By A new era begins under Long Beach State’s first-year men’s basketball head coach Chris Acker, as LBSU Athletics announced the 2024-25 season schedule on Aug. 27 for the reigning Big West Champions.
Huge turnover to The Beach’s roster raises lots of questions and concerns for a program that saw its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2011 last season under former head coach Dan Monson, who was let go after 17 years at The Beach.
In his first Division 1 head coaching stint, Acker’s roster sees 11 new faces consisting of upperclassmen and freshmen.
“We’re doing it by committee right now as guys continue to get to know each other, understand strengths and weaknesses, and understand the coaching staff,” Acker said.
LBSU ranks in the bottom 15 (4.1%) of teams in the country in minutes returning, with only three players returning from last season’s roster, according to Bart Torvik. Outside of losing five seniors, The Beach saw multiple starters transfer elsewhere to Division 1 programs in the offseason.
The 11 new arrivals consist of six Division 1 transfers, three junior college transfers and two incoming freshmen.
D1 Transfers:
- Senior guard Devin Askew
- Senior guard Cam Denson
- Graduate forward Austin Johnson
- Redshirt freshman guard Ramel Lloyd Jr.
- Junior guard TJ Wainwright
- Sophomore forward Derrick Michael Xzavierro
Junior college transfers:
- Senior guard Cory Curtis Jr.
- Junior guard Grant Martin
- Junior center Christian Richardson
Incoming freshmen
- Guard Kam Martin
- Center Andrew Nagy
Senior transfer guard Devin Askew is one of the new faces for LBSU and looks to resurrect his career by returning home to The Beach. Photo Credit: LBSU Athletics
Rounding out the team are the returners, sophomore guards Jason Hart Jr. and Varick Lewis and redshirt freshman guard Eli Djordjevic.
With the challenge of getting the roster acclimated, being vocal this offseason has been one of Acker’s top priorities in getting players more familiar with his system.
“When it’s your first team and it’s their first time playing for you, I got to do the majority of the talking to the players and staff to make sure we’re operating at the level that I expect us to operate at,” Acker said. “I understand in the back of my mind the best teams are player-led teams, and so by committee, they’re working towards getting there.”
The Beach opens the season by hosting CalTech in an exhibition game on Oct. 28 at the Walter Pyramid at 7 p.m. The season will then officially begin one week later at the Walter Pyramid on Nov. 4 as they host the University of La Verne.
After its home opener, LBSU will begin the season’s first road trip on Nov. 8 against South Dakota State, who reached the NCAA Tournament last year, and the University of San Francisco on Nov.13.
Head coach Chris Acker working with graduate forward Austin Johnson at practice. Johnson is one of 11 new players brought in by Acker for his first year as the head coach at The Beach. Photo credit: LBSU Athletics
Two games later, The Beach faces one of the biggest non-conference challenges on Nov. 20 on the road in Spokane, Washington, against Gonzaga University, who reached the Sweet 16 in last year’s dance. According to Bart Torvik, the Bulldogs have 81.4% of last year’s minutes played returning from last season, which ranks seventh-most in the country, a number that dramatically trumps The Beach..
From Nov. 25 to 27, The Beach will travel to Henderson, Nevada, for the Ball Dawgs Classic Thanksgiving Tournament to face off against UNC Greensboro, UTEP and San Jose State.
The Beach’s Big West conference schedule begins on the road against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 5, followed by hosting the University of Hawai’i on Dec. 7 in a Saturday showdown.
Before continuing conference play to finish the season, The Beach visits the University of San Diego and Pepperdine University, then returns home against La Sierra University all in 11 days. The final game of the regular season will be at home on March 8 against Cal Poly, where having home court can be an advantage if the Big West standings are tight in a potential must-win situation.
The coveted “Black and Blue Rivalry” between The Beach and UC Irvine commences at the Walter Pyramid on Jan. 30, with the second game being slated for March 1 at the Bren Events Center in Irvine.
The Big West Championship tournament will continue in Henderson, Nevada, from March 12-15.
With all said and done and new faces from different places, the biggest question mark surrounding LBSU basketball will be their cohesiveness on the floor.
