Daniel Descalso is being inducted into the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame and is currently completing his degree at UCD. Apparently, he can often be seen hanging around the Aggie dugout too. Maybe there will be coaching position for him in the future of Aggie baseball...

Daniel Descalso - Baseball (2005-07)

Descalso has gone on to post the most successful post-collegiate career of any Aggie baseball alumnus but the baseball record book is dotted with his name from his time at UC Davis.

He was the first Aggie to collect his 200th career hit before his senior year and finished among the school top-10 lists in at-bats, hits, and doubles despite only playing three years.

Though he was never able to earn an all-conference award due to playing during UC Davis reclassification to Division I, he was named All-Division I Independent First Team in 2007. He hatted .397 that season, third in school history behind only Ty Kelly, another future Major Leaguer, and David Nix. He finished with a mammoth 1.043 OPS in 2007 and led the Aggies in doubles, runs, RBI, total bases and walks as well as striking out just 17 times in 269 plate appearances.

Despite missing time early in the 2006 season due to an injury, he retured to start 41 of the 43 games he played that season and bat .284.

He was an All-Division I Independent Second Team selection in 2005, playing in all 56 games and leading the team in average (.320), at-bats (225), hits (72), and total bases (92). He became the first true freshman to lead the team in batting average since Gary Schlagenhauf in 1967.

Of a possible 164 games over his career, Descalso appeared in 155.

Descalso was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft and made his debut three years later in 2010. He went on to a win a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011, a season where he set a career-high for games played with 148 and batted .264. He was instrumental in that 2011 World Series, batting .667 in the five-game series against the Texas Rangers.

He went on to have a nine-year career in the Major Leagues with the Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Chicago Cubs.

Descalso is currently enrolled as a student at UC Davis finishing his degree and is a frequent sight in the dugout during Aggie home games.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2022/5/16/uc-davis-announces-2022-cal-aggie-athletics-hall-of-fame-class.aspx

Good for Des. She's certainly deserving of being a HC.

We've offered his brother Ryan Beasley who is an explosive scorer averaging nearly 30 points per game as a junior at Dougherty Valley HS in San Ramon. I would imagine that he's going to garner a lot of high major attention though so getting him will be tough.

Elijah Pepper has a couple of brothers who are excellent players also. His brother Noah, 6'4 210 G, will be a RS Freshman at Central Washington this year. He was a tremendous scorer and rebounder in HS. I'm surprised we haven't offered him. He has another brother, Levi, 6'6 and 210, is a junior in HS and is also an outstanding player who is an explosive scorer. Les could keep things "in the family" by bringing these kids to the Aggies.

Verbalcommits doesn't show that we've offered Ajiboye yet but they might not be up to date on him. I watched some of his video highlights and he looks like he'd be a great player to get. He has a 7'2 wingspan with great leaping ability, blocks a lot of shots, can play above the rim, is a fearless defender who can take a charge and can shoot well from beyond the arc. He looks like he has a ton of potential to grow stronger and really up his game.

Highlight videos here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ola+ojiboye

:lol:

I'm excited to see the team play this fall. We've got some high level talent at some key positions. Hawk does a good job of creating a strong family so, if the team chemistry is good, we could be very good this year.

Verner was certainly highly sought after coming out of high school and we offered him also. ESPN and Rivals had him ranked as the #44 safety in the nation. In his 2 years at Boise, however, he only played in one game. I'm not sure why...perhaps he was injured..?? He was named to the Mountain West All-Academic team so it appears that he'll do well with the Aggie Athletics emphasis on academics. He has 4 years of eligibility left. I'm looking forward to seeing him play in the fall. Welcome to UC Davis, Semaj!

I was very surprised how at how much last year's team struggled as a veteran team. Turnovers seemed to knock the wheels off the cart early in the season and then continued to be a problem. They would play great one game and then fall apart the next. I'm sure it was disappointing for everyone. So now, with Hall, Stobbart and Konrad gone, I'm not sure what to expect this year.

