The COVID-19 pandemic that has caused much cancelations of sporting events in an effort to reduce its cases and to protect the health of it’s students and athletes still lingers. Now, with Sonoma State starting to resume its athletic programs for the 2021-22 year, many students and athletes are pleased to see sporting events return to campus. With November slowly approaching, it is now the Sonoma State men’s basketball team’s turn to make its first appearance since the 2019-20 year.
The men’s basketball team at SSU has struggled to make much noise in the NCAA Division II in its recent years. In their last season, 2019-20, the Seawolves had an overall record of 5-20 while also going 4-18 in their conference. Additionally, the men’s basketball team is finding that many past members are not returning. Players like Bryce Thompson, Eric Nielson, and their leading scorer, Isaac Davidson, are some of the members not returning this season because they have graduated.
Going into the 2021-22 season, the SSU men’s basketball team will also be welcoming a new figure at head coach. After finishing his third season as the women’s head coach for basketball, Coach Rich Shayewitz took on the position of running all basketball operations at SSU and serving as the head coach for both the women’s and men’s programs upon the upcoming season. Becoming just the sixth coach in the program’s history, Shayewitz and his team will be looking forward to returning to the basketball court.
Not only does Shayewitz have much experience in helping lead basketball programs, but he also has always been heavily involved with Sonoma State. Shayewitz came to Sonoma State University as an undergraduate in the fall of 1995 and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing in the spring of 2000. During that time, he volunteered as a Student Assistant Coach on the SSU men’s basketball team under head coach Pat Fuscaldo, where he later worked his way up to be the Associate Head Coach just before the 2006-07 season. In his long period with the men’s team, Shayewitz was a key part in helping the program reach four NCAA tournament appearances. In his last year, he even helped the Seawolves become NCAA Division II statistical champion in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, in which they held opponents to a nation’s-best: 57.8 points per game. He was also credited for his help in the team’s 2005-06 CCAA Championship run. He eventually was named head coach of the women’s squad in 2017 and holds a record of 38-43, while also making an NCAA tournament appearance in each of his three seasons with the team.
With some of the preseason games being cancelled due to unexpected occurrences, the men’s basketball team is aiming to start off their 2021-22 campaign with a game against Dominican. It is scheduled to take place on Nov. 13. Fans are also eager to have the opportunity to go watch the team compete live once again.
“I think it’s really good for the school and just for us as students to be able to get our sports back,” says Manuel Ponce, an SSU student.
“One of the things that I missed last year was not being able to watch sports, such as soccer and basketball, but…basketball coming back to our campus…gives me another excuse to go hang out with my friends and to get back on campus… It should be fun, I don’t know if they will allow students to come in to watch, since it is an indoor sport, but if they do, I will for sure be out there rooting for them in some games.”
The SSU men’s basketball team competes against Dominican on Nov. 13 in San Francisco.