Overview:
Joe Pasternack will open his eighth season as men’s basketball coach at UCSB when San Francisco State visits the Thunderdome on Nov. 4
UC Santa Barbara’s first test of the men’s basketball season came not on the hardwood, but on a sheet of paper.
Coach Joe Pasternack popped a quiz on the Gauchos.
“I’ve never done this before, but I had every player write down the minutes they thought everybody on the roster should get, including themselves,” he said. “That’s 200 minutes they had to divide among themselves.
“We met with them afterward and asked, ‘How was it?’”
A real head-scratcher, they said.
It was no slam dunk for point guard Stephan Swenson, a graduate transfer who led Stetson University to last year’s NCAA Tournament.
“It was really, really tough,” he told Noozhawk. “After seeing what we’ve got here the last few months, you want to play all 14 guys.”
Some capable walk-ons actually had UCSB’s workouts teeming with 20 players this week.
The situation has forced Pasternack into overtime in the evaluation of his rotation.
He got a good look at the newcomers in a closed scrimmage at Nevada-Las Vegas, winning 69-55. The season opener against San Francisco State looms on Nov. 4 with a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Thunderdome.
The parity throughout UCSB’s roster gives him good options … but also a bad case of insomnia.
“Every day in practice is a war, and guys are working really hard to earn minutes,” Pasternack said. “I toss and turn trying to figure out how to do those minutes.
“There may not be an NBA player like Ajay Mitchell, or Gabe Vincent, or Miles Norris, or JaQuori McLaughlin, but it’s a really balanced team.”
A major renovation of UCSB’s roster has complicated the process.
The Gauchos do return two senior starters: three-point marksman Cole Anderson in the backcourt and 6-foot-7 and 230-pound scrapper Ariel Bland on the front line.
The only other returning scholarship players are a pair of guards — 6-6 sophomore Jason Fontenet II and 6-4 junior Ben Shtolzberg — and 6-8 and 250-pound post forward Evans Kipruto.
Sophomore Koat Keat Tong, a 6-10 forward, is also back after two knee surgeries forced him to miss last season.
Eight newcomers are also contending for serious playing time. Pasternack plucked six of them right out of the NCAA transfer portal. Four of the eight are graduate students and another is a senior.
“We played eight guys last year who had little to no experience,” he said. “We really worked hard this spring to get old — to get guys with experience in college basketball.
“I think that’s really the key, to get old and stay old.”
Lost Season
Inexperience led to a dip in UCSB’s record from 27-8 in 2023 to 16-15 last year. The results were even worse in Big West Conference play with a 9-11 mark.
They were bounced from the league tournament in the first round for the first time in Pasternack’s seven seasons as coach when Cal State Northridge edged them in overtime, 87-84.
The Gauchos were rendered black-and-blue just as much as they were green. Injuries unraveled a team that never seemed to get on the same page.
UCSB’s average of 13.1 turnovers per game was ninth-worst among the league’s 11 teams. Its defense also ranked ninth by giving up 45.3% shooting.
Mitchell, who made his NBA debut on Thursday for the Oklahoma City Thunder, averaged 20 points and four assists per game.
Most of his training, however, was done in the training room. He rarely practiced with last year’s team.
“He just played in the games and did walk-throughs because he’d torn both ankles,” Pasternack said. “You can’t have a culture where you practice and compete and be a great team with that type of situation.
“We were really behind the eight ball.”
Anderson, who shot the three-ball with a team-best 41.1% accuracy while averaging 10.3 points per game, said the practices — not the pop quiz — will solve Pasternack’s dilemma about playing time.
“Practice matters the most to the coaching staff,” he said. “It could change weekly.
“Certain guys will be hot on certain weeks. Certain guys will be practicing better on certain weeks.
“We’re just so deep at every position, so I think it’ll just vary on a week-to-week basis.”
Center Attraction
The screech of shoe rubber on varnished floor sounded the urgency on Thursday for the final workout before the trip to UNLV.
Tong and Kenny Pohto, a 6-11 and 255-pound graduate transfer from Wichita State, drove into each other like Brahma bulls during one meeting of the shoulders along the baseline.
Tong had to gather himself before tossing a successful jump hook over his towering rival of a teammate.
“It’s a highly competitive environment,” Pasternack said. “Having a deep team, which we weren’t last year, allows us to play really, really hard and preach defense and rebounding.
“You have to compete hard or you’re coming out of the game.”
Pohto averaged 10.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.3 steals per game for Wichita State last year.
He and Tong, who was a key freshman reserve before injuring his knee during UCSB’s NCAA Tournament season of 2023, give the Gauchos the pick-and-roll defenders that they sorely missed in last year’s man-to-man scheme.
“Pohto can really rebound the ball,” Pasternack said. “He’s a really big kid and he’s definitely going to help in that area.
