Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Men's Basketball Completes Recruiting Class with Seven Signings in the Spring
7/18/2024 1:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN head men's basketball coach Andy Newman has announced the signings of seven to the Matadors, completing a 10-member recruiting class for the 2024-25 season.
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Joining the Matadors this upcoming season will be BYU transfer Marcus Adams, Jr., Pacific transfer Tyler Beard, Washington transfer PJ Fuller II, Cal State East Bay transfer Grady Lewis, Pacific graduate Judson Martindale, Southern transfer and returning Matador Festus Ndumanya and California Baptist transfer Scotty Washington.
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"I'm really excited about our class this year," said Newman. "We've added a lot of offensive firepower to our roster. I think we'll be closer to playing the way we like to play by getting up and down the floor, playing at fast pace and scoring a lot of points."
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Marcus Adams, Jr. | 6-8 | Torrance, Calif. | BYU
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Adams joins the Matadors after spending his first collegiate season at BYU where he saw action in one game in 2023-24. A SoCal native, Adams was named a four-star recruit according to 247Sports as a prep player at nearby Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Calif. As a senior, Adams received the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year award for the L.A. City Section Open Division. He also was named City Section's Open Division Co-Player of the Year in 2023. With Narbonne, Adams averaged a robust 29 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Adams also registered three 40-point and one 50-point game in high school.
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Tyler Beard | G | 6-2 | Chicago, Ill. | Pacific
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Beard lettered the past two seasons at Pacific, playing in 62 games with 18 starts. Two seasons ago, he scored a career-high 9.1 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting to go with 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He would play in 30 games this past season while averaging 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds. With Pacific, Beard shot 38.1 percent from 3-point range (48-for-126). Beard spent his freshman season at Georgetown where he appeared in 30 games with two starts as he averaged 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds. A four-year standout at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, he helped lead the Dolphins to a 99-32 record and earned Class 4A All-State honors as a senior. Beard also prepped one year at Hargrave Military Academy in 2020-21.
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PJ Fuller II | G | 6-4 | Seattle, Wash. | Washington
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Fuller brings to CSUN experience gained in the Pac-12 and Big 12. In four combined seasons, Fuller has appeared 115 games, collecting 727 total points. From 2021-23, Fuller lettered at Washington where he averaged a career-best 7.4 points in 32 games in 2021-22. Fuller scored 6.2 points per game while dishing out 2.4 assists in 26 appearances including 17 starts in his final season in Washington in 2022-23. He also spent two seasons at TCU from 2019-21, averaging 5.8 points in his final year with the Horned Frogs. Fuller previously earned a four-star rating by ESPN and 247Sports as he prepped at Findlay Prep in Henderson Nev. and averaged 18.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 2018-19.
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Grady Lewis | F/C | 6-9 | Phoenix, Ariz. | Cal State East Bay
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Lewis joins the Matadors after a three-year stint with Division II Cal State East Bay, amassing 789 points and 391 rebounds. Over the past two seasons, Lewis has earned All-CCAA First Team accolades and been among the league leaders in scoring, rebounding and blocks. In 2023-24, Lewis was ranked fifth in the CCAA in rebounds per game (7.4) and sixth in points per game (14.7) while he led the conference in blocks per game (1.1). He also shot the ball over 60 percent in each of the past two seasons, highlighted by 68.6 percent shooting this past season (186-for-271). Lewis posted seven double-doubles in 2023-24 and scored in double figures in 25 of 29 games. Prior to CSUEB, Lewis prepped at Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix where he won a 6A state championship as a senior.
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Judson Martindale | F | 6-7 | Sudbury, Mass. | Pacific
A proven scorer, Martindale has recorded 840 points in 110 career games over the past four seasons. Martindale has shot a career 37.1 percent beyond the 3-point arc (130-for-350) while converting on 43.1 percent from the field. He spent the past two seasons at Pacific, starting 41 of 63 total games. In 2023-24, Martindale scored a career-high 9.1 points per game and led the Tigers in three-point field goals made with 42. He scored in double figures in 14 games this past season and converted on at least one made three in 24 of 30 games. Martindale began his collegiate career at Holy Cross where he played in 47 games over two seasons, averaging 7.5 points and 2.9 rebounds. Prior to college, Martindale prepped at Worcester Academy where he was named honorable mention Class AA-All New England.
