Busting Brackets
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Big West Basketball: In-depth look at Cal State Fullerton star Tray Maddox Jr.

By Bryan Mauro

Oakland Golden Grizzlies guard Tray Maddox Jr. (2) celebrates his dunk against Detroit Mercy Titans in the last seconds of the second half at Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019.12282019 Bball Ouudm 34
Oakland Golden Grizzlies guard Tray Maddox Jr. (2) celebrates his dunk against Detroit Mercy Titans in the last seconds of the second half at Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019.12282019 Bball Ouudm 34 /
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Tray Maddox Dedrique Taylor Cal State Fullerton Titans (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
Tray Maddox Dedrique Taylor Cal State Fullerton Titans (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

Fans outside of California and Hawaii, are not going to understand just how competitive the Big West conference is. Sure the bottom of the conference is not great but the top and middle of the conference are always very competitive and the conference tournament is some of the best basketball of Championship Week.

The conference as a whole has performed very well in the NCAA tournament as of late. UC Irvine won their game and UCSB performed very well against Creighton, eventually losing by one point.

It goes without saying that the league has a ton of talent. A lot of the talent that these teams have is via transfer. Those that didn’t transfer into the league, usually transfer to the bigger schools at some point in their career. It has proven to be very hard for any one team to have a consistent run of success in the league. In a one-bid league, many are only going to view success as an NCAA tournament berth. The fact the league gets different teams in the tournament almost every year makes it extremely exciting.

One of the league’s star players, who also happens to be a transfer, plays on a team that is hoping they can rise to the top this season. Cal State Fullerton Titans star Tray Maddox Jr. is a transfer into the program, but unlike some other stars in the league, he transferred from another low major program into another low major program.

His first impression on the conference was a good one and he becomes one of the best returning guards in the mid-major ranks. Head Coach Dedrique Taylor has a great weapon in Maddox Jr. and is likely going to be a huge part of the success for the Titans this season.