Mid-major recruiting classes from California
The remainder of the California schools in Division I come mainly from the Big West Conference, though there are also a couple represented in the Western Athletic Conference and the Big Sky Conference. There’s not a lot of top-tier talent coming to these schools, but let’s see who the next stars of these lower mid-major leagues will be.
Long Beach State (#81) – Boasting the Big West’s top recruiting class, Long Beach will add a pair of three-star recruits. Romelle Mansel comes in to play the four spot, while 6’10” Joshua Morgan will play center. Adding size is necessary for the 49ers, who graduated most of their frontcourt minutes.
Cal State Fullerton (#127) – With the loss of Kyle Allman and Khalil Ahmad, the Titans have some big shoes to fill. In addition to three-star small forward Emmanuel Taban, Fullerton is bringing some good players with great names in Tory San Antonio, Doctor Bradley, and Majus Majus.
UC Santa Barbara (#135) – The big addition for the Gauchos is Oregon transfer Miles Norris, a former 5-star recruit, but he won’t play next year. For more immediate impacts, look for three-star center Jakov Kukic and JUCO transfer Roberto Gittens to play meaningful roles behind JaQuori McLaughlin and Amadou Sow.
UC Irvine (#219) – Max Hazzard and four seniors are out, but the Anteaters wasted no time in restocking their arsenal. Irvine has eight freshmen joining the program, including Jeron Artest, the son of Metta World Peace who reclassified late in the game, and a bona fide big man in 6’10”, 275-pound Emmanuel Tshimanga.
Cal Baptist (NR) – Easily the biggest news in the CBU offseason is the return of Milan Acquaah. The Lancers also bring in an interesting group of new faces, including Australian sharpshooter Reed Nottage (35 PPG, 43% 3P in 2018-19).
Cal Poly (NR) – Two new recruits will join the Mustangs in 2019-20. 6’8” power forward Alimamy Duramani Koroma comes from Napa’s Prolific Preps program and is joined by guard Colby Rogers, who was a high school teammate of heralded Kentucky freshman Kahlil Whitney.
Cal State Bakersfield (NR) – The Roadrunners lost Jarkel Joiner (15.6 PPG) to Ole Miss, which is a huge blow. Their incoming class is mostly JUCO transfers, including Czar Perry, who started his college career at Northwestern State.
Cal State Northridge (NR) – The Matadors absolutely struck gold a season ago with Lamine Diane and will hope to do the same in 2019-20. Perhaps that player will be Festus Ndumanya, who is coming off a CIF 3A Player of the Year season.
Sacramento State (NR) – The Hornets are bringing some talent from a few different sources. Christian Terrell transferred over from UCSB and will sit out, while freshman Rick Barrios III and JUCO transfer William FitzPatrick also join the fray.
UC Davis (NR) – Davis graduated five players, so a big recruiting class was to be expected. Aside from five recruits from the 2019 class, headlined by Elijah Pepper, JUCO transfers Kennedy Koehler and Wesley Harris will bolster head coach Jim Les’ frontcourt.
UC Riverside (NR) – JUCO transfer Daniel Mading, a South Sudan native who grew up in Australia and played AAU ball in the U.S., was a four-star recruit in 2017. He decommitted from Arizona State to sign with Texas Tech, but left the program before ever hitting the court.