SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State men's basketball program has began preparations for the 2026-27 season this week with the start of official team practices.

Practice will continue approximately five days a week leading up to the team's season opener - home vs. Jessup on Monday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m.

2026-27 TEAM BRIEFS

• After 30 years in the Big Sky Conference, the Hornets are joining the Big West this season. Sacramento State will play 22 Big West games (11 at home, 11 on the road). That is four more conference games than the Hornets are accustomed. In the Big Sky, the Hornets played 18 conference games. Gone are out-of-state conference road trips to Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, Washington and Oregon. In fact, of the team's 11 road games in Big West play, 10 will be played in California. The Utah Valley game (Dec 5) is the only out-of-state road conference game this season.

• Every Big West game will take place on a Thursday or Saturday. In fact, of the team's 31 games overall, 27 will come on a Thursday or Saturday. The Hornets are not scheduled to play on a Friday the entire season. They play once each on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday.

• For the second straight season, the Hornets will play home games at Hornet Pavilion on campus. The facility, which opened last year, was kind to Sacramento State. The Hornets went 10-4 in their new home (6-3 in league), and the 10 home victories were the most for the program since the 2019-20 season. The average attendance of 2,758 fans per home game set a school record, and was the third best mark in the Big Sky. The team's 16 home games this season are the most in program history (1948-pres.).

• Of the 16 players on the roster, 11 are brand new to the program. The lone returners are guards Mikey Williams, Arman Madi, Romari Robinson, Taj Glover and Zach Anderson. Those five returners accounted for 31 percent of the team's scoring output a year ago. Williams averaged 17.1 ppg, but missed 10 games with injury. Madi averaged 7.0 ppg, but averaged 14.5 ppg over the final eight games. That Madi scoring production was second best on the Hornets during that eight-game span.

• The Hornets featured a high powered offense a year ago - the program's 2,408 total points, and average of 77.7 points per contest were both the top marks in Sacramento State's Div. I era (1991-pres.). The 77.7 ppg average was the most since the program's final season of Div. II in 1990-91 when the team averaged 79.9 ppg.

• Led by Mikey Williams (83%, 127-153), Sacramento State's 595 made free throws a year ago were easily the most in the team's Div. I era, and second in program history. In addition, the team shot a school-record 78% from the free throw line. The average of 19.2 made free throws per game ranked 11th in the nation, and the free throw percentage ranked 20th.

• Head coach Mike Bibby, who spent half of his 14-year NBA career with the Sacramento Kings and became a fan favorite, is back for his second season with the Hornets. A first team all-American, Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, Bibby helped Arizona to a 1997 NCAA national championship.

• Of the 365 Div. I college basketball programs in the country, the Hornets are one of just 20 that retained their entire coaching staff and support staff from a season ago.

• Shaquille O'Neal enters his second season as general manager of the Hornets. He joined the program shortly after the appointment of Mike Bibby to head coach. O'Neal played 19 years in the NBA and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. His son, Shaqir, was a senior for the Hornets last season and won the State Farm College Slam Dunk Championship in April.

• All five front court players from a year ago - listed as a forward or center - are no longer on the team. They have been replaced by eight players (six forwards and two centers) that could see minutes in the front court this year. Much of last season, the Hornets were undersized, especially after the loss of Jeremiah Cherry six games into the season. The Hornets have five newcomers standing 6-foot-9 or better - 6-11 Ridvan Tutic, 6-10 Sasa Ciani and Joao Das Chagas, and 6-9 Giannis Asimakopoulos and Osiris Grady. All are transfers from Div. I schools except Asimakopoulos.

• Sacramento State has two players on the roster that have fathers that played in the NBA. That includes Larry Hughes II father, Larry, who played 13 seasons in the NBA (1998-2012). Taj Glover's father, Dion, played in the NBA for six seasons (1999-05). Coincidentally, both Bibby and Hughes were selected among the top 10 picks in the 1998 NBA draft - Bibby was taken second, and Hughes was selected eighth. Glover was also a first round pick after being selected 20th overall in the 1999 NBA draft.

• Sacramento State has players from five different countries on its roster, including the United States (12), Brazil (1), Greece (1), Serbia (1) and Slovenia (1). Of the 12 Americans, nine different states are represented - Arizona (4), California (1), Florida (1), Georgia (1), Indiana (1), Missouri (1), Nevada (1), New Mexico (1) and New York (1).

• Of the 11 players that are brand new to the roster, there are six Div. I transfers, two junior college transfers, and three high school players. 

• Sacramento State features a nice balance of four seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen. The team is guard heavy, comprised of 10 players that will see time in the back court. The trio of Mikey Williams (17.1 ppg), Larry Hughes II (17.7 ppg at CSUN) and Marcus Wilson (12.5 ppg at UC Davis) combined to average 47.3 ppg last season.

• The Hornets are beginning their first full season with Nike, and have three uniforms sets - white, green and black. During the summer, the Sacramento State athletics department transitioned from Adidas to Nike, although the men's basketball program began wearing Nike uniforms about halfway through last season.

• There are zero opponents on this season's schedule that Sacramento State has yet to play. The Hornets have played Presbyterian just once (a 64-62 win a year ago at Hornet Pavilion) - the smallest amount of games against any opponent on the schedule.

• A program-record seven Hornets were named to the Big Sky Conference all-academic team last season.