NIT very unlikely and CBI maybe not worth the money. — Toke69

Yes, I don't see the Aggies buying into the CBI. $27,500 is a lot of money for a program like UCD and that's not counting the costs of travel to Florida plus meals and accommodations. That would add up to a very expensive bill for playing in a minor tournament where you could possibly go one and done.

The thing that really made Pepper so special was how much he contributed to the team with his defense, rebounding and assists even when he wasn't scoring big numbers. For example, during his 3 game scoring drought, he had 7 steals in the win over CSUN. He wasn't an exceptionally gifted player when he first arrived at Davis but he worked tirelessly under the leadership of Jim Les and grew into an elite, all around player.

His work ethic during his time at Davis was second to none and he had a motor that wouldn't quit. In the last couple of seasons, the Big West teams focused their defensive strategies primarily at slowing him down. They played him very physical and he often had to fight through double and triple teams in order to get a decent look. He was a very unselfish player who put winning as a team above his own personal numbers.

Jim Les said that Pepper had an opportunity to leave Davis and go to a major program that included some good NIL money so he wasn't sure Eli was going to stay with the Aggies for his final season. Then one day last summer, he came into Les' office and told him that he was going to stay in Davis because he wanted to win a championship for him. The Aggies fell short of that goal but, in his post-game comments, Les said, "The team is hurting, they fell a little short of their goal but in my eyes they're all champions." I'm sure no one was more disappointed than Pepper.

It's been a pleasure to watch to watch Pepper grow into the outstanding basketball player that he is today over the last 5 years. He is certainly one of the greatest Aggie players ever to wear the uniform.

I've always thought that a basketball player who was worth his salt had three things independent of raw athletic ability: a high basketball IQ, willingness to hustle, and an unselfish team-first attitude. Eli Pepper has been the living embodiment of all three of those things. Players who have that plus talent (e.g. LeBron James and Steph Curry) become stars at the highest level. While Pepper does not have a high level of talent, I hope some NBA team that appreciates those qualities--and I know Steve Kerr does--will give him a shot. I'm pretty sure he can contribute at the NBA level. Meanwhile, he's set a standard that might never be matched and I think his legacy for next year will be that guys like DeBruhl, Tamba and Seville will try to emulate him.

Was he related to Hawk / Cody? Or just a coincidence. I'm sad to say I follow college basketball far less than CFB. My old roomate messaged me during last night's game and I didn't know it was on. By contrast I followed all the football games.

Personally I'm fine with the NCAA splitting it up 2 and 2 between the small schools and the large schools. I thought for sure they'd just make all four 16 seeds as the play in games. I'm sure some of that is money though in that they probably get better ratings and sell more tickets including some larger schools.

Pepper's 3 pt % increased from 32% last year to 37% this year, while his FG % dropped from 45% to 42% with added defensive pressure.

His PPG also dropped to 20.7.

How many BW players typically make an NBA roster every year. One?

'Was he related to Hawk / Cody?" Sorry, but I'm not sure to whom you are referring with your question.

Corey Hawkins, the basketball player.

I am pretty sure that Corey Hawkins is not related to Dan Hawkins. Corey is black and the son of former NBA start Hersey Hawkins.

It's been a pleasure to watch to watch Pepper grow into the outstanding basketball player that he is today over the last 5 years. He is certainly one of the greatest Aggie players ever to wear the uniform. — BlueGoldAg

100% agree.

We definitely have to figure out what is going on with NIL. When a 501C3 charity can fork over bucks to athletes by the tens of thousands per athlete then there's something seriously wrong. The NCAA won't look at it, doesn't care. But we know who owns the NCAA and it has nothing to do with "student athletes."

I hate this so much. And it's not going to go away unless you play in Div II or III. But then I never wanted us to move up for many of the reasons we're seeing play out now. Money corrupts. Always.

Eli is playing in the Reese’s all star game on today (Friday) at 3:30 on CBSSN. 0-2 from the field in first half, as assist and a couple steals. Not a whole lot of passing in this one!

How’d he end up doing?

3 points on 1-5 shooting. An assist and a rebound along with two steals. I didn’t watch much of 2nd half - not very entertaining

Off to Perth Australia
https://x.com/PerthWildcats/status/1781140746546159914

Good for Eli! Continuing his basketball career as a pro in Australia should be great for him.

Has anyone who went to Australia to play ever used it as a stepping stone to the NBA? I'm not talking about Australians like Patty Mills or Andrew Bogut, who went to college here then made the NBA, but someone like Eli.

looks like there have been some NBL -> NBA transitions. A few plated NCAA basketball but not sure if any actually completed their eligibility like Eli.

https://nbl.com.au/news/from-nbl-to-nba-every-player-to-walk-the-path

Alex Sarr of the Perth Wildcats was the second selection in the NBA draft.

Bronny Janes, 4.8 PPG at 36% shooting, drafted by the Lakers. JJ Reddick approves.

Is chima still playing? I loved the guy?

Ajay Mitchell from UCSB was taken as the 38th pick by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

it looks like he is played last season for BASKONIA VITORIA-GASTEIZ of the Euroleague. They are based in Spain.

https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/chima-moneke/profile/012201/

he can become a travel agent after he's done with basketball.

I imagine there are a few other Aggies still out there playing somewhere.

Chima & TH Shorts together in EU (2nd pic)?

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8P0Id9ISpi/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

shorts was EuroCup MVP! Great player

https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/bkt-eurocup-mvp-2023-24-t-j-shorts-paris-basketball/

Here’s an interesting tidbit about TJ:

‘ Born in Irvine, California, Shorts became a North Macedonian citizen and made his debut for the North Macedonia national team in 2022.’

Go figure

If you’re bored and better at google than me, I’m sure there are other ex-Ags out there playing. I found AJ Johns (variety of teams in Europe and Mexico) and Silar Schneider (starter for Hague in Germany) still out there on foreign rosters.

Thanks for tracking these players down, Mike. It's great to see so many of them doing well playing ball in foreign countries. I think that actually getting to play and do well abroad is a better experience than riding the bench in the NBA for these players.

Here's a couple more former Aggies playing abroad:

Brynton Lemar:

2017-18 - France
2018-19 - Hungary
2019-20 - Poland
2020-21 - Turkey
2021 - Italy
2021-22 - Russia (Krasnoyarsk, Siberia!)
2022-23 - France
2023 - Greece
2023-24 - Israel
2024 - current: Slovenia

Josh Fox:

2016 - England
2017 - New Zealand
2018 - present: - Australia

Fox also played for the Fiji National Team in 2015 and they won a silver medal in the Pacific Games.

two more of my favorites. Good to see then still out there

Just in case you’re NOT following the Perth Wildcats, Pepper led them to victory in their first game with 22 points in 21 minutes!

https://www.wildcats.com.au/news/pepper-cotton-star-as-wildcats-down-nbl1-west-select

Pepper led them to victory in their first game with 22 points in 21 minutes! — DrMike

Awesome! Good for Eli!