“K.K. was basically out for a year and a half when he could do nothing, so it’s just going to take him some time. But he’s gotten a lot stronger and is going to be a good player for us, too.
“He would’ve really helped us last year.”
Bland led UCSB in rebounds (5.9 per game) and blocked shots (1.2) last year from the other post position. He rarely looked to shoot from the outside, however, making 2-of-5 attempts.
Pasternack shopped the transfer portal for some “stretch-fours” — post players who can shoot the three — so opponents can’t cheat off on Anderson as much.
Two of his pick-ups, Max Murrell and Colin Smith, were key players for their power-conference schools last season before getting sidelined by injuries.
Murrell, a 6-9 graduate transfer from Stanford, shot 44.4% from three-point range as a junior.
Smith, a 6-8 sophomore transfer, was averaging 7.1 points and 6.6 rebounds for Vanderbilt before tearing an Achilles tendon last season.
“Max is a sniper,” Pasternack said. “I think he was leading the Pac-12 in three-point percentage two years ago but a couple of concussions hurt him last year.
“Colin is practicing every day and coming back from his injury very well. He’s an unbelievable kid and a really good player but, obviously, Achilles injuries are serious and it takes some time.”
Making a Point
Swenson appears set as Mitchell’s successor at point guard. At 6-2, he is three inches shorter than his predecessor but shares many of his attributes.
Both are savvy, lefthanded ball-handlers from Belgium. Both were especially heroic in late-game situations during their runs to the NCAA Tournament — Mitchell for UCSB in 2023 and Swenson for Stetson last year.
Swenson ranked 18th in NCAA Division I basketball for assists (203, 5.8 per game) while also averaging 13.9 points and 4.7 rebounds.
“He’s a natural born leader,” Pasternack said. “Very verbal guy. Very intense. Very competitive. Highly motivated.
“Gosh, it’s really hard to pick a better leader than him. The players really respect him.”
Pasternack plucked another experienced player from the transfer portal to compensate for the loss of Mitchell’s point production.
Kieves “Deuce” Turner, a 6-2 graduate student, led the University of San Diego in scoring last season with a 15.5-point average to earn the West Coast Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year Award.
He gives UCSB another three-point threat opposite of Anderson, having shot 37.4% from distance last year (64-for-171). He also led the WCC in free-throw percentage (85.8%, 109-for-127).
Graduate transfer Chris Mitchell — no relation to Ajay — shot 43.7% from three-point range while leading Cal State San Bernardino to a 27-8 record and last year’s NCAA Division II semifinals.
The 6-6 wing player averaged a team-best 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds.
“We’ve really upgraded our shooting,” Pasternack said. “I think we can shoot from four positions this season, and even from all five with certain lineups.”
Fontenet has emerged as another threat from the wing. The coaching staff considers him to be perhaps UCSB’s most improved player.
“Jason is doing a really great job defensively and rebounding the basketball, and he can really shoot the ball,” Pasternack said.
“He played in a lot of games last year and he’s got some experience now.”
He also predicts a more productive season for Shtolzberg. He missed several months of practice and games last year with a shoulder injury after transferring from Creighton.
“Ben has worked really hard and he’s a real fiery competitor,” Pasternack said. “I’m really excited he’s back.”
A Yearn to Learn
UCSB has added two of California’s most highly ranked high school recruits in 6-8 wing forward Zion Sensley from San Francisco’s Archbishop Riordan and 6-2 point guard Zachiah “ZZ” Clark from Chatsworth’s DNA Prep Academy.
Both have had stellar moments during the Gaucho workouts. Figuring out their roles for this season, however, is part of what keeps Pasternack up at night.
“I think it’s still to be determined,” he said. “They’re great kids. They’re really learning the college game, which takes time, but they’re getting action in the scrimmages and I’m really excited about them.
“They’re really talented and they’re unbelievable learners. They love the game and they’re incredibly coachable.
“It’s just such a big transition from high school to college, but they’re both going to be terrific players.”
He even wonders about the transition of his experienced transfers.
“The most difficult part in all of this is when you play for all these different coaches,” Pasternack said. “Kenny Pohto played for two different coaches at Wichita State and now he’s on his third coach.
“Deuce Turner played at a Patriot League school (Bucknell), a JUCO (South Plains College of Levelland, Texas), and then San Diego, so I’m his fourth coach in four years.
“Learning four different systems of play, both offense and defense, isn’t easy. For all the guys, it’s a really big adjustment.”
It may take a few months, and the Big West is starting its league season early this year with “Bold Week.” UCSB will open conference against a pair of contenders when they play host to UC San Diego on Dec. 5 and travel to UC Davis on Dec. 7.
“We’ll be at our best, hopefully, later in the season,” Pasternack said. “That is, if we can — knock on wood — stay healthy as guys get to know how we do things.”
He does have the numbers, but finding the equation that adds that up to victories is still the question at hand.
