BERKELEY – When Chico State point guard Jay Flores calls out a play Thursday night, for the first time since official practices began on Oct. 15, the opposition won’t know exactly what his signal means. That’s because, for the first time in the 2009-10 season, the Wildcats will be playing an opponent not wearing Chico State practice gear when they travel to Berkeley to take on the University of California Thursday night at 7:30 in Haas Pavilion.
Flores is one of many new faces on the Chico State team that has been picked to finish eighth in the 12-team California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Coaches’ Poll. The Wildcats were 8-19 last season, but only three players from that team will be in uniform against Cal – Zach Graves, Roderick Hawkins, and Nick Lonnegren. Chris Sharp will miss the game and may miss the entire year with a broken foot, and Joshua Jackson is redshirting this season.
Flores, a sophomore transfer from Sonoma State, and freshmen Ethan Stone, Spencer Moyer, Damario Sims, Jake Lovisolo, Powell Lee, and Cameron Fenley each joined the program last season and redshirted. Brian Seals, Darren Nye, Jason Conrad, and Terence Pellum transferred in this year. Jon Baird returns after a two-year hiatus for his senior season.
Click here to see Chico State's 2009-10 roster.
Click her to see the 2009-10 CCAA Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Cal was picked to win the Pac-10 in the conference preseason poll that came out last Thursday. The Golden Bears also earned a preseason rank of No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches poll and No. 13 in the Associated Press poll. It was only the third preseason Top-25 ranking for the Bears (No. 6 in 1993-94, No. 25 in 2005-06).
Golden Bears senior guards Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher were two of 50 players in the nation recently named to the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list. They both earned All-Pac-10 first-team honors last season. Randle was also recently named a preseason candidate for the Wooden Award. Both players recorded their 1,000th career point in the same game last season.
If there is no World Series Game Seven, the game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio with Mike Baca doing the play-by-play.
The Wildcats will return home for the Red/White Scrimmage (open to the public) this Saturday at 3 pm, and then conclude the exhibition season with a game at the University of Nevada Tuesday at 7:05 pm.
The Wildcats open the 2009-10 regular-season with the 50th Annual Carl’s Jr. Mac Martin Invitational Nov. 27-28.
