Mustangs Officially Open Practice for 2024-25 Season Tuesday
9/23/2024 8:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Under the new direction of first-year head coach Mike George, the Cal Poly men’s basketball program officially begins practice for the 2024-25 season on Tuesday, Sept. 24 inside Mott Athletics Center.
Cal Poly, which returns six letterwinners and welcomed seven transfers during the offseason, enjoys 42 days of preparation ahead of the program’s Tuesday, Nov. 5 season-opening matchup at San Francisco. In between, the Mustangs host Division III Cal Tech for a Friday, Oct. 25 exhibition.
Highlighting Cal Poly’s returning core is 6-3 graduate guard Jarred Hyder, who started during all 25 appearances last season and finished second in the lineup with 10.3 points per game. Also returning for the Mustangs are 6-9 senior forward Paul Bizimana, who made 29 appearances during the 2023-24 season; 6-8 junior forward Aaron Price, Jr., who started 18 times a year ago and played in all 32 outings; 6-0 senior guard Hayden Jory, who enters his final year with 54 career appearances and 6-4 senior guard Isaac Spears, who made seven starts among 19 outings last winter. Sophomore guard Jackson Mosley, with six appearances last year, is also back.
Utilizing a redshirt year last season after sustaining a summer 2023 injury, 6-2 junior guard Logan McLaughlin is set to finally appear for Cal Poly in November.
Eleven new players will make their Mott Athletics Center debuts this season with DeGeorge – named Cal Poly head coach in March after directing Division II Colorado Mesa to 141 victories, five NCAA Tournaments and two Sweet Sixteen appearances from 2018-24 – adding four players from his previous program. That group is comprised of 6-5 graduate guard Mac Riniker, a 2024 NABC All-South Central Region second team honoree, two-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year selection and a three-time All-RMAC pick at Colorado Mesa; 6-5 graduate guard Owen Koonce, a 2023-24 All-RMAC second team selection after averaging 13.2 points per game; 6-2 senior guard Isaac Jessup, a two-time All-RMAC honoree who averaged 10.1 points per game last season and 6-7 senior forward Ethan Menzies, a 2020-21 NABC Division II All-America selection for Colorado Mesa.
Also transferring to Cal Poly during the offseason were 6-6 sophomore guard Kieran Elliott, named Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year at Division II West Texas A&M last season after averaging 12.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game; 6-4 freshman guard Guzman Vasilic, who redshirted at Division II Southeastern Oklahoma last year and counts as the only Division I player this season from Uruguay and 6-7 junior guard Luka Tarlac, who arrives from Utah.
During the summer, Cal Poly signed freshman guards Peter Bandelj and Cayden Ward. A member of the Slovenian National Team at U18 level, the 6-4 Bandelj most recently averaged 12.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game during the 2023-24 season at Royal Crown School, a preparatory academy in Toronto. The 6-5 Ward, meanwhile, averaged 16.0 points 7.9 rebounds per game as a senior last winter at St. Mary’s HS (Stockton, Calif.).
Sophomore Eric Brown (Mitty HS) – a 6-8 forward – and 6-4 freshman forward Angelo Ghattas (Serra HS) also joined the program as walk-ons during the offseason.
Cal Poly officially opens practice for the 2024-25 season on Tuesday afternoon.#RideHighhttps://t.co/v2FIGFCr39
— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) September 23, 2024
