So when Kelsey Forrester told Hackson about the most challenging part of her job at UC Santa Barbara, Hackson took action.

Hackson and Forrester have been close friends since their days as teammates on the Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team from 2018-22. Forrester, now an assistant coach and director of basketball operation for the UCSB women, told Hackson how the hardest part of her job is coordinating meals for players when the team is on road trips.

“Honestly, everything is perfect besides the meal part – and the meal part isn’t hard, it’s just the organizational part,” Forrester said. “And so Akayla is like, ‘OK, well let me fix this.’ ”

It turned out to be a life-changing solution for Hackson. In coming up with an alternative for Forrester, Hackson launched MealOps, a business that aims to modernize team meal logistics by helping athletic programs efficiently coordinate, organize and execute large group orders.

“I like to help and I like to build things,” Hackson said. “I told Kelsey I'd help her out and maybe build a product for her to keep it more organized and just help the workflow in general. Then I had a couple more friends come to me about similar issues. So I took a step back and I realized this could be something bigger.”

Hackson, who graduated from CSUSM in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in computer science, comes from a family of engineers. She has been interested in the discipline for as long as she can remember, and she always aspired to start her own company. After graduating from CSUSM, Hackson earned a master’s in machine learning and artificial intelligence from Stanford. She worked as a software engineer at G2 Software Systems, a U.S. Department of Defense contracting company, for three years before deciding last fall to focus completely on MealOps.

“It was scary,” she said. “It's hard when you have that cushion and job security, the constant income coming in to pretty much no income for a bit. I was just trying to believe in myself and believe in the product that I was building.”

MealOps is a one-stop shop to help teams with the logistics of feeding their athletes. It recently evolved into two connected products:

• CoachImHungry is a platform built for athletic programs to manage team meal logistics and ordering workflows.
• Phantom is an AI agent that connects with restaurant point-of-sale (POS) systems like Toast or Square and enables restaurants to accept orders securely from AI agents.

Hackson said CoachImHungry now operates on top of Phantom’s restaurant ordering infrastructure.

Hackson’s college basketball experience and athletics connections have been big assets as she gets the business off the ground.

“College athletics is super interconnected,” Hackson said. “I've been able to go to friends and to show them prototypes and ask, ‘How does this look? How does the workflow look?’ ”

So far, MealOps is exploring deals with UC San Diego, the University of San Diego and UCSB, which is coached by Renee Jimenez, Hackson’s coach at CSUSM.

“It has the potential to be really special,” Forrester said. “When I talk to people who take care of the operational stuff, this is one of the hardest parts for all teams.

“When Akayla puts her mind to something, she's ready to go and she's fully in. And you can see how much progress she's made on this already in such a short a period of time.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The first is the basketball court, where she was one of the driving forces behind the ascension of the Cougars’ women’s program into one of the most successful in NCAA Division II over the last few seasons.

The second is the Black Student Center, which long has been her oasis away from athletics.

“I am extremely grateful for the Black Student Center,” Buckner said. “It has been life-changing for me, honestly.”

Buckner has been involved with the center, at least sparingly, almost from the day she stepped foot on campus as a 17-year-old freshman back in 2018. But her participation ramped up during the COVID-19 pandemic when the campus was virtual and seemingly everyone was seeking ways to feel more connected with the CSUSM community and less isolated at home.

Now, as her five years at CSUSM come to a close, Buckner stands at the heart of the Black Student Center – she doesn’t work there, but she might as well given how much time she spends in it and how vital she is to its operations.

Buckner is one of 260 Black undergraduate and graduate students who have been invited to attend the annual Sankofa recognition ceremony for Black graduates. The event, which is celebrating its 25^th anniversary, will take place on Thursday, May 11.

“Dynnah radiates greatness,” said Shanelle Watkins, assistant director of the Black Student Center. “She’s so pleasant, professional and eager to learn and assist. As a student-athlete, she’s very busy but still makes time to serve in multiple roles for the center.”

Watkins met Buckner soon after she was hired as coordinator of Black student success initiatives in 2021. Watkins became the staff adviser for a new center program called Circle of Sisters, a support network for Black women at CSUSM, and Buckner quickly agreed to sign on as the first student coordinator.

Circle of Sisters now includes more than 30 members, and the program that launched virtually because of the pandemic meets monthly in person for gatherings on such topics as navigating Black girl friendships, reproductive wellness and group yoga.

“We serve each other,” Buckner said of the Circle of Sisters. “We push each other academically, and we support each other emotionally. It’s pretty much a connection community and making sure we’re all in line.”

