Sacramento State Hornets aiming for a better record
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The basketball squad blazing the trail in Sacramento is the Sacramento State Hornets, a basketball team for both men and women, portraying the prestigious California State University, located in Sacramento. In 1996, the team became a member of the Big Sky Conference.
Identified by their customary colors of gold and green, the Sacramento Hornets men鈥檚 team is ably coached by its long-standing head coach, Brian Katz, who is currently serving his 13th season in the team, while Bunky Harkleroad is in charge of the women’s team.
Making impacts in their chosen career on the basketball courts across the nation and basketball world-class tournaments, the Hornets have graced countless competitions with remarkable turnouts and results.
They stormed the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) only one time and recorded a 1-1 result.
NCAA Division II competitions hosted them four times, and they compiled a total of 4-7 score line altogether.
The Hornets’ outings have witnessed major and phenomenal events that surmised the totality of their existence as a basketball team.
During the 2013-14 season, the men’s team played at the NCAA Division I season for that year, headed by Katz who by then already marked his 6th year with the Hornets. They stayed at the Hornets Nest to play all their home competitions. Other coaches such as Ajay Riding, Chris Walker and Brandon Laird accompanied them to the tournaments to assist Katz in navigating the games.
Walker’s previous job was the director of basketball operations before his advancement to the assistant coach role.
The season ended for the team with impressive results of 14-16, 10-10 for the Big Sky games. These results tied them in the seventh position, but the quarterfinals squashed them because they suffered a defeat in favor of North Dakota.
For the 2014-15 NCAA Division I season, they represented the university at the men’s basketball games, still paddling the ship with Katz in his 7th year.
At the end of the season, The Hornets got 21-12, 14-5 score line, still in Big Sky competition. Like the previous year, they also tied, but this time, landed at the third position. They luckily progressed to the semifinals but were defeated by Eastern Washington.
Their loss was compensated by winning against Portland during the first leg, but they fell again to Northern Arizona, also a Big Sky member.
The following year, Katz once again led the team to the 2015-16 NCAA Division I season. This time, they shifted from the Hornets Nest to Colberg Court.
Their records were 14-17 and 6-12, landing in the 10th position. They thrashed Montana State and moved to the quarterfinals, but the same opponent collected their title by beating them at the last game.
A year later, the 2016-17 season was attended by the women’s wing of the university, headed by Harkleroad, who has spent four years with the team.
The female Hornets recorded 10-20, 6-12 in Big Sky games and tied to land at the 8th position. Weber State defeated them during the first leg of the tournament for women.
In 2017-18, the men took the reins again at the 2017-18 NCAA Division I season, playing at home in the Hornets Nest, Sacramento.
They ended with 7-25, 4-14 and landed in 11th place before losing to Portland State during the first competition.
By the beginning of the 2018-19 season, the women came back again to play, with Harkleroad in his 6th聽year. They ended the season in the 9th position after ending 10-19, 6-14. However, another loss was thrown at them when Northern Arizona won the tournament.
The last record showed that the men鈥檚 team participated at the 2020-21 season, ending with a record of 8-12 and 5-9.
A sports team without a coach is like a ship without a captain, and the men’s team of the Hornets knew this for a fact, so they trusted Katz with their career.
Born in 1957, Katz arrived in Sacramento at age 19 and was awarded a junior college head coach role. The 63-year-old sports professional has many coaching accolades, including schools such as Santa Clara (assistant) from 1987 to 1989, Casa Roble High School (1982-1983), Center High School (1983 to 1987), San Joaquin Delta CC (1993 to 2008) and Sacramento State University (2008 to present).
In addition to his coaching records, Katz is also decorated with some awards, including the Hugh Durham Award in 2015 and Big Sky Conference Co-Coach of the Year in the same year.
No doubt, the Hornets are a work in progress. The teams must work tirelessly to reinvent their strategies and showcase fascinating results.
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.