back in the day one of my campus jobs was working in catering so I saw a lot of these events in a little different way. The food is forgettable. I looked up the current menu and they have certainly renamed everything with farm-to-table sounding names but it is the same basic items - choice of airline chicken breast, beef tri-tip, salmon, or vegan mushroom/tofu grey matter served with a variety of salads/cooked vegetables and rice/pasta. A plated meal starts at $40 per plate but easily much more than that with linen, china, dessert, coffee, wine, etc.

I will say though, it was a job where I learned a lot about people, processes, and the science of getting passable meals to hundreds of people in a compressed time. And I learned how to back a box truck down the serpentine loading dock ramp at the Pavilion with just mirrors!

They should invite Cal State San Bernadino so people can get CSUSB and UCSB confused.

Great interview. Thanks!

Plough clearly explained the Davis approach of recruiting primarily outstanding high school players and keeping them in the program until they graduate versus going after big numbers of transfers each year. Sac State's approach is the exact opposite currently and they have brought in what must be one of the largest numbers of transfers ever seen by an FCS school. This would be a perfect time for you to interview their new head coach, Brennan Marion, where you could compare the pros and cons of these two entirely different approaches to recruiting.

I think that Sac's strategy is playing out as planned at the moment. They aren't interested in the FCS at all anymore. FCS is small potatoes in their mind's eye. It's like Dr. Wood has said, "It's FBS or bust."

They're all about getting everyone's attention by bringing in a charismatic, up and coming coach and a recruiting class the likes of which no one has ever seen before at an FCS program and then, given their relatively weak FCS schedule this year, they go 12-0 on the season with most or all of their wins being huge blowouts.

If that happens, they feel like FBS conferences will roll out the red carpet and come calling, the fan base will take off like wildfire and that will bring in deep pocketed donors and perhaps an Indian casino sponsorship to build a new stadium and increase NIL money even more.

I think that, given the sheer number of players with exceptional size, speed and athleticism that they have brought in already, anything less than a monster 12-0 season would be a disappointment for them.

I have to think that we must be offering some NIL but who knows? Our athletics program is so much more than just trying to "buy" players. We go after players who value their education and the all of the support they will get for succeeding in school and in their lives after basketball at some point. It seems like all of these recent recruits are good students with high character so those things are probably as important or maybe even more important to them than simply getting paid to play at this level.

I haven't seen anything more about the big man, Jonathan Noudjihidi. I hope we get him signed. I did see a post where he has one of the tallest standing reaches in the nation at 9'2. With that kind of length he could really be a rim protector!

Well if anyone was wondering if we still had a scholarship left to offer, I guess that was answered with a new offer today for Abdullah Amzil (6'7") from Finland. He already holds offers from South Carolina, Wyoming, and Utah, among some others, so I don't know if we have a chance. But the fact that we offered leads me to believe we have a spot available.

I'm also interested to see what upgrades they might propose for the basketball arena and improvements to other sports facilities as well.

good point. light enhancements aren't usually website worthy.

I hope that this master plan will be presented to the public soon after it has been completed. An exciting vision of what's ahead for the growth of Aggie Athletics would do wonders for growing the fan base and increasing donor support significantly.

I believe this is what Dr. Mike was referencing! Should hear by this summer about stadium renovations!

From the Ignite Winter update:

Facilities Master Plan
We’ve partnered with ELS Architecture and Urban Design to develop a long-range facilities master plan that addresses the current and future space needs of UC Davis Athletics. Planning sessions have taken place throughout the spring, with final concepts expected this summer.

Will anything be shared publicly?

Big Step - WSOC signed a veteran goalkeeper from Colorado State, Shayna Ross. 41 gams over 3 years, with a 0.97 goals against average. That compares favorably to graduating senior (now graduate assistant at Oregon with Tracy Joyner), Caeley Goldstein's 1.06 goals against over 61 games.

Looks like a great get!

Another issue is what happens to a teams credibility with HS coaches and players when 40+ players leave because they’re being replaced. Those olayers may also lose progress to their educational objectives due to disruption. Sac in prior years made a big deal that they recruited locally, now they risk burning that relationship.

Nava is one of those JC players who got extra eligibility following a court case that the NCAA couldn’t count non NCAA years against a olayers eligibility. Remains to be seen what that means in future years but for this year juco players who were on their last year now have another year.

I’ll miss SUU, (wife scheduled a trip to Europe on that date), otherwise I’ll be at all the home games. I will probably add at least 2 of the away games and Frisco :).

Looks like the roster is updated with freshman and transfers, can't wait for the season!

They're gonna need a bigger locker room.

Marsh is going to really be challenged this season — Oldbanduhalum

No kidding...I was tongue tied when I told my wife about these new recruits!

I’ve been waiting for this one. He was followed by both coach Vogt and coach nosek so figured there was a good shot at getting him. Good size, good experience and can flat out shoot. Putting together a great recruiting class. Marsh is going to really be challenged this season

This transfer and graphic is a little more impressive because it doesn't have a school like MTSU between us and Texas A&M, and this kid has no arrest record!

Great reporting (video) on Lan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dPA4DW0sQ

I really like the recruiting class that Les has brought in so far and I'm excited to see these new Ags in action this fall. It feels like we are building towards being ready for the move to the MWC in 2026. I wonder if we have any more scholarships available for this year or if we're done now?

Nice to see some size coming in. 6’11” and 6’8”. Esso-Essis had a lot of D1 offers including Unlv. Both look to see a lot of time next season

There are so many WRs in the Big Ten, the Big 12, the SEC buried at No. 4 / No. 5 on the depth chart who could start in Davis -- assuming they have the prerequisite academic standards to compete in the classroom.