Buckner also is a member of the Black Student Union, and last semester she joined the Ujamaa Achievement Program, a Black Student Center group that’s dedicated to academic excellence, leadership development, professional advancement and community engagement. An important component of the program is mentorship, and Buckner’s mentor is none other than Watkins.

Buckner describes Watkins as “one of the most inviting people I have ever met” and “like a light in the room.” Watkins, in turn, sees a lot of herself in Buckner as a fellow Black woman who graduated from CSUSM in 2013 with a degree in sociology (Buckner is a double major in sociology and psychology).

“Her courage and willingness to seek out mentorship and her personal morals, values and goals that she set for herself during her higher education journey and beyond remind me a lot of myself when I was in undergrad,” Watkins said.

Watkins says Buckner, as a fifth-year senior, has served as a kind of big sister to other women in the Black Student Center, but she’s a literal big sister to one of them. For the last two years, she has shared the center and the basketball court with Deannah Buckner, a member of the Circle of Sisters and a sophomore on the Cougars’ team.

“It’s the highlight of my college career to be able to be with my sister,” Dynnah Buckner said. “We definitely have gotten a lot closer, and to play with her at the collegiate level, that doesn’t happen often. That’s something that I will cherish forever.”

During her basketball career at CSUSM, Buckner started all 112 games in which she appeared across four seasons (her junior year was wiped out by the pandemic). She was named to the All-California Collegiate Athletic Association first team each of her last two years, and she was the Cougars’ leading scorer this past season as CSUSM went 25-6 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women’s tournament for the first time.

In her last three seasons, she helped lead the Cougars to a cumulative record of 72-16 and their first three trips to the NCAA tournament.

After graduation next month, Buckner plans to return to her hometown of Rancho Cucamonga to work as a substitute teacher before she heads overseas to continue her basketball career, likely in France or Spain. When she hangs up her sneakers for good, she aspires to earn a master’s degree in business administration or leadership management and enter a business field.

“I was able to be a part of something great. I was able to be a part of making history,” she said of playing basketball at CSUSM. “It's been life-changing, not just the basketball aspect, but in terms of community and leadership and working under pressure – all the valuable skills that I can take into the real world when I work with other people. I will always be thankful for that experience.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

For both the men’s and women's basketball teams at Cal State San Marcos, not being able to play the game they love for nearly two years was heartbreaking.

The pandemic ended the hopeful NCAA Tournament run for the women’s team as they got the call to end the 2019-20 season while waiting at the airport. Expectations were high for the men’s team to compete for a California Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 2020-21, but the entire season was canceled.

But challenging times turn good leaders into great ones.

Thanks to dedicated and malleable coaching staffs, committed and grateful players, and an athletic department that lists having its teams back through thick and thin among its greatest assets, the Cougars are back this season.

And with a vengeance.

The men’s team is 14-2 headed into its game Thursday at Cal State East Bay and ranked sixth in the Division II NABC poll and ninth in the D2SIDA Men's Basketball Division II Media Poll.

The women’s team has won nine straight and sits at No. 25 in the D2SIDA national rankings with a 13-2 record.

“This is where we’ve been trying to get,” women’s head coach Renee Jimenez said. “And now this is the hard part, too. I’m a builder, but it’s really, really hard to stay at the top. I tell our kids every day, ‘It’s hard to be great.’ You have to grind it out. It’s fun to chase down people and beat them, but it’s harder when you’re being chased, that’s for sure. We’re getting everybody’s A game every night, which has made us a really good team, too.”

B.J. Foster was an assistant coach at CSUSM before being named the head coach in 2016. He points to the culture of the men’s program as the biggest bridge for today’s success, which included 13 straight wins to start this season.

“You're always hoping that your team can be special, but until you actually get them all together and blending talent and blending personalities, that's the work portion of it,” Foster said. “Last year we did a ton of Zoom calls. We had a lot of good discussions on what winning cultures look like and how players can take more ownership to develop that culture. We studied coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success and gave each of the guys an opportunity to speak. It was hearing it from them and what cultures they've been a part of that were successful and cultures that were not successful and why.

“We tried to build that in our guys to take some ownership and develop some leadership this year so that if we could emphasize all the details on the court, we could play together and play as one. It's really paid off.”

The women’s team opened this season with a convincing win at Point Loma Nazarene University.

Then came the CSUSM Hoops Classic, which started with a 71-50 win over Seattle Pacific. A 2-0 record to begin to the campaign was just what the doctor ordered after 20 months without a competitive game.

