SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team will officially begin its 2023-24 season at the CCAA /PacWest Conference Challenge on Friday and Saturday in La Mirada at Chase Gymnasium. The Cougars will open the season against Concordia University Irvine (0-0) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before concluding the weekend against host Biola (0-0) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

LAST WEEK

• The Cougars played a pair of exhibitions last week at San Diego State and UC Irvine.
• In the Cougars' first exhibition against the Aztecs on Oct. 30, the Cougars fell 81-50 to the defending NCAA Division I Runner-Ups while Jermaine Rogers led CSUSM with 15 points.
• CSUSM rounded out its exhibition schedule with a 75-57 loss last Friday night. Charlie Henderson led all scorers with 14 points and came down with six boards while Camren Pierce and Edwyn Collins each tallied 11 points.

 
LAST SEASON

• CSUSM made its deepest run as a NCAA Division II program in 2022-23 by making it all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA West Regional.
• The Cougars finished second in the CCAA standings with a 17-5 record while advancing to the championship game of the CCAA Tournament.
• Overall, CSUSM saw its second consecutive 20-win season and third since becoming an NCAA member.
• The Cougars saw All-CCAA performances from Greg Milton III, Quinn Denker, Jayce McCain and Joel Mensah.
• CSUSM will take a 12-game home winning streak into 2023-24 as the Cougars finished 2022-23 with a record of 12-1 at The Sports Center. The streak is currently the seventh-longest active streak in all of Division II.

 
2023-24 OUTLOOK

• First-year head coach Nick Booker takes over the reins of the CSUSM men's basketball program after spending three seasons as an assistant at UC San Diego.
• The Cougars return six from last season's roster, including Edwyn Collins, Chris Howard, Bing Huang, Jermaine Rogers II, Jack Schultz and Donovan Watkins.
• CSUSM has nine newcomers for 2023-24, including transfers Uriah Foster, Charlie Henderson, Teagen Hoard, Luc Krystkowiak, Camren Pierce, Mike Pope, Jayden White and Justin White while welcoming true freshman Max Tengan.
• The Cougars' 30-game slate includes two road exhibitions to go along with 13 home games and 15 road games in the regular season.
• CSUSM was selected to finish seventh in the 2023-24 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

 

GAME 1 | CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IRVINE
Date	Friday, Nov. 10, 2023
Time	7:30 p.m.
Location	La Mirada, Calif.
Venue	Chase Gymnasium
Records	CSUSM (0-0) CUI (0-0)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	Team1Sports

SEASON OPENER AGAINST THE GOLDEN EAGLES

• The Cougars will open their season against CUI on Friday night.
• The Golden Eagles had a pair of exhibitions last week and took 62-60 loss to Vanguard and a 76-64 loss at Pepperdine.
• CUI finished the 2022-23 season with an overall record of 5-20 and was 4-16 in PacWest play.
• The Golden Eagles concluded the season on a six-game losing streak.
• CUI was picked to finish last in the 2023-24 PacWest Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Three starters and six total players are returning to CUI's roster this season along with five transfers.
• Returner Kobe Sanders was fourth in the PacWest last season with 3.9 assists per game.
• Of CUI's returners, Jackson Tucker tallied 11.2 points per game last season to rank third on the team.
• The Cougars own a 7-6 lead in the all-time series against CUI.
• This will be the third neutral site meeting between the two programs.
• The Cougars and Golden Eagles last met in 2019-20 at Cal State LA wuth CUI earning a 68-66 win.

 

GAME 2 | BIOLA
Date	Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023
Time	5:30 p.m.
Location	La Mirada, Calif.
Venue	Chase Gymnasium
Records	CSUSM (0-0) BU (0-0)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	Team1Sports

WEEKEND FINALE AGAINST BIOLA

• CSUSM final game of the weekend will see them taking on host Biola.
• The Eagles' lone exhibition contest saw them earn an 82-77 win at The Master's.
• Biola was 18-11 overall last season and was 12-8 in PacWest play.
• The Eagles were pick to tie for fourth in the 2023-24 PacWest Preseason Coaches Poll.
• BU has 12 players and four starters returning from last season, including All-PacWest second-team selection Daniel Esparza and third-teamer Maximo Milovich.
• Esparza led the team with 15.7 points per game while Milovich tallied 8.9 rebounds per game.
• Biola had the ninth-best rebound margin in the country last season at 8.0.
• CSUSM is 4-4 in the all-time series against Biola.
• The last meeting between the Cougars and Eagles occurred in 2019-20 and saw CSUSM earn an 86-75 win at Cal State LA.
• This will be the third neutral site meeting between CSUSM and Biola.

THE BOOKER FILE

• Nick Booker became the Cougars' third head coach in program history on June 5, 2023.
• Booker came to CSUSM from UC San Diego where was the Tritons' assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons beginning in June 2020.
• Prior to UCSD, Booker was the associate head coach at Eastern Washington from April 2017 through May 2020 and was named the top assistant coach in the Big Sky Conference by Stadium.
• While at Eastern Washington, Booker helped the Eagles win 59 games overall and a Big Sky Conference Championship in 2019-20 while helping develop two Big Sky Players of the Year.
• Before Eastern Washington, Booker was the director of basketball operations at Davidson College in 2016-17 after a five-year stint as an assistant coach at UC Irvine from April 2011 to March 2016, where he was also the director of basketball operations for one season prior.
• Booker's first coaching gig as an assistant came at Miramar Community College in 2006-07, and he later became the assistant coach and interim head coach at Saddleback Community College from July 2007 through August 2010.
• Booker earned his bachelor's in history at Davidson College in 2004and earned his master's in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2010.
• At Davidson, Booker was a starter for the 2002 Southern Conference Championship team that faced Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament and contributed to back-to-back regular-season conference championships in 2001 and 2002.