Here's a video interview with the new Sac State coach, David Patrick. I think they've got themselves a really good coach. He certainly has a very likable personality and he's already landed some impressive transfers already. It also seems like he's very well connected in some major basketball talent areas of the country. Sac could be making some mid-major noise under this new coach.

While looking for information about Ty Johnson, I came across a near tragic story about him from last summer. He and another college basketball recruit were shot during a drive-by shooting in May of 2021. Johnson was grazed in the back of the head and his friend was shot in the neck and seriously injured. Thank God they both survived. So many guns in Chicago...

More here: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/5/4/22419235/ty-johnson-depaul-prep-basketball-loyola-shot

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-basketball-recruits-shooting-driver-20210506-qz32e7txgzc5dls4umhveq4mei-story.html

Well, we knew Les would not be caught short of guards. Johnson has good size for a PG which will be nice to have. He had 14 offers out of high school so a lot of coaches felt that he has good potential. It looks like we should be set at G now so I'm hoping the next player we get has some good size and inside skills. That is if we have any scholarships left to give...??

We need some powerful size like that too.

UCSB just got Andre Kelly 6'9 255 PF transfer from Cal. He played at Lincoln HS in Stockton before going to Cal in 2018.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/andre-kelly

He has a short video on his Twitter page where he kicks a 73 yard FG.

Nice article about Whelan:

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/nfl-draft-will-there-be-an-irishman-taken-for-the-first-time-in-37-years-1.4865336

I watched some video on Kiir Kiir Chul Deng and he's extremely athletic, can finish high above the rim and has a nice, soft, outside shot. He appears to be a good student with a great personality as well. I think he's a real diamond-in-the-rough who has the physical talent to develop into a very high level player. Sac's new coach seems to be bringing in a boatload of talent.

Interesting story about DeAndre Henry. He was a highly touted offensive tackle in high school with lots of attention from Power 5 schools. Then he gave up football to pursue "his passion," basketball, and went from 270 pounds to 220 by his junior year.

DeAndre Henry was being hailed as one of the best young offensive tackles during his sophomore year at Phoenix Mountain Pointe.

Power 5 college football coaches were in hot pursuit of the 6-foot-7, 270-pound lineman.

Then, he gave it all up to pursue his passion — basketball.

"I knew when he told he didn’t want to play football any more, he didn't have the passion for it, he would end up doing well in basketball," his basketball coach, Kirk Fauske said. "It was his plan and God's plan to play Division I basketball. I said, 'It's time to work.'

"With DeAndre, I use the saying, 'You've got to trust the process.' He's one of the hardest-working kids in Arizona. You can't get him out of the weight room and the gym. He played with a chip on his shoulder to prove he could play Division I basketball."'

More here: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/09/04/how-deandre-henry-transitioned-football-hoops-prospect-basketball-nevada-commit/2210431001/

I think we still interior size and athleticism like a strong 6'8 to 6'10 PF that can contribute right away particularly with excellent defense and rebounding. Being an offensive threat would be a big plus too.

Nevada basketball transfer DeAndre Henry has found a new home.

The 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward from Phoenix has committed to UC Davis, where he will reunited with former Wolf Pack teammate Kane Milling, who played for the Aggies last season. Henry spent two seasons at Nevada, appearing in 33 games. Last season, he played in 15 of the team's 31 contests and averaged 1.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.7 minutes per game. He shot 36.8 percent from the field.

An undersized power forward, Henry played double-digit minutes in four games with the Wolf Pack, all but one coming during his freshman season in 2020-21. He scored a career-high seven points in a 96-74 loss to Santa Clara this season. Since the 2020-21 season doesn't count against a player's eligibility due to COVID-19's impact on the season, Henry will have three seasons of eligibility at UC Davis and be immediately eligible at his next stop due to the one-time transfer rule.

More here: https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/nevada-basketball-transfer-deandre-henry-commits-to-play-for-uc-davis