The second CSUSM Hoops Classic game against Western Washington was expected to be tough, and it was. The Cougars lost 78-73 as they couldn’t overcome a bad start.

“They were better than us that night,” Jimenez said.

The Cougars returned to their winning ways a week later with two straight victories before another hiccup, this time a 64-56 loss at the hands of Cal State East Bay.

While previous Cougars teams may have allowed discouragement to take over, this team is iron toughened by fire.

“Our team camaraderie, work ethic and unselfishness is what makes our team special,” said senior captain Akayla Hackson, who is averaging a team-high 16.7 points per game. “We genuinely love and want each other to succeed. This is a concept that starts from the top and trickles down. Our coaches have been great leaders in setting the standard of what they want in a program. By doing this, not only will this team excel, but all the teams to come will also have what it takes. They have started a legacy here at Cal State San Marcos that I am honored to be a part of.”

Since the loss to Cal State East Bay on Dec. 4, the Cougars have won nine straight, including an 82-54 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay last Saturday.

They’re back at it on the road Thursday, and it’s a biggie.

The Cougars get another shot at Cal State East Bay, and there’s extra motivation for this one.

“It's been circled on our calendar since the day after, they can't stop talking about it,” said Jimenez, who began her coaching career at Stanford under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer. “I mean they've watched it like 90 million times, as have I. I don't even remember the date of the game. There's not a week that goes by that it's not referenced. Whether it's the coaches, whether it's the players. There's not a kid on our team right now that doesn't understand what Feb. 3 means to them. So that'll be a fun one.”

The men’s team, meanwhile, ran off 13 straight wins to open the season before they were tripped up.

The first loss was a 74-64 overtime contest at Cal State San Bernardino in which they hit zero field goals and one free throw in the extra period.

“We look at that game as a game that was our third overtime game in a row and on the road,” said Foster, the son of longtime Point Loma Nazarene University coach Ben Foster. “Our defense was really good in that game. We just missed a lot of easy shots like layups, and I don’t know if it was a little fatigue or what, but we looked at it as just a missed opportunity. We feel real strongly that we've played all the teams that are supposedly the best in the west region, and we feel really confident about ourselves and what we can do moving forward.”

Next came a strong 75-69 win against San Francisco State, before losing 71-69 to Cal State Monterey Bay on Jan. 29. Foster was not at the game after testing positive for COVID-19 during the week.

Foster isn’t worried for a second about his team’s ability to bounce back after two losses in the past three games.

“We're a tough team,” he said. “We've got all the ingredients of what tough teams have. And when things aren't necessarily going right, we still compete. When we get curveballs thrown at us, we don't make excuses, we just compete. That's the culture we were after. These guys like one another, they like coming to practice, they like competing, they like what we're doing. They've taken some ownership in it.”

The success of both teams didn’t come overnight, of course.

There were Zoom meetings, individual workouts and a lot of simply being patient for opportunities to return.

The current run came as part dedication to hard work and part motivation to get something back that was lost for more than a year and a half.

“But I feel like (the 2019-20) season hasn't ended yet,” said Jimenez, who was pregnant with twins when the world shut down in March 2020. “I feel like it's just an extended one. I never quite felt like we were starting over. That’s been really cool for me as a coach to see they didn't come back out of shape. They didn't forget the plays. They came back ready to go. It’s, ‘Let's win the conference. Let's get back to the regional and let's see what we're about.’ So that's what's been really cool with this group. It's been fun.”

Players involved in both programs have developed a significantly stronger appreciation for being with their teammates. For being led by their mentors. And for the game of basketball itself.

“Our team's appreciation has definitely grown after the COVID-19 quarantine,” said Hackson, who is majoring in computer science. “The season can end at any moment due to COVID-19, and it's scary. We talk about the possibility of the season ending often in practice and use it as fuel to compete at our maximum ability. We also acknowledge the damage COVID-19 could do to our season if we were to get COVID-19 ourselves. As seen all over the country, teams are having to forfeit games due to COVID mass spreading through their teams. Forfeiting games could ruin your record and could be the difference in making the NCAA tournament.

“For this reason, we have done an amazing job of keeping each other safe (not having to forfeit any games so far this season). We have all bought into this team and realize the sacrifices we must make to be great.”

Hackson isn’t the only player whose leadership and solid play have been counted on heavily. Junior guards Dynnah Buckner (14.5 points per game) and Kelsey Forrester (11.7 points per game) have contributed mightily, as has sophomore forward Jordan Vasquez, who is second in scoring (13.1 points per game) and leads the team in rebounding (7.7 rebounds per game).

