Aggies drop another close one, 65-63. Cold from 3 in the 4th quarter. It was a chippy game...UCSD quite physical in a nasty sort of way. We thought we got the short end of the stick as far as officiating. What was okay for the Tritons to do - which forced many of the turnovers - resulted in fouls for the Aggies.

Maybe getting consistently large, and hopefully, enthusiastic student crowds would start to make University Credit Union Center an attraction. If the game is exciting, I've noticed the crowds get into it, so that's where the "hopefully enthusiastic" comes from.

As an aside, I'd love to go back to "Pavilion" instead of "Center". University Credit Union Pavilion sounds just fine, and there's no way that "the UCUC" will ever become as catchy as "the Pav" was. IMHO.

My suggestion would be to PUSH the Flexbooks, which is what we purchase. With a FLOCK of grandkids between 3rd grade and high school, involved in youth sports and performing arts - sometimes multiple activities at a time - we can't plan to be at specific games too far in advance. The Flexbooks allow us to plan around those higher priority events. Or we can easily bring friends or neighbors if that opportunity presents itself. They're a really good deal.

I agree that the way to a college student's heart is through his/her stomach. LOL At least it was in my day - don't ask when that was!
But rather than TAKE pizzas to frats and residence halls, try FEEDING students at the game or for attending the game. If you take them the pizzas, they've got the goodies without doing anything.
Instead, if the first 300 (or whatever number) students through the door get a $10 gift card for one of the lunch deals at Woodstocks, Pizza Guys, etc., I think that would bring students in the door. Let students with meal plans use that at the games and give them a discount for getting a meal at the game.
As long as the promo is used at both MBB and WBB games, I'd donate to a collection to fund something like that.

I'm not sure UCSD & UCI are apt comparisons. Neither of those campuses ever had a football program, so there's been a focus on men's basketball as the flagship sport since the beginning. That's a huge difference! Football can be a revenue generating or even a profitable sport that helps fund the entire program. But it's also a sport that demands a huge allocation of resources up front (money, media, energy, etc.), regardless of whether it's successful. Those campuses have always been able to focus those resources on basketball, particularly men's basketball.

it's also not clear that the students at UCSD or UCI are "engaged in hoops", per se, despite both schools having solid programs. There's a significant difference in the attendance at UCD MBB games and the attendance at MBB games at those campuses, but not so much on the women's side. And there's no breakdowns anywhere of what percentage of any school's attendance is students.

I do agree that there will need to be some changes in the structure within athletic departments going forward. The GM model seems to be the way that most schools are going, at least for now. How schools manage that will be interesting to follow. And doesn't the agreement with the MW stipulates that investment in the men's and women's basketball programs be at an increased level by the time we are members? That would seem to indicate that there's a plan in place to do that. I know that on the women's side, UCD has gone from a 4 person coaching staff to a 6 person staff just this season.

The simple answer is: UNKNOWN.

UCD WBB hasn't had a recruiting class since the move to the Mountain West was announced.. Our 2025 recruiting class was announced on 11/4/2024, and the move to the MW was announced on 12/10.

From what I can tell, the MW announcement was a surprise to most people who post on this site. There's been several comments referring to how close to his vest Rocko DeLucca plays things. I think there was a VERY small circle around Rocko and Chancellor May who knew of he discussions with the MW. I doubt that coaches were in the know - it's not something Rocko would've wanted to see made public on a potential recruit's social media site. So playing in a "High Mid-Major" conference is only now becoming a recruiting tool. IMHO

That being said, I think Jen Gross and her staff have done a great job bringing in basketball talent. And I doubt that the player profile will change much, if at all. Jen is going to keep targeting players that have the character and attitude to fit the culture she's developed and the skills to run the system that the Aggies run, offensively and defensively. Personally, I support that. What I suspect will be different is that some players who want to play at High Mid-Major and above (i.e. wouldn't consider the BW) will now be recruitable for UCD.

I also believe that the players currently on the roster who will be the team's core when we move to the MW will be competitive at that level.

I remember that one of the Band's signature numbers with the song girls was "The Stripper" - a New Orleans style jazz/honky-tonk instrumental with prominent trombone slides written by David Ross (1958). It was really well choreographed and very popular. Not sure it would play as well now. LOL
But the choreography was no more suggestive - and probably less so - than some of the dance team / cheer squadl / Majorette routines.

Thanks for getting this up!
My wife said it was a fun game to be at. I was doing grandpa things with our 8th grade grandson, so missed it today. Priorities! She kept texting us updates. Great to see Gross get the most wins record at home.

Lots of players stepped up with Bria out then Maxxie going out. Then Sabel and Norris in foul trouble. Clara Glad suffocated LB defensively and Ally Fitzgerald had 4 blocks playing with a tweaky back. She wears a heating pad/stimulator while on the bench. Gritty performance by the Aggies, despite turnovers.

More than scoring though 8/10 from field, 2/3 beyond the arc & 5/6 from the line is big time. Added 4 boards & 4 assists plus blanketing defense. GO NYA!!

