Sacramento State Men's Basketball team, under the guidance of second-year head coach David Patrick, began its official Preseason Practice Schedule.
Patrick, entering his second season as head coach, posted the most victories (14) by a first-year head coach during Sacramento State's Div. I era (1991-pres.). In addition, it was the third best mark for a first-year head coach in program history (1948-pres.). Sacramento State was the No. 6 seed at last season's Big Sky Tournament, and received a first round bye at the postseason event for the first time since joining the league in 1996. The 48-year old Patrick has been a winner at every stop of his collegiate coaching career.
Four players return from last season's team which finished 14-18 overall and 7-11 in the Big Sky Conference. Of those four players, three started a good amount of games in guard Austin Patterson (32 starts, 7.4 ppg, 55 3PT), as well as forwards Akol Mawein (16 starts, 9.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Kiir Kiir Chol Deng (9 starts, 0.6 ppg, 0.9 rpg). Guard Quadry Adams (1 start) also saw the starting lineup a year ago. Those four players combine to make up 31% of the team's scoring (646 points) from last season's total (2,114 points).
The Sacramento State roster is comprised of 15 players, 11 of which are brand new to the program. Of those 11 new players, six are transfers and five are true freshmen. Five of the six transfers are from Div. I programs, including guards Brandon Betson (Tulsa), Zee Hamoda (Utah State) and Emil Skytta (Central Michigan), and forwards Jacob Holt (Santa Clara) and Duncan Powell (North Carolina A&T). The other transfer is Julian Vaughns, who played at the University of Alberta.
Sacramento State will have plenty of size this season, as five players stand 6-foot-9 or taller. The tallest players on the team are both freshmen in seven-foot center Bowyn Beatty, and 6-10 forward Chudi Dioramma. Three players check in at 6-9 in forwards Kiir Kiir Chol Deng, Jacob Holt and Akol Mawein.
The Sacramento State roster is one of the most international in the nation. Sacramento State has players representing seven different countries on its roster - United States (6), Australia (4), Bahrain (1), Canada (1), England (1), Finland (1) and South Sudan (1). That is tied for fourth most in the nation with UCLA. Three teams - Arizona, Hawai'i and Portland - have players representing eight countries. In addition, Sacramento State has players from five of the seven continents - North America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia.
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