On the men’s side, a relentless shutdown defense keeps the Cougars in every game. Guards Jayce McCain and Blake Seits set the tone on and off the court.

McCain, a psychology sophomore from Sacramento, averages 13.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 47%from the field.

“I think the most impressive thing is that we all get along so well,” said McCain, who was named to the CCAA All-Academic team as a redshirt freshman in 2019-20. “We have players coming from all different kinds of backgrounds, but we all fit together somehow. We can just sit in the locker room and have the time of our lives. We have promised each other that no matter what, we are going to buy into our winning culture. No matter the circumstance we are in, we all have the same goal.”

Seits, a redshirt senior from nearby Ramona who is majoring in business administration and marketing, is averaging a team-best 14.6 points per game along with 5.1 rebounds.

Impressive numbers for guards, particularly the rebounding numbers. But if you speak to Foster, he’s quick to tell you their value goes well beyond the box score.

“On the court, other guys have really stepped up their leadership as well, but they're two of our best players,” Foster said. “And when your best players care a lot, the people coming in, they have to care a little bit more. The details are just real important to them. And so it became important to everyone else. It's an infectious attitude. And it's really paid off. I mean, those two have been absolutely terrific.”

Jimenez, too, doesn’t hesitate when talking about how all her players have stepped up to become leaders on the court, in the weight room and in the classroom.

But perhaps what has impressed her even more is witnessing the increased respect her team has developed for the unique opportunity of being college athletes.

“They appreciate sweating in the gym,” Jimenez said. “They appreciate lifting weights. They appreciate being away from home. Everything about it. Because a lot of these kids have been playing since they were 7, 8, 9 years old. And they never had a break. And so to have this taken away I think was kind of a restart button for them. It also made them appreciate all those days where they used to come in the gym like, ‘Oh, I'm so tired. I don't want to practice. I don't want to do that.’ Because now, as coaches, we're constantly asking them to remember where we were 21 months ago. We don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. So let's come in every day and just appreciate each moment.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

One of those victories was especially noteworthy. The Dec. 2 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills at The Sports Center was the 200th in the career of coach Renee Jimenez. 

If you haven't seen the Cougars in action yet and are playing catch-up on the team, here's the schedule for the rest of the season. 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

The Cougars have won their first three games this season by an average of almost 13 points. The latest came Monday in an 80-72 victory over Montana State Billings at The Sports Center. Senior guard Blake Seits led CSUSM with 24 points in that game, matching his team-best scoring average for the season. 

If you haven't seen the Cougars in action yet and are playing catch-up on the team, the above video is a good primer to familiarize yourself with the players and get into the Cougar spirit. 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

The music allays the concerns about her right shoulder. It’s easy to understand her unease. After undergoing surgery on the shoulder three times, Jon’Nae continues to play in pain. She knows another injury likely would mean a premature end to her basketball career. But beyond basketball, other thoughts about the potential impact of further damage creep into her mind. From mundane tasks – will she be able to put her hair in a bun? – to the melancholy – when she has children, will she be able to hold them?

Jon’Nae takes a moment to let those thoughts swirl before the music helps calm her. Though the scars from her surgeries are a constant reminder, she’s able to erase all thoughts of reinjuring the shoulder.

“If you’re on the court thinking, ‘What if I get hurt?’ you’re going to get hurt,” Jon’Nae said. “I just play how I need to play. At the end of the day, whatever happens, that’s supposed to happen.

“I’m a tough kid. I can get through whatever’s thrown at me.”

Injuries are part of basketball, but the likelihood might be greater for someone who plays like Jon’Nae. Her game isn’t about guile or finesse. It’s about being physical. Shy away from contact? Jon’Nae welcomes it. She even refers to her style of play as “bully ball.”

“She makes a difference,” said Renee Jimenez, CSUSM’s head women’s basketball coach. “You notice her when you walk into the gym.”

Jimenez first noticed when Jon’Nae was in high school. Jimenez was the head coach at Cal State San Bernardino when she recruited Jon’Nae out of Santiago High School in Corona in 2014. Jon’Nae committed to play for Jimenez right before undergoing her first shoulder surgery. She injured it in the first game of her senior season when an opponent pulled her arm back as she was jumping for a rebound. Jon’Nae thought it might be a dislocation and continued to play. It was only when the pain became too much to bear that she visited a doctor and learned it would require surgery.

