and outplayed ”
Where have I heard that before?

Sac got us twice in a week.

At least Jen and the Lady Ags took it to the Hornets!

The ladies game was really fun to watch. They were nailing the 3s and had a high% on FGs.

At that time I was working in a large office. One of the other employees was a Sac State graduate who never rooted for Davis, until the playoffs. The employee was related to the Lairds. We would listen to the games and send office emails back and forth about the Aggies' success. As a result I was pretty sure Brandon was on the team that year. I will be the first to admit that the story about the foul may be nothing more than a rumor, but a good one. I believe I heard it from that relative, but at this point in my life I will never bet the farm on my memory.

I also have a friend who lives in the Arden area and at one time the Lairds lived in the same neighborhood. My friend had a basketball hoop in his driveway and the Lairds were there from time to time for neighborhood pick-up games. My friend is happy to take a little credit for Brandon's development.

I won't rehash it now, but there are a couple of articles out there about Brandon being an up and coming star in college coaching ranks. There is some grumbling on the Sac State fan site about the timing of Katz' retirement with the suggestion Katz timed it to force the Sac AD into making Brandon interim coach. https://www.bigskyfans.com/hornets/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5503 They may not be grumbling when the season is over.

I will cut and paste a Bee article with more...

I tried to come up with something other than "AINO" because it's a little gross in an anatomical sort of way and I sure didn't mean that. No disrespect meant to Coach Laird, just a little frustration that he ended up on the wrong side of the Sacramento River.

Coach Laird, 3 minute clip.

https://fb.watch/9vFyoOPoeI/

Good find. Thanks.