CSUN Men's Basketball Opens 2026-27 Season This Week

Wednesday, November 4

Wichita, Kan.

4:30 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Wichita State

11/2/2026 4:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

MBB Game Notes - Nov. 3

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball officially opens its 69th season on Wednesday with the Matadors visiting Wichita State at 4:30 p.m. PT. Opening week will conclude with a Friday night matchup at Kansas State at 6:00 p.m. PT. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan also has the call in free audio only broadcasts at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

FOR STARTERS
Head coach Andy Newman brings a new-look Matador team in 2026-27, consisting of 11 newcomers and just two letterwinners from last year's team. Of the team's new faces, eight student-athletes join the Matadors from Division I schools along with two junior college transfers. CSUN is coming off its second consecutive 20-win season, a feat last accomplished from 1998-01. The Matadors posted a third-place finish in the Big West last season as they reached the semifinals of the Big West Championship for the first time since 2014.

PRESEASON CHATTER
In the 2026 Big West Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, the Matadors received 86 points and was predicted to finish fourth by the league's head coaches. UC Irvine was picked to repeat as regular season champion, placing first with 114 points with seven first-place votes while UC San Diego was second with 105 points and three first-place votes and UC Santa Barbara was third with two first-place votes. The rest of the poll had Utah Valley in fifth (85 points) followed by Cal Poly (75 points), Sacramento (65 points), Cal State Fullerton (49 points), California Baptist (40 points), Cal State Bakersfield (28 points), UC Riverside (23 points) and Long Beach State (19 points). This year will be an expanded Big West season with 22 conference games.

NEW FACES AT CSUN
The 2026-27 squad features a host of new Matador faces, as 11 student-athletes join CSUN this season. Of the 11, eight come from Division I schools including three entering their fifth year of college. Two junior college additions bring added depth after stints with winning teams last season.

Forward BJ Omot is one of the fifth-year standouts, bringing nearly 70 games of Division I experience. The 6-8 standout began his college career at North Dakota where he was an All-Summit League First Team selection in 2023-24, scoring a career-high 16.7 points per game. Omot though has been limited to just four games over the past two seasons at stints at Cal and Minnesota. In 69 career games, Omot has averaged 14.1 points per game with 103 total 3-point makes.
A transfer from Portland, junior guard Mikah Ballew played in 62 games over the past two seasons with 15 starts. He averaged a career-high 8.7 points per game last season, which included 50 total 3-point field goals made. The sharpshooter is also an efficient 80.9 percent from the free throw line in his two-year career.
Senior guard Brooklyn Hicks comes to CSUN from the University of Montana where he was a key contributor, averaging 9.0 points and 3.8 rebounds to go with 29 steals. He sank 43 shots from long range and shot 46.6 percent overall from the field. Hicks also spent his first two college seasons at UNLV, playing in 65 combined games.
Originally from Saintes-Maries-De-La-Mer, France, Keziah Ekissi joins CSUN after a one-year stint with Oregon State. Ekissi averaged 4.7 points to go with 48 assists and 16 steals in 27 games with the Beavers. Prior to last season, Ekisski scored in double figures with Howard College in 2024-25. He also previously played internationally for his native French club Chloet for their U21 squads.
Another fifth-year player, Caleb Smith was the top rebounder with Rider last season as he pulled down 7.1 per game. Smith would also average 7.2 points to go with 41 assists and 33 steals. Prior to Rider, Smith played junior college basketball with Garden City CC and Pratt CC, as he was a double-digit scorer for both teams.
In the middle, forward Jael Martin spent the past two seasons at LMU. After redshirting as a freshman, Martin gained key experience last year, totaling 17 games and posting 32 points and 23 rebounds. Martin also shot at an efficient 59.1 percent from the field.
No stranger to CSUN, Lamine Niang returns to the Matadors in 2026-27 for his final collegiate season. Niang began his career with CSUN, spending his first two years in Northridge including one under Andy Newman. He would transfer in 2024-25 and go on to play for UT Martin from 2024-26. The native of Thies, Senegal, averaged 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds to go with 45 blocked shots with UT Martin.
A 7-0 center, Emmanuel Stephen brings size to CSUN after a year spent with UNLV. Stephen started 13 of 24 games with the Rebels, averaging 3.5 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 51.4 percent. Stephen began his college career at Arizona where he played limited minutes and appeared in eight games.
In the backcourt, Daniel Culberson was a starting point guard for the NJCAA National Championship Howard College last season. Culberson averaged 10.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists over 36 games with the Hawks.
Naceiar Kirksey, a 6-0 guard, scored a team-high 17.3 points per game with 4.3 assists for Monroe University last season. He would shoot 35.2 percent from long range in helping Monroe to a NJCAA district championship. Kirksey also played for Odessa College as a freshman previously.
Junior Jordan Hare rounds out the newcomers this season. The 6-5 guard is originally from Vancouver, B.C., as he prepped at Tamanawis Secondary School. Hare prepped at SoCal Academy after his high school career. He looks to make his collegiate debut on the court after spending the past two years as a student at Pepperdine.

