DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis men's basketball begins its first season as a Mountain West member Monday, welcoming North Alabama to University Credit Union Center for the second half of an opening-night doubleheader.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and will follow the conclusion of UC Davis women's basketball's season opening game against Jessup at 4 p.m. Both games will stream on MW+.
The Aggies enter the 2026-27 season after 19-14 campaign this past season, which included a 12-4 home record. Head coach Jim Les begins his 16th season in Davis with seven returning players, eight newcomers and a veteran backcourt led by seniors Connor Sevilla and Brayden Fagbemi.
Opening night will feature schedule posters, and free cookies. UC Davis students can redeem free tickets before arriving.
GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: North Alabama (0-0)
Date: Monday, Nov. 2
Time: 7 p.m. PT
Location: Davis, Calif. — University Credit Union Center
Doubleheader: Women's basketball vs. Jessup, 4 p.m. PT
Watch: MW+ — Scott Marsh and Sandy Simpson
Listen: Sactown Sports 1140 AM — Greg Wong, play-by-play; Bob Dunning, analyst
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Game Notes: View Here
Tickets: Men's basketball | Aggie Ticket Central
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
UC Davis brings back 53 percent of last season's minutes, and is one of just 36 Division I teams to do so. With six returners appearing in games last season, combining for 1,244 points, and Ylan Esso-Essis ready to make his UC Davis debut this season, the Aggies will rely on that experience and continuity to help fuel success this season.
Connor Sevilla returns as the Aggies' leading scorer after averaging 13.3 points and earning All-Big West honorable mention. He made a team-high 67 3-pointers at a 39.9 percent clip and led the conference in free-throw percentage at 90.3 percent. The senior started all 31 games he played.
Brayden Fagbemi helped drive UC Davis at both ends of the floor, leading the Big West with 2.0 steals per game and ranking second with 4.3 assists. His 62 steals and 133 assists both paced the Aggies, who forced 14.9 turnovers per game last season.
The returning production extends beyond the backcourt. Isaiah Chappell appeared in all 33 games last season, averaging 8.5 points and 4.6 rebounds while making 58 3-pointers. Omer Suljanovic averaged 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in 32 appearances, and Jalen Stokes made seven starts as a freshman. Chase Rawlins and Esso-Essis, a former Big 8 Conference Player of the Year at Modesto Junior College, round out the returning core for UC Davis.
MEET THE NEWCOMERS
Four Division I transfers join the Aggies. Clarence Massamba arrives from Tennessee, where he was on the Volunteers' Elite Eight roster last season. Veniamin "Ben" Abosi averaged 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds at San Francisco while shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range.
At 6-foot-10, Julian Margrave and Aleks Szymczyk add size and college experience. Margrave joins the Aggies from Omaha after previously leading South Alabama with 51 3-pointers in 2023-24. Szymczyk played in 26 games at CSUN last season and recorded a 15-point, 16-rebound double-double in the Matadors' opener.
The freshman class includes Nnadalu Noble, Caspian "Cash" Jones, Koby Moir and Julian Dabrowski. Noble played in Austria's top division before attending prep school in the United States, while Jones helped St. Mary's in Phoenix win an Arizona state championship. Moir has represented Australia in international competition, and Dabrowski helped Poland finish fourth at the 2024 FIBA U18 EuroBasket Division B.
SCOUTING NORTH ALABAMA
Monday marks the first meeting between the programs and the start of a conference transition for both. North Alabama begins its first United Athletic Conference season under ninth-year head coach Tony Pujol after finishing 9-21 last year. The Lions return three players and welcome 12 newcomers, including 10 transfers.
Graduate forward Drey Carter arrives from Division II Fairmont State, where he averaged 16.8 points and 7.6 rebounds and earned first-team All-Mountain East Conference honors. Returning guard Braylon Patton averaged 5.6 points in 27 games as a freshman.
Fagbemi has faced the Lions before. While at Central Arkansas in 2024-25, he scored 25 points with eight assists and seven 3-pointers in a road meeting, then finished with nine points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the return matchup. North Alabama guard Mike Evbagharu was his teammate that season.
BEYOND THE COURT
The Aggies enter the season after earning the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award for the second consecutive year. Their 3.31 cumulative team GPA also earned the Lysle Leach Award, presented to the UC Davis men's program with the highest cumulative GPA.
Sevilla and Fagbemi were both NABC Honors Court selections. Fagbemi's career interests include professional basketball and orthopedic surgery, while Margrave and Szymczyk are pursuing Master of Management degrees.
THE SEASON AHEAD
Monday begins a 17-game home schedule, the most in UC Davis' Division I era. The Aggies will open Mountain West play at home against Grand Canyon on Jan. 2, beginning an 18-game conference schedule with home and away meetings against each of the other nine members.
Les enters the season with 383 career victories, 17 shy of 400. UC Davis' next game is Thursday, Nov. 5, against Menlo at University Credit Union Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. PT.
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis Athletics represents one of the nation's premier public universities on the NCAA Division I stage, with more than 650 student-athletes competing across 25 sports, including 16 programs in the Mountain West Conference. Located in California's quintessential college town, UC Davis combines championship-level athletics with the academic excellence of the nation's #8 public research university and is home to the nation's No. 1 programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine and sustainability. With a growing national media presence, bold investments in facilities and the student-athlete experience, and a tradition of developing champions in competition, in the classroom and beyond, the Aggies are elevating UC Davis on a national stage.
