- Video shows CSUB men's basketball team, footage from the 2022-23 season, men's team practice
- Coach Rod Barnes will lead this new team of CSUB men's basketball players through his thirteenth season as the head coach, prioritizing a fast-paced game and a strong offense.
Making plays and taking shots, all in hopes of a winning season, and with a group of young guy, the Cal State Bakersfield men's basketball team hopes to turn things around.
Running out of time in the preseason, the CSUB men's basketball team continues to put in work, making buckets and and running up and down the court.
“You can’t be a up and down team and playing fast if you’re not in great condition,” Rod Barnes, the head coach of the CSUB men's basketball team, said.
After 13 years of coaching at CSUB, coach Rod Barnes says the work ethic and chemistry between the guys makes this years team different from the rest.
“We have some transfers that came here with the purpose of trying to help us move up in the conference and then our veteran guys because they lost last year, they’re so hungry to win,” Barnes said.
One of those players, Belgium native Tom Mark transferred to CSUB from Tallahassee Community College after making it to the the Final Four in the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament where he average 9.3 points and 6.4 rebounds.
“When you step on the court, you just forget about everything," Mark said. "It’s just you and your brothers, a team, going against another team. You just got to war with people.”
He wants to bring this team to the next level with his new teammates like guard Cameron Wilbon.
“I expect us to shock a lot of people," Wilbon said. "I think coach said they picked us eighth, and we are for sure better than eighth.”
Wilbon transferred from Sacramento State where he averaged 8.6 points and 3.8 rebounds and says the connection with his teammates should pay off on the court.
“When you’re a transfer, you’re not sure how you’re gonna fit with the guys, and I think that’s something the guys that were already here are doing a good job of bringing the new guys into the family and the culture," Wilbon said.
Ending last season with 11 wins and 22 losses, Coach Barnes plans to execute a strong offensive game this season.
“We didn’t have a winning season last year, so that’s one of the goals. the second goal is to move up into the conference,” Barnes said.
The CSUB men's basketball team will play against Southern Utah on November 6th.
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