JOSIAH RETURNS TO CSUN
CSUN welcomes back reigning Big West Player of the Year Josiah Davis who looks to build on a historic 2025-26 season. The 6-3 guard ranked fourth in the nation in assists with the 253, the most by a Matador since 2001, as he averaged 7.4 assists per game. On the scoring side, Davis was eighth in the Big West in scoring, posting a career-high of 15.9 points while he also averaged 4.6 rebounds. In all, Davis reached double figures in scoring in 27 of 34 games and posted seven double-doubles. Davis coupled his Big West Player of the Year award with Newcomer of the Year and All-Big West First Team honors as well. For his efforts last season, Davis was one-of-six players to be placed on the 2026-27 Big West Preseason Coaches' Team.

FAMILIAR FACES
Junior Greg Gazarian is the only other Matador returner to see action last season. Gazarian played in nine games and totaled four points in limited minutes. Both returning from injury, Jalen Barbee and Quinton Webb bring added to depth to CSUN wings. Barbee, who suffered a season-ending injury prior to last year, was a key member of the Matadors' 22-win season in 2024-25, where he played in 29 games. Suffering a season-ending injury last summer, Webb has previous collegiate experience with New Mexico, where he played in 32 games from 2022-25. Another familiar face, guard Omer Dahan returns to CSUN after redshirting in 2025-26.

NEWMAN ENTERS FOURTH SEASON
This season marks the fourth under head coach Andy Newman, as he is coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons. The Matadors have posted 61 wins over his first three years at the helm, the most victories over any three-year stretch in team history. Last season, In 2025-26, CSUN once again finished in the top-20 in rebounding last season, placing seventh overall at 41.4 per game while the team racked up a program-best 1,407 rebounds. Newman's Matadors set a single season record in points scored with 2,767 total and in field goals made with 1,012.

CSUN IN SEASON OPENERS
The Matadors are 33-35 in all-time season openers in their history. In road openers, CSUN has dropped its past five games, dating back to the 2021-22 season. The Matadors' last road-opening victory came in the 2020-21 campaign when CSUN beat Pepperdine in Malibu, 89-84. CSUN though has not opened a season with a victory on the road since the 2005-06 season, which saw that Matador team stun USC 81-76 in overtime to begin that year.

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE
The Shockers went 24-12 last season, securing the program's first 20-win season since 2019-20. Wichita State was second in the American Conference with a 13-5 league record and finished as the tournament runner-up before reaching the NIT quarterfinals. The team was picked to win the American this season, according to the league's head coaches. The Shockers boast 11 letterwinners with over 67 percent of its scoring returning to the squad. Kenyon Giles, a fifth-year player, had a breakout season, averaging 19.1 points with 125 three-point field goals made last year. The trio of William Berg, Dillon Battie, and Jordan Frison were among the American Preseason All-Conference honorees this season. Berg averaged 8.8 points and 8.1 rebounds while Battie posted 7.6 points. Frison scored over 16 points last season with Chattanooga.

Series History: CSUN has played Wichita State just once in team history. The Matadors, who played as a Division II program at the time, fell by a 78-53 score in their only trip to Wichita State on Nov. 28, 1987.

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
The Wildcats are coming off a 12-20 overall record and a 3-15 mark in the Big 12 last season. The team is playing under first-year head coach Casey Alexander. Only one letterman returns to K-State this season in Andrej Kostic who averaged 5.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists. On the flip side, 13 total newcomers join the Wildcats, including 10 Division I transfers and three freshmen. Senior guard Brandon Rechsteiner is among the notable newcomers who played for Colorado State last season, averaging 12.0 points per game. Jaden Schutt, a fifth-year guard, also joins Kansas State from Virginia Tech where he registered 7.7 points and 1.6 rebounds per game last year.

Series History: The Matadors are 0-2 against Kansas State, both of which played in CSUN's D-II era. The last meeting between the two teams took place on Nov. 30, 1987, with K-State prevailing by a 91-46 score.

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