Exciting, yet scary times. Congratulations!

Scary is right. This entire thing has been all over the place. To say this thing is on shaky ground is an understatement. We'll see how it all plays out I guess!

This high school looks like a good fir for Sac St. to connect with, given the kind of recruits they're bringing in. The former coach is also looking for a job, so maybe he can join the Hornet staff?

https://www.si.com/high-school/california/california-high-school-football-2024-championship-vacated-due-to-cif-violations-01jsjh2gh61r

Why not have the Hornets play hoops at Memorial Auditorium?

They tried that several years ago. Not sure why they went back to on campus games, but I would guess it had something to do with expenses, parking, attendance…

Cursed location for them: "Sacramento State was the last regular sports tenant to call Memorial home, playing basketball there from 1996–2000. The Hornets lost 34 consecutive games—a sports legacy best forgotten."

Ugh. Any idea how attendance started out?

Memorial Auditorium is better suited as an event space for graduations,plays, or concerts-events where people are using the stage. In it's current configuration it's not well-suited for basketball.

Cost was likely a huge motivation to move the games back to campus. I think I remember someone saying they were trying to get more students to attend. It is over 3 miles from the school. That said I think it really was about money. They had to pay for the upkeep of Hornet Gym regardless of whether or not they played games there, so why not use it and stop paying to use a venue that was too large anyway ? I believe Cal State Bakersfield came to the same conclusion with its basketball arena.

In my opinion Sac State will always have problems getting students to attend most sporting events regardless of where they're hosted. This is just because it's more of a commuter school. People don't have time to hang around school as much when they have jobs/families to support/they live off-campus. The notable exception is football (especially the Causeway Classic). That it's largely a barbaric sport, full of yelling, hitting, and tackling, played on Saturdays, gives it a wider appeal. Also, the Causeway Classic always draws out the low-brow types who just want to get drunk and be nasty.

Now that Sac is moving to FBS, I like to compare Sac to Fresno State. Fresno State is primarily a commuter school and they've had big attendance success in the past. The key ingredient is winning. I saw some pretty sparse attendance in the past few years with more losses.

Its hard to say if Sac can match Fresno State in football/basketball attendance though. Fresno and Sac are pretty different towns in a few ways - there seems to be a connection between the Valley and FSU athletics- this is lacking bigtime with Sac. Fresno's surrounding areas (counties) may have a higher population which helps.

Fresno State is the only game in town in Fresno for much of the year. Before the economic downturn in the late 2000's (and the later demotion to Single-A) the Fresno Grizzlies also used to draw very well despite not being very good.

To add to Sac's issues...the Bee is reporting that the state is proposing a $375 million dollar cut to the overall CSU budget and Sac itself is facing a $31.2 million dollar shortfall for the coming fiscal year. This has resulted in courses being cut and in layoffs.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article304970956.html

Sounds like a good time to upgrade the interscholastic athletic program.

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/

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

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/

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

Love a list with no positions listed - that s a crazy one though

2025 will be interesting.

Perhaps as part of the Hornet Stadium and Well renovations, Sacramento County Sheriff should consider a substation. Could use the film room for video arraignments.

:lol:

Rather than listing the transfers with recruiting ratings, it would be interesting to see a list of names with the number of previous schools they've been t. And also a list of the who've had significant interaction with the criminal justice system.

I remember a Spots Illustrated article from sometime between 1982-1994 when Bill Mccartney was head coach. McCartney was very successful at Colorado, winning a share of the national title in 1990 (AP Poll). However, several of his players had run-ins with the law, starting about 1986 or so. I got so bad (the Sports Illustrated article reported) that the Boulder and Denver police and sheriff's departments would get the media guides prior to each season so that they had pictures of all the players to use for identification by victims and witnesses.

I would hate to see Sac State in a similar situation.