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Cal State Bakersfield Basketball

Realignment Madness: When the dust settles, which college basketball league will be the most powerful?

The Big 12 has clearly been the best league over the last five years, but with 14 teams entering new power leagues in 2023 and 2024, the balance of power will shift.

Austin Peay Men's Basketball To Play In 2023 SoCal Challenge In California

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Austin Peay State University men's basketball announced the first piece of its 2023-24 nonconference schedule, as the program prepares for the 2023 SoCal Challenge, Nov. 17-22, at The Pavilion at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano, California.

"We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to compete in the 2023 SoCal Challenge," said Austin Peay men's basketball first-year head coach Corey Gipson. "This is a great opportunity for us to represent Austin Peay State University and the Atlantic Sun Conference against such a competitive field of coaches and teams."

The Governors' trip to the Golden State for the three-game tournament is the second in program history and the first since a 2011 game against California – who also joins APSU in the tournament – during the College Basketball Experience Tournament.

Austin Peay is one of eight teams playing in the third-annual SoCal Challenge which features two four-team divisions – the Surf Division and the Sand Division. The opening round of the tournament features four regional games at campus sites.

Joining Austin Peay in the Sand Division are Cal State Bakersfield, Sacramento State, and Tarleton State, while the Surf Division features Bradley, California, UTEP, and Tulane.

Matchups, television details, and game times will be announced at a later date.

2023 SoCal Challenge Tournament Field

Sand DivisionCal State Bakersfield (11-22, 6-14 Big West) Cal State Bakersfield is led by Rod Barnes, who enters his 13th year with the program in 2023-24. After entering the 2023 Big West Men's Basketball Tournament as the No. 8 seed, the Roadrunners fell to top-seeded UC Irvine in the quarterfinals.

CSUB returns its leading three-point shooter and second-leading scorer from last season in junior guard, Marcin McGee III, who averaged 8.7 points per game in 2022-23, while shooting 43.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Tarleton State (17-17, 9-9 WAC) Led by fourth-year head coach Billy Gillispie, Tarleton State made its first NCAA Division I postseason appearance last season, advancing to the 2023 College Basketball Invitational before falling to Radford in the first round of the tournament.

Lue Williams highlights the Texans' returning players, as the senior guard was second on the team in scoring (10.7 points per game), while averaging 43.6 percent and 41.2 percent from the field and three-point range, respectively.

Sacramento State (14-18, 7-11 Big Sky) David Patrick enters his second year as the Hornets' head coach after advancing to the Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball quarterfinals during his first season at the helm.

Sacramento State returns its third-leading scorer from Patrick's inaugural season in senior forward Akol Mawein. Mawein averaged 9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 24.9 minutes per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the field.

Surf DivisionUTEP (14-18, 7-13 Conference USA) UTEP head coach Joe Golding enters his third year with the program after leading the Miners to back-to-back Conference USA Tournament appearances.

The Miners return their leading scorer and three-point shooter from last season's team which fell to Western Kentucky in the first round of the CUSA Championship in senior guard Tae Hardy. Hardy averaged 12.8 points per game and made 47 shots from beyond the arc at a 32.4 percent clip.

Tulane (20-11, 12-6 American) Rob Hunter enters his fifth season as head coach of the Green Waves after leading the program to their first 20-win season since 2012-13 a season ago.

Tulane returns their second-leading scorer and rebounder from last season in junior Jaylen Forbes who averaged 18.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while also leading the team with 58 steals.

Bradley (25-10, 16-4 Missouri Valley) Bradley leads all teams in the 2023 SoCon Challenge with 25 wins last season. Eighth-year head coach Brian Wardle led the Braves to its first National Invitational Tournament. Their historic 2022-23 campaign came to an end in the tournament's first round following a loss to Wisconsin.

Bradley returns their second-leading scorer and rebounder from last season in graduate student Malevy Leons who averaged 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds, while also tallying a team-best 52 assists and blocks, and starting all 35 games in the Braves' frontcourt.

California (3-29, 2-18 PAC 12) Mark Madesen joins Gipson as the two first-year head coaches in this season's SoCon Challenge.

Madsen takes over a Golden Bears' team that won just three games during the 2022-23 season; however, the team returns senior guard Devin Askey who averaged 15.5 points per game, which ranked ninth in the PAC 12.

SoCal Challenge History

Past Winners: 

2022: High Point (Sand Division), UNLV (Surf Division) 2021: Utah Valley (Sand Division), Fresno State (Surf Division)

Follow the Govs on Social

For offseason news and updates on all things Governors' basketball, follow the men's basketball team on Twitter and Instagram (@GovsMBB) and Facebook (Austin Peay Men's Basketball) or check back at LetsGoPeay.Com.

Burt Resigns As BHS Boys Basketball Coach

Aug. 29—For the first time this century, Greg Burt will not be working the sideline as a high school basketball coach this season.

Following a 25-year career, which started in 1998 at North High, Burt resigned as the Bakersfield High boys head coach on Monday. He will continue in his role as a physical education teacher at the school. When reached for comment, Burt said he preferred to keep the reason for his resignation private.

The school is actively looking for a replacement. Anyone interested is asked to apply through the Kern High School District website. The position will be open Thursday, according to BHS athletic director Tamara Maiocco.

During six years as the Stars coach, Burt guided the team to their first league title since 1955 with players such as Phillip Billington, Ryan Bennett, Shaun Hopf and Josh Albertson.

After a rebuilding year in 2002,he followed that up with more success on the court. Burt earned the first of his three BVarsity All-Area coach of the year honors in 2003. Led by talented point guard Jonny Machado and current North High football coach Richie Bolin, the team went 36-25 in Burt's final two seasons at North before he was hired at Bakersfield High in 2004.

Burt was 328-189 in 19 years as the Drillers coach, winning 10 more league championships along the way. He guided BHS to Southwest Yosemite League titles in six of his first seven years at the school, with players such as Anthony Locke, Charles Anderson, Justin Cheadle, Ricky Wofford and Dijon Henry.

The string of titles was capped by a 24-5 campaign in 2011 with a team that included future NBA player Tyrone Wallace, European pro Arik Smith and Derrick Brown. Burt was rewarded with his second BVarsity all-area coach of the year honor.

Wallace, who starred at Cal before being selected with the final pick of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, was one of three BVarsity All-Area players of the year to play for Burt, joined by Ronnie Stapp in 2018. Machado was named player of the year in 2005, the year after Burt left North.

Bakersfield won four straight Southwest Yosemite League championships from 2016 to 2020, with the Drillers advancing to the Central Section Division I final and winning the school's first CIF State playoff game in 2017. Burt was named BVarsity All-Area coach of the year again.

Xavier Esquivel and Jeremiah Dickerson (2017), Stapp (2018) and David Whatley (2019-20) were named league players of the year during that run of titles, with guards R.J. Banks and Joshua Geary starring on league championship teams during that time.

The program's success suffered greatly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team went 10-15 in two abbreviated seasons from 2020-22, and was just 4-24 last year with a roster that included six freshmen and three sophomores.

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