SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team will play its first countable games of the 2024-25 season when it hosts Biola on Friday at 12:30 p.m. before traveling to Concordia University Irvine on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS

• CSUSM began its season with a pair of exhibitions at UC Riverside and San Diego State.
• Against the Anteaters, CSUSM fell 89-61 while newcomer Dexter Stratton led the Cougars with 18 points and six boards.
• The Cougars' final exhibition against the Aztecs saw CSUSM fall 80-39 as freshman Kyelin King led the team with 14 points.

LAST SEASON

• In head coach Nick Booker's first season at the helm of the program, CSUSM tied for eighth in CCAA play with a 9-13 record while going 10-18 overall.
• The Cougars defeated two ranked programs in then-No. 10 Chico State and then-No. 22 and eventual NCAA Division II semifinalist Cal State San Bernardino.
• CSUSM ended the season ranking 25th nationally in turnover margin (2.9) while forcing the 39th-most turnovers in Division II (14.89).
• In the CCAA, the Cougars ranked second in assist/turnover ratio (1.15), assists per game (13.9) and 3-pointers per game (8.8).
• Outgoing senior Edwyn Collins earned All-CCAA first-team honors after leading the CCAA with 17.7 points per game and coming down with a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game.

 
2024-25 OUTLOOK

• CSUSM will have a new look this season as 13 of its 16 student-athletes are newcomers to the program.
• Six of CSUSM's 13 newcomers are freshmen while the other seven are four-year/community college transfers.
• The Cougars return three student-athletes from last year's roster in senior Uriah Foster, sophomore Max Tengan and redshirt junior Donovan Watkins.
• Tengan is CSUSM's leading scorer among returners at 9.0 points per game while dishing out 2.2 assists per game and shooting 35.8% from beyond the arc.
• CSUSM was picked to finish 10th in the 2024-25 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

SEASON OPENER AGAINST BIOLA

• CSUSM and Biola will meet for the second consecutive season on Friday.
• Last year, the Eagles earned a 78-70 win over the Cougars in La Mirada.
• Biola owns the all-time series lead at 5-4 but CSUSM holds the advantage as the home team at 2-1.
• In the Eagles' last visit to The Sports Center in 2017-18, the Cougars came away with an 84-57 win.
• Last season, Biola went 17-12 overall and tied for fourth in the PacWest at 12-8.
• This season, the Eagles were picked to finish third in the PacWest Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Biola returns four of its five starters from 2023-24, including leading scorer and All-PacWest first-teamer Nathan Medina, who averaged 16.3 points.

SATURDAY AT CUI

• For the second consecutive year, CSUSM will face CUI on Saturday.
• Last year, the Golden Eagles earned an 81-74 win over the Cougars in La Mirada.
• The all-time series between CSUSM and CUI is knotted at 7-7 but the Golden Eagles hold the advantage when playing the Cougars on the road at 3-2.
• CUI's last visit to The Sports Center came in 2017-18 as the Golden Eagles earned a 103-86 victory.
• The Golden Eagles faced Hope International in its lone exhibition of the year on Nov. 2 and earned a 66-60 win.
• Before facing CSUSM, CUI will travel to Cal State LA on Friday evening for its season opener.
• Last season, the Golden Eagles finished with an overall record of 10-16 and tied for eighth in the PacWest at 7-13.
• This season, CUI was picked to finish eighth in the PacWest Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Golden Eagles return three starters from last season, including third-leading scorer Jackson Turner, who averaged 9.7 points.

THE BOOKER FILE

• Nick Booker enters his second season at the helm of CSUSM men's basketball after he became the Cougars' third head coach in program history on June 5, 2023.
• In his first season in 2023-24, Booker's Cougars tied for eighth in the CCAA standings and earned statement wins over No. 10 Chico State and No. 22 and eventual semifinalist Cal State San Bernardino.
• Booker came to CSUSM from UC San Diego where he was the Tritons' assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons beginning in June 2020.
• Prior to UCSD, Booker was the associate head coach at Eastern Washington from April 2017 through May 2020 and was named the top assistant coach in the Big Sky Conference by Stadium.
• While at Eastern Washington, Booker helped the Eagles win 59 games overall and a Big Sky Conference Championship in 2019-20 while helping develop two Big Sky Players of the Year.
• Before Eastern Washington, Booker was the director of basketball operations at Davidson College in 2016-17 after a five-year stint as an assistant coach at UC Irvine from April 2011 to March 2016, where he was also the director of basketball operations for one season prior.
• Booker's first coaching gig as an assistant came at Miramar Community College in 2006-07, and he later became the assistant coach and interim head coach at Saddleback Community College from July 2007 through August 2010.
• Booker earned his bachelor's in history at Davidson College in 2004and earned his master's in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2010.
• At Davidson, Booker was a starter for the 2002 Southern Conference Championship team that faced Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament and contributed to back-to-back regular-season conference championships in 2001 and 2002.
• Booker has a career record of 10-18 (.357).