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Festus Ndumanya | F | 6-7 | Anambra, Nigeria | Southern University
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A previous two-year letterwinner with CSUN, Ndumanya makes his return to the Matadors in 2024-25. Ndumanya spent the past two seasons at Southern University where he played in 28 games and made 11 starts. He would play 24 times two seasons ago, averaging 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds to go with shooting 60.4 percent. Ndumanya only appeared in four games, starting three times, this past season. He also spent one season at Salt Lake Community College in 2021-22, alongside current Matador Jordan Brinson and assistant coach CJ Killin. With SLCC, Ndumanya averaged a career-high 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in helping the Bruins finish as NJCAA national runner-up. Ndumanya began his college career with CSUN, helping the Matadors finish second in The Big West as a true freshman in 2019-20. He played in 51 games with CSUN, averaging 4.0 points on 54 percent shooting while registering 3.7 rebounds per game.
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Scotty Washington | G/F | 6-4 | Del Amo, Calif. | California Baptist
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Washington spent the past three seasons at California Baptist where he lettered two years and made 61 appearances. He started a career-high 18 games this season and played in 33 games where he averaged 8.5 points. A sharpshooter from long range, Washington made the second-most threes on the team last season with 54 while he shot 39.7 percent from beyond the arc along with 79.6 percent from the free throw line (39-for-49). In 2023-24, Washington scored in double figures 11 times including surpassing 20 points in five games. Prior to his collegiate career, Washington prepped at St. John Bosco High School and led the Braves to the 2021 Division 1-AA SoCal Regional championship.
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Along with the seven spring signings, CSUN signed three during the early signing period last fall, which consisted of incoming freshmen Noah Williams (Sierra Canyon High School) and Sabien Cain (Millennium High School) along with junior college transfer Jalen Barbee (Cochise College).
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"I think our roster is indicative of the style we want to play," added Newman. "With the additions on the perimeter in PJ Fuller and Tyler Beard, those are guys that are going to push the ball in transition. Scotty Washington, Sabien Cain and Jalen Barbee can really fill it up and shoot it – they are going to be fun to watch on the backend of some of the plays we'll make. In the front court, we've upgraded severely with Judson Martindale from UOP, Grady Lewis from Cal State East Bay and returning Festus Ndumanya as well as both Marcus Adams and Noah Williams coming home to play for us – all of them give us a lot of length and versatility in that front court that allows us to spread floor, continue to play fast, but also spread the defense with forwards that can really shoot it."
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#GoMatadors
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Joining the Matadors this upcoming season will be BYU transfer Marcus Adams, Jr., Pacific transfer Tyler Beard, Washington transfer PJ Fuller II, Cal State East Bay transfer Grady Lewis, Pacific graduate Judson Martindale, Southern transfer and returning Matador Festus Ndumanya and California Baptist transfer Scotty Washington.
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"I'm really excited about our class this year," said Newman. "We've added a lot of offensive firepower to our roster. I think we'll be closer to playing the way we like to play by getting up and down the floor, playing at fast pace and scoring a lot of points."
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Marcus Adams, Jr. | 6-8 | Torrance, Calif. | BYU
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Adams joins the Matadors after spending his first collegiate season at BYU where he saw action in one game in 2023-24. A SoCal native, Adams was named a four-star recruit according to 247Sports as a prep player at nearby Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Calif. As a senior, Adams received the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year award for the L.A. City Section Open Division. He also was named City Section's Open Division Co-Player of the Year in 2023. With Narbonne, Adams averaged a robust 29 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Adams also registered three 40-point and one 50-point game in high school.
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Tyler Beard | G | 6-2 | Chicago, Ill. | Pacific
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Beard lettered the past two seasons at Pacific, playing in 62 games with 18 starts. Two seasons ago, he scored a career-high 9.1 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting to go with 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He would play in 30 games this past season while averaging 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds. With Pacific, Beard shot 38.1 percent from 3-point range (48-for-126). Beard spent his freshman season at Georgetown where he appeared in 30 games with two starts as he averaged 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds. A four-year standout at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, he helped lead the Dolphins to a 99-32 record and earned Class 4A All-State honors as a senior. Beard also prepped one year at Hargrave Military Academy in 2020-21.
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PJ Fuller II | G | 6-4 | Seattle, Wash. | Washington
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Fuller brings to CSUN experience gained in the Pac-12 and Big 12. In four combined seasons, Fuller has appeared 115 games, collecting 727 total points. From 2021-23, Fuller lettered at Washington where he averaged a career-best 7.4 points in 32 games in 2021-22. Fuller scored 6.2 points per game while dishing out 2.4 assists in 26 appearances including 17 starts in his final season in Washington in 2022-23. He also spent two seasons at TCU from 2019-21, averaging 5.8 points in his final year with the Horned Frogs. Fuller previously earned a four-star rating by ESPN and 247Sports as he prepped at Findlay Prep in Henderson Nev. and averaged 18.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 2018-19.
