It’s hard not to bring up Bobby Braswell when speaking about the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball program. Braswell led the program to two NCAA Tournaments in his 17 seasons as the coach of the Matadors, his last being the 2012-13 campaign.
He’s also the last coach to have a winning season when CSUN went 17-14 in 2008-09, which turned into an NCAA Tournament berth (15th seed). Since Braswell’s departure, the Matadors have changed coaches twice (Reggie Theus, 2013-18; Mark Gottfried, 2018-21), had four single-digit win seasons, finished above .500 in the Big West Conference just once (2020, 10-6), and are a combined 50-98 in five seasons.
Now that you’re caught up on CSUN basketball, what next? How about improvement. That’s second-year coach Trent Johnson’s goal for the 2022-23 season. It has to be.
Johnson was named the interim coach July 20, 2021, just a month before the school’s fall semester started. He was left to pick up the pieces left behind by Gottfried after being placed on paid administrative leave April 29, 2021, “upon learning of potential rules violations within the men’s basketball program,” former athletic director Mike Izzi stated.
With little to no time to recruit, or even instill any of his coaching principles, Johnson added six newcomers – five transfers and a freshman – and rolled into last season with almost no chance of success. The Matadors finished 7-23 overall and 3-13 in the Big West before losing 58-45 to Cal State Bakersfield in the opening round of the conference tournament.
Less than 10 days later, Johnson’s interim tag was removed, and the 66-year old was officially named the seventh head coach in program history. He’s had a full summer to recruit and prepare his team for the season. The team’s first two home games are against La Sierra (Nov. 7), an NAIA school, and Whittier College (Dec. 4), an NCAA Division III school. But the Matadors will take on teams like Tennessee State, Boise State, Fresno State, Idaho and University of San Diego on the road in its nonconference schedule before its Big West opener Dec. 29 at Cal Poly.
“We have a very challenging schedule this season,” Johnson said. “Every game on the schedule is going to present a different challenge for us. We’ll have to play at a high level to be successful night in and night out.”
All Big West games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
CSUN has been voted to finish last (11th) in the Big West Conference preseason coaches’ poll. UC Santa Barbara is predicted to finish first and Hawaii is predicted to finish second.
QUICK LOOK AT THE TEAM
The team’s best returning player is Atin Wright. The sophomore point guard led the Matadors with a 14.5 point scoring average, 53 3-pointers and 95 free throws made. His freshman campaign earned him All-Big West honorable mention honors.
Wright will receive the aid of nine new faces: Adam Afifi, a 6-foot-9 forward from West Valley College; De’Sean Allen-Eikens, a 6-6 guard from the University of New Orleans; Dionte Bostick, a 6-2 guard from Murray State; Ethan Igbanugo, a 6-2 guard from the University of North Dakota; Lamine Niang, a 6-10 forward from Senegal; Cam Slaymaker, a 6-5 guard from British Columbia; Dearon Tucker, a 6-10 forward from Indiana State; John Wade III, a 6-5 guard from Contra Costa College; and Johnnie Walter, a 6-foot-9 forward from Hotchkiss Prep School in Connecticut after prepping at Westlake Village Oaks Christian High.
“We are excited about the addition of these nine student-athletes to our program,” Johnson said. “The commitment they have already shown to their training and the weight room has been impressive thus far, and we look forward to being a part of their continued development as student-athletes. We are excited to continue to help build a program that the community and the university will be proud of.”