Good for Carl! He'll be playing close to his home and family. I would have loved to have him finish his career here though.

yeah he was possibly our most consistent player last season. Good luck to him!

Her's the current roster for the men's team:



It can be found on ESPN, but it still shows Carl on the team.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/roster/_/id/302

That's last year's roster. I posted this year's roster in a separate discussion.

Banners are up!

That looks awesome!
Got pics of the court?

It's going to be interesting to see what our conference attendance is this season compared to recent Big West seasons. An increase I'm sure, but how much of one?

unfortunately not. Roommate sent these as he walked by.

I was thinking the same. I will also be curious how the other fan bases travel. I’m imaging teams like UNM travel quite well.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/8/27/uc-davis-releases-2026-27-nonconference-womens-basketball-schedule.aspx

women's non-conference is more impressive.

Thanks. I gotta start studying ESPN's info more closely.

I hate to say it but its time to move on from Caoch Les. He is a good coach, but its time for some new blood. if he couldnt win anything at the FCS level i doubt he will see much success at the FBS level.

This columnist at SB Nation has UCD finishing 8/10 in the MW, ahead of UTEP and Air Force: https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/1128765/mountain-west-mens-basketball-preseason-power-rankings-for-2026-27

Can't argue with that too much. I'd like to think we are a bit more competitive, but there are a lot of question marks.

No disrespect, but what do you mean with coach Les not winning anything at the FCS level? He has won the Big West and there is NO FCS in college BB-- All Division 1 !! Great coach and fun to watch over matched UCD teams compete and win !!


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Well said Old Aggie. Les in no trouble IMUO.

Les has been the coach for 15 years. It’s time for new blood.

Then we can say he is the best men's basketball coach the Aggies have had in 15 years. Check that. Considering Gary Stewart had seven straight losing seasons, Les is the best coach in 22 years. Not that length of time is a good measure for changing coaches. Coach K was at Duke for 42 years. Dean Smith was at North Carolin for 36 years. Etc.

Consider we’re not a power program w a bunch of ca$h, not located by the the beach and have had somewhat limited support over the years. Coach Les still makes the most of his talent, and brings defense and grit to his teams. At the very least, give him a few years in the MW with tougher competition, more visibility, upgraded facilities, etc. He has coached a mid major to the Sweet 16, has nba experience and for the first time is facing teams like New Mexico, UNLV, GCU, Nevada year in year out. Huge opportunity!

UC Basketball Coaching Records

Russell Turner ....187–75 (.714)
Mike Cronin ........162–76 (.681)
Clint Allard ............23–11 (.676)
Joe Pasternack.. 187–95 (.663)
Coach Jim Les .229 - 230 (.499)

Okay, let’s have this discussion.

MBB expenses (Source: FY2024–25 NCAA Membership Financial Reports / EADA data). A little outdated but gives you an idea. We’re literally LAST on that list

• UCLA 17.8M
• Cal 12.2M (btw Mark Madsen’s record @ Cal is 49-50)
• UCSB 4.8M
• UCI 4.3M
• UCSD 4M
• UCR 3.6M (btw Gus’ record is 10-22 but only 1 season coached so far)
• Davis 2.8M

Let’s face it, in an NIL world, having an extra 1.5 to 2M a season budget built into your program can go a looooong way. If we assume UCSB/ UCI / UCSD are our academic peers, they all have a recruiting advantage there.

Then let’s face it, as charming as Davis is, it won’t often have the pull of beautiful beach towns like Goleta or La Jolla. Imagine transfers considering moving to California- I’m sure beach towns don’t hurt (w limited info about the schools). We still have a really cool college town and hopefully are pushing that narrative but not convinced we have a recruiting advantage.

And we’re not UCLA. They outspend us 6 times over (maybe more since they’ve moved to the Big 10) They have all the tradition, and they’re in the heart of LA, etc etc

So given that Les has been at a disadvantage, I think he’s done pretty well w what’s been given. Like sure, I’m not okay w mediocrity, but we need to be honest about where we stand. You reap what you sow. We want to improve our program? We need to invest in it. All things even, I’m not convinced Les is any “less” a coach. We competed in most BW games and were generally a tough out. At least Les teams put in the effort and show grit on D. Now he’ll have an opportunity to have upgraded facilities, bigger names coming to town, and hopefully a larger budget. imo the true test is a few years into the MW

Well said. Les gets more out of talent he has year in and year out. Give him a level playing field and he can produce a winner in the MWC.

Coach Smith and Coach K are legends who won national championships. Coach Les isn’t even close to those coaches. Coach Les is an avg mediocre coach who reached his ceiling years ago. He is not a FBS coach. Watch this season, it’s not going to be pretty.

thank you for posting this. People are too comfortable right now. Rocko needs to keep an eye on this season and start expecting better results.

Great coaches can recruit and win with very little. "Great" is extremely rare. We have "Solid"

I feel like I'm talking about workplace performance reviews..... :vomit:

IMHO you're comparing apples, oranges and potatoes.

Mick Cronin coaches at UCLA, which is in a different athletic universe than UCD. In our lifetimes, MBB has been the Bruins' flagship sport, so in addition to tradition (John Wooden), 7x the budget + longtime booster major financial support (see Sam Gilbert), and now NIL, it's a totally different beast.

I also notice you don't have any Cal coaches on your list, Glad Aggie08 mention Mark Madsen.

Turner, Allard and Pasternak coach at UCI, UCSD & UCSB - NONE OF WHICH have a football program. Rocko was very explicit when explaining that one of the primary attractions of moving to the Mountain West was that the Big West decision-making was driven by schools without a football program. We all know that any football program consumes a huge portion of all ICA resources. That is something that neither Turner, Allard and Pasternak, nor their respective AD'x and chancellor's have to give a thought to.

At UCD, football is the flagship sport and has been forever...even when Joe Carlson and Bob Hamilton were winning Big West championships. Then Jim Sochor came along and cemented that into the Davis DNA. At UCI, UCSD & UCSB it's men's basketball; only UCSB ever fielded a football team. Jim Les is on a completely different playing field than the coaches you listed.

If you want to discuss Les' shortcomings, whatever you perceive them to be, by all means do so. But it doesn't serve your argument to make comparisons with coaching performances in environments that are so totally different.