A new era of Sacramento State men’s basketball is slated to begin, with first-time head coach and former Hornet assistant coach Michael Czepil at the helm.
Sac State will open its season against California State University Maritime Academy, a member of the lower NAIA league, on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The Hornets beat the Keehaulers in 2011 in their only other matchup.
Let’s rewind the tape
Sac State’s 2023-24 record of 10-24 doesn’t tell the rightful story of the David Patrick-led team that saw unprecedented success to close out the year.
The Hornets became the first No. 10 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in Big Sky Tournament history before losing to Montana State in the semifinals, who represented the conference in March Madness for the third straight year.
“I think it’s a building block, something to really build off,” sophomore forward Bowyn Beatty said. “Obviously we don’t want to fall short like we did last year.”
That historic win for Sac State was part of a late-season turnaround that saw Sac State win four of their last six games after enduring an 11-game losing streak.
Sac State was one of four D1 teams to play its freshman over 40% of its minutes last season. Despite the youth movement, the Hornets will field somewhat of a new look when they hit the hardwood next week, which factored into their placing in the Big Sky preseason polls.
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Sac State’s turnstile-like offseason explains their last-place ranking, but after Northern Arizona at fifth, the rest of the conference is seemingly wide open. The Hornets placing anywhere above that, while possible, does seem unreasonable.
There’ll be growing pains, but if the Hornets begin to gel, there’s reason to believe they could at least flirt with a top-5 finish in conference.
Addition by subtraction
This age of the transfer portal in college basketball features frequent farewells, and Sac State felt every bit of that this offseason.
Unexpected news broke in May, Patrick was leaving to take an associate head coaching job at LSU.
Honorable All Big Sky Conference selection, near-every-game starter junior forward Zee Hamoda and junior guard Austin Patterson, both left via the transfer portal. Patterson made almost a quarter of the team’s shots from three last season.
Sophomore forward Duncan Powell was the Hornets’ leading point, rebound and assist man by average. He fled The Nest by way of the portal, too. Senior forward Akol Maewin, Sac State’s Big Sky Tournament stalworth, graduated as the Hornets’ lone senior.
Those four accounted for nearly half of Sac State’s minutes last year and were amongst the team’s top 5 scorers.
Czpeil said the way he looks at it, someone has to score the ball, and Sac State has a number of options to help fill the void.
Two likely candidates are senior forward Jacob Holt and senior guard EJ Neal.
When foul trouble didn’t plague him from seeing the floor, Holt was the most effective Hornet on a nightly basis, leading the team in plus/minus.
Holt’s offensive game has been predicated on using his size and strength to score inside and get to the foul line. This season, Czepil hopes to see Holt expand his game and has given him the green light to act freely as a scorer.
“Holt is a unique one,” Czpeil said. “He’s a super athlete, and physical and strong. He’s done a good job of slowing down and focusing on what’s in front of him. Holt has a significant role on this team.”
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Neal, an in-conference transfer from Idaho, is another capable scorer primed to be a primary contributor for the team.
A guard with good size at his position, the 6’5 Neal can score from all over the court. He averaged over 40% from the field and from deep last season.
Neal, who is from San Francisco, said that having experience in the Big Sky landscape and being close to home will create a seamless transition.
“I feel like I’ve already built a good rapport with the guys. We’re all getting along together, and they’ve welcomed me with open arms,” Neal said. “It’s kind of a shoe-in fit.”
Sophomore guard Bailey Nunn provided a boost of energy for Sac State down the stretch last season and should see an ample amount of scoring opportunities.
Another sophomore, Beatty, has rare versatility for his size and will be an asset for Sac State to leverage a lot on the offensive end this season.
“Bowyn makes us extremely flexible,” Czpeil said. “He’s got good intelligence, so we can run a lot of action through him and surrounding him.”
Fuel to the fire
Neal said the Hornets are not going to hide behind the preseason rankings; he and the team are aware of where they stand in the polls.
“It’s kind of exciting for us because it’s bulletin board material,” Neal said. “You’re able to prove people wrong.”
Czepil said that he’d love for his team to be bold and take the game on. This offseason, Sac State has been mindful of holding each other accountable throughout practice and adopting a ‘see something, say something’ mentality.
“They’re doing a good job of it, and I will continue to challenge them,” Czpeil said. “Those things will be big talking points for us.”
Functionality is a point of emphasis going into the season, as well. The goal is to have a number of different ‘functional five-man units’ to roll out on any given night.
The Hornets want to have multiple pick-and-roll users on the floor at all times to enhance an offense that occasionally struggled last year.
“It’ll give us more options offensively and doesn’t allow us to get stuck, which may have been the case last season,” Czepil said. “That’s what we’re aiming for.”
The defense should remain solid, as the team ended the year third in the Big Sky. Rebounding will reign as a supreme strength; the Hornets were top 30 in the country in rebounding last year.
“The faith is inside our team,” Neal said. “I got the utmost confidence in myself and in this team and I feel like it’s going to be something.”