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Grady Lewis | F/C | 6-9 | Phoenix, Ariz. | Cal State East Bay
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Lewis joins the Matadors after a three-year stint with Division II Cal State East Bay, amassing 789 points and 391 rebounds. Over the past two seasons, Lewis has earned All-CCAA First Team accolades and been among the league leaders in scoring, rebounding and blocks. In 2023-24, Lewis was ranked fifth in the CCAA in rebounds per game (7.4) and sixth in points per game (14.7) while he led the conference in blocks per game (1.1). He also shot the ball over 60 percent in each of the past two seasons, highlighted by 68.6 percent shooting this past season (186-for-271). Lewis posted seven double-doubles in 2023-24 and scored in double figures in 25 of 29 games. Prior to CSUEB, Lewis prepped at Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix where he won a 6A state championship as a senior.
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Judson Martindale | F | 6-7 | Sudbury, Mass. | Pacific
A proven scorer, Martindale has recorded 840 points in 110 career games over the past four seasons. Martindale has shot a career 37.1 percent beyond the 3-point arc (130-for-350) while converting on 43.1 percent from the field. He spent the past two seasons at Pacific, starting 41 of 63 total games. In 2023-24, Martindale scored a career-high 9.1 points per game and led the Tigers in three-point field goals made with 42. He scored in double figures in 14 games this past season and converted on at least one made three in 24 of 30 games. Martindale began his collegiate career at Holy Cross where he played in 47 games over two seasons, averaging 7.5 points and 2.9 rebounds. Prior to college, Martindale prepped at Worcester Academy where he was named honorable mention Class AA-All New England.
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Festus Ndumanya | F | 6-7 | Anambra, Nigeria | Southern University
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A previous two-year letterwinner with CSUN, Ndumanya makes his return to the Matadors in 2024-25. Ndumanya spent the past two seasons at Southern University where he played in 28 games and made 11 starts. He would play 24 times two seasons ago, averaging 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds to go with shooting 60.4 percent. Ndumanya only appeared in four games, starting three times, this past season. He also spent one season at Salt Lake Community College in 2021-22, alongside current Matador Jordan Brinson and assistant coach CJ Killin. With SLCC, Ndumanya averaged a career-high 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in helping the Bruins finish as NJCAA national runner-up. Ndumanya began his college career with CSUN, helping the Matadors finish second in The Big West as a true freshman in 2019-20. He played in 51 games with CSUN, averaging 4.0 points on 54 percent shooting while registering 3.7 rebounds per game.
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Scotty Washington | G/F | 6-4 | Del Amo, Calif. | California Baptist
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Washington spent the past three seasons at California Baptist where he lettered two years and made 61 appearances. He started a career-high 18 games this season and played in 33 games where he averaged 8.5 points. A sharpshooter from long range, Washington made the second-most threes on the team last season with 54 while he shot 39.7 percent from beyond the arc along with 79.6 percent from the free throw line (39-for-49). In 2023-24, Washington scored in double figures 11 times including surpassing 20 points in five games. Prior to his collegiate career, Washington prepped at St. John Bosco High School and led the Braves to the 2021 Division 1-AA SoCal Regional championship.
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Along with the seven spring signings, CSUN signed three during the early signing period last fall, which consisted of incoming freshmen Noah Williams (Sierra Canyon High School) and Sabien Cain (Millennium High School) along with junior college transfer Jalen Barbee (Cochise College).
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"I think our roster is indicative of the style we want to play," added Newman. "With the additions on the perimeter in PJ Fuller and Tyler Beard, those are guys that are going to push the ball in transition. Scotty Washington, Sabien Cain and Jalen Barbee can really fill it up and shoot it – they are going to be fun to watch on the backend of some of the plays we'll make. In the front court, we've upgraded severely with Judson Martindale from UOP, Grady Lewis from Cal State East Bay and returning Festus Ndumanya as well as both Marcus Adams and Noah Williams coming home to play for us – all of them give us a lot of length and versatility in that front court that allows us to spread floor, continue to play fast, but also spread the defense with forwards that can really shoot it."
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#GoMatadors
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