The screeching sound of the buzzer fired off as the final game of Cal Poly Men’s Basketball’s 2023-24 season came to a close.
The Mustangs were left distraught as yet another tumultuous year finished with disappointment. The team failed to win a single conference game and eclipsed their 19-game losing streak from the season prior with 20 straight losses to end the year.
Change was necessary, but it got even worse before it got better.
Shortly following the end of the season, leading scorer Kobe Sanders announced his transfer to the University of Nevada, and notable starter Quentin Jones also took his talents to Northern Illinois University.
The Mustangs looked to return only five players, and the program would need to transform the team in order to rebuild.
Cal Poly parted ways with five-year head coach John Smith and, on March 26, announced their hiring of Mike DeGeorge as the new head of the program.
DeGeorge was no stranger to taking on programs needing a rebuild, doing so at Rhodes College from 2010 to 2018 and Colorado Mesa from 2018 to 2024.
At Colorado Mesa, the Mavericks won 19 total games in two seasons, only to win the same amount in one year after he took the helm. The team also earned a regular season conference title and made it to the Sweet 16 of the Division II NCAA Tournament.
After taking over at Cal Poly, DeGeorge reformed the roster with players from Colorado Mesa and brought in his philosophy of quick pace, emphasizing three-point shots and layups.
A little under halfway into the season, the Mustangs already look like a completely different team.
Non-conference play was highlighted with an upset victory over the Stanford Cardinal for their fifth win, already exceeding their total win count from the previous year.
Pushing the pace
Under DeGeorge, Cal Poly has increased its offensive output by a significant margin, adhering to a faster style of play that has them ranked No. 1 in possessions per game in the country, according to TeamRankings.
At DeGeorge’s former school, the Mavericks had the eighth-highest field goal percentage in the country while taking the third most three-point shots. Their focus was on outside shooting and getting to the basket, with the mid-range being an afterthought.
The Mustangs have followed the same philosophy, increasing their average points per game from 63 points last season to 84, benefiting from a flurry of three-point shots.
The team’s identity has been a drive-and-kick offense, focusing on getting to the paint and opening up opportunities for their shooters to get good looks.
This has led to the Mustangs going from averaging six three-pointers a game to 10 this season.
“You gotta be ready when the ball comes to you,” senior guard Isaac Jessup said. “That’s what the coaches preach to us.”
Jessup is one of the players who came with DeGeorge from Colorado Mesa. He has been a reliable outside threat for Cal Poly so far this season.
Third on the team with 14 points per game, the Washington native has shot 45% from three, and he has been an outlet for driving players to find on the perimeter.
Overall, the Mustangs have averaged 35% from three-point range, forcing teams to respect their shooting, which only opens up the driving lanes more.
However, not everything has been perfect, as Cal Poly is still adjusting in the early season.
With a faster pace of play, the risk of turning the ball over increases, and it has shown. The Mustangs have had multiple games with 18 or more turnovers.
“We gotta get that number down,” DeGeorge said. “And part of that is just playing with a little more poise in the paint when we get it in there.”
In the few games they’ve played, Cal Poly has shown significant offensive improvement compared to last season. However, the team still needs to get more comfortable with the system and level of play as the season continues.
Calculated risk
Defensively, DeGeorge aims for Cal Poly to be a team that plays with a controlled aggressiveness, knowing when to take risks and try for steals.
“We want to be a positional team that keeps the ball out of the paint, but we also want guys to make aggressive plays,” DeGeorge said. “If you’re going to make a mistake, make a mistake of aggression.”
So far, the Mustangs have averaged eight steals per game, three more than last year.
They’ve benefited from active hands in the passing lanes while trying to stay fundamental on defense.
“Coach always preaches if you’re in the gap early, you can kind of reach and get back to your man compared to trying to dig and go towards the ball and leaving your guy open,” graduate guard Mac Riniker said.
It was most notable in an intense game against SeattleU, where Riniker poked the ball away from a Seattle player and scored the go-ahead layup that propelled Cal Poly to a 75-71 victory.
In that contest, the Mustangs had nine steals and held the Redhawks to 38.5% shooting from the field.
Looking ahead
Though still early in the season, Cal Poly has shown improvements on both sides of the ball.
Following their victory over Stanford, the Mustangs were ranked No. 83 in the season’s first NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.
Teams are evaluated by their game results, strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency and the quality of wins and losses.
In the previous two seasons, the team couldn’t reach the top 300 of the rankings.
Cal Poly began Big West Conference play with two losses, but they were without second and third-leading scorers Jessup and graduate guard Jarred Hyder in those games.
As the two get healthy, the Mustangs stack up well against the conference. They average the most points per game in the Big West, fueled by their offensive style.
As the year continues, they hope to reduce their turnovers and further acclimate to DeGeorge’s system and the level of play that Division I basketball has to offer.