Well played game at UCU Arena, with Aggies coming up one basket short. Intensity from both teams. Tough loss for Davis; we played well enough to win. 3-PT shooting improved, but only 25% inside the arc. Good crowd was into it the whole game.

Actually not sure where it stands. Some type of raise probably certain. Likely hefty.

9 - We signed a $318,000 contract for conceptual plans for the new stadium
10 - We’re going to be able to give more athletic scholarships
11 - We’re raising student fees by @$2,700 for 2025 (fees are covered by athletic scholarships)

It’s what our student athletes deserve. And the rest of Sac State students deserve…? What percent of the SCUS enrollment are student athletes? Football players?

The latest in an interesting series of financial announcements from Sac State.
1- We have $50 million in NIL money and we’re going FBS soon
2 - We’re upgrading the Nest and building a new football stadium
3 - We’re facing a $33 million budget deficit
4 - We’re implementing $45 million in budget cuts
5 - We’re getting a $2.5 million loan from the student body so we can go FBS
6 - Actually we’re only in discussions with the student body about a loan

Is this what was once referred to as “voodoo economics “?

And held Duchemin scoreless in 2nd half.

3PT shooting has always been a strong point for the Aggies, as have assists. Both have gone south recently.

In addition to the 3 players on the Aggies 2024 squad who transferred to Oregon (Abella Hunter, Gia Kiesling and Elise Picard), 2025 commit Addison Boyer has re-committed to the Ducks. The wording of the announcement makes it unclear if the 3 players who were recruited by the previous coach will be in the mix at Oregon.

UCD started well, but seemed to run out of energy after missing a couple of shots. The Gauchos played hard for 40 minutes. Ryann Bennett led a run in the third quarter, and the Aggies cut into the lead. She was getting to the basket and drawing fouls. Energized the crowd. You could feel a comeback starting. Then Davis went away from her in the fourth. She barely touched the ball. Mystified? How do you go away from the hot player?

Thanks for starting this discussion; I hope it develops...and maybe gets someone's attention. So much to say and so little space and time.

1 - I think most would agree that effective Sports Information and Marketing are both crucial to intercollegiate athletics. I think particularly so to UCD.

To begin with, UCD isn't a hometown team in a decently large media market. That position obviously goes to Sacramento State. Our athletic programs are number two for the local print and broadcast media. And always have been, except for the Sochor era football teams. Jim Doan, SID when I was a student kept a running summary of column inches devoted to both Sac State and UCD in both the Bee and the now-defunct Sacramento Union. The Hornets always had a significant advantage, even when Joe Carlson Bob Hamilton were winning basketball championships and the Hornets were in the middle of the Far Western Conference. Even in Jim Sochor's first few years.
And Davis gets nothing from Bat Area media.

Without active, assertive and effective Sports Information and Marketing Departments, UCD has no voice. And a "voice" will become an even bigger need as we move into the Mountain West.

Secondly, with the Davis Enterprise all but defunct, and little to no coverage in the Woodland Daily Democrat, even locals have a difficult time knowing what, when and where for UCD Athletics. If UCD wants to put local community members in the stands - and I hope they do - Sports Information and Marketing has to reach them somehow.

2 - Simple writing competence would be nice. The December 18, 2024 article, "Larison, Hastings, Meyer And Rex Connors Named Stats Perform FCS All-Americans", on the UCD Football website is a case in point.

The first two paragraphs give a brief introduction and some general background. Good so far.

Paragraph three starts out, "The Aggie running back...", which is okay IF one has been following the Aggie football team. A new reader, however, is wondering WHICH of the five players in the headline is being referenced. We learn in the second sentence that Lan Larrison is the subject of this paragraph, and as it turns out, the next one as well.

Paragraph four begins, "In only 11 games played, the first team All-Big Sky conference honoree made his presence felt on each snap racking up an impressive 115 total tackles...". Hmmm. Those aren't running back statistics. But without leading with Rex Conners' name, there's definitely a disconnect for a reader.

Unfortunately, this article isn't an isolated example. I've been frustrated by poorly written article about many sports. Players who are listed on the roster as seniors are referred to as sophomores. Sport-specific terminology is misused (i.e. the terms game, set and match are used incorrectly). This particularly occurs in some of the less well-known sports on campus.

These types errors in clarity and accuracy are not the hallmarks of competent, professional sports writers. And they should be caught by competent editors / proofreaders - who should not be the person who wrote the article. As an alumnus, I'm embarrassed to have this level of writing represent the university.

Beyond the Recap:
Kudos to Nya Epps who smothered Cal Poly's leading scorer, Annika Shah, as primary defender. Her teammates also did a great job when Epps was getting a rest and when switches occurred. Shah was 8 points below her average and far below her FGg & 3PT %-ages (3/13; 1/6).
Excellent defensive adjustments by coaching staff at halftime and execution by players. The Aggies shut down Sierra Lichtie, who had been hot in. the 1st half, as well as keeping the lid on Shah.
Clara Glad had a great defensive stint in the second half as well.

Definitely a defensive battle. The Aggies made a run after the 4th quarter media timeout that CP couldn’t answer.

With UCSD upsetting Long Beach, Davis moves back to the conference lead.