Jon’Nae sat out her first season at Cal State San Bernardino as a redshirt, which allows college athletes to extend their eligibility an extra season by not competing in games. Jon’Nae was just 17 when she entered college, so redshirting had the dual benefit of providing additional time to heal while she adjusted to the rigors of higher education.

But the transition to college proved challenging, particularly when it came to taking direction from Jimenez.

“In high school, I did whatever I wanted to do,” Jon’Nae said. “So I felt like in college I was going to do what I wanted to do, too.”

Despite the rocky start to their relationship, there was always mutual respect, which made it that much more difficult for Jon’Nae when she learned after the season that Jimenez had accepted the head coach position at CSUSM. Jon’Nae’s first instinct was to follow Jimenez south, but the coach recommended a different path.

CSUSM was in the middle of transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II, which meant the university wasn’t eligible for postseason play. Jimenez thought Jon’Nae was too good to pass up an opportunity to play for the postseason somewhere else.

Jon’Nae decided to attend Mt. San Antonio College, not far from where she grew up in Corona.

“That was probably the best decision I could have made for myself,” she said. “I grew up.”

Jon’Nae helped Mt. SAC win the California Community College Athletic Association women's state championship in her first season, collecting a long list of accolades along the way, including being named the state championship most valuable player. And she did it all while playing the second half of the season with an injured right shoulder that would again require surgery.

Jon’Nae injured the shoulder when she was fouled while going up for a layup in a January 2016 game. She fell to the court and knew right away something was wrong. But she got up, shot her free throws and played in the team’s final 10 games before an MRI after the season showed that she had torn nearly every ligament and suffered 40% bone loss in the socket.

Two months after winning the state title, Jon’Nae underwent her second surgery. She had six screws inserted into her shoulder (on top of the six from the first surgery). Doctors took part of her bicep and a portion of bone from her back to rebuild the shoulder.

But when Jon’Nae was finally cleared to start running again, she knew something wasn’t right. A trip to the doctor confirmed her fear – she had torn the ligaments again and needed a third surgery. The diagnosis came with a warning that she might not be able to play basketball again.

“It was hard because I was always Jon’Nae the basketball player,” she said. “In my head I thought, ‘Well, it’s over. I’m going to get surgery and then I have to move on with my life.’

“I went through this stage of depression. It was really hard.”

To the surprise of everyone, including her doctor, Jon’Nae saw positive results almost immediately following the surgery. She missed the 2016-17 basketball season while she recovered, but returned to Mt. SAC the following season and exhibited the same dominance to which teammates and foes alike had become accustomed.

While Jon’Nae and Jimenez didn’t always see eye-to-eye at Cal State San Bernardino, they remained in touch in the ensuing years. When it came time for Jon’Nae to transfer to a four-year school, she wanted to play for Jimenez.

“We grew up a lot together,” Jimenez said. “I was young when I coached her at San Bernardino. I was still trying to figure it out. I think she would tell you I’m a lot more relaxed now than when I was first coaching her. And she’s a lot more mature now than she was when she was 17.

“But I think San Marcos has really helped her grow up a lot and really pay attention to her academics and understand the importance of graduating. Before, it was all basketball. Now she’s understanding how to be a leader.”

As she approaches graduation next May, Jon’Nae is still working to grow as a leader. At Mt. SAC, if she was unhappy with a teammate’s effort in a game or practice, she made it abundantly clear. And she was used to her Mt. SAC teammates doing the same. At CSUSM, she joined a young squad of players who weren’t accustomed to such blunt criticism.

Dynnah Buckner was on the receiving end of Jon’Nae’s candid critiques more than once as a freshman last season. Early in the season, Dynnah often stopped by Jimenez’s office to ask why Jon’Nae was constantly yelling at her on the court. While Jimenez typically agreed with the message Jon’Nae was delivering, she encouraged her to provide it in a more constructive manner. And she emphasized to Dynnah that Jon’Nae’s criticism came from a desire to help Dynnah improve.

“At the end of the day, it’s all love,” Jon’Nae said. “When I'm on the court and I say something to you, you can’t take it personally. I'm not going to think twice about what I'm saying and how I'm saying it to you, because what I'm saying to you is the truth. No matter how I say it, it’s the truth. So you need to take it. And then if you want to have a conversation later, then we can do that, too, after the game – after we win.”

A turning point came when Dynnah took Jon’Nae up on that willingness to have a conversation. She asked if they could meet to talk things through. The next day, Jon’Nae invited Dynnah to join her on a trip to Los Angeles to see one of Jon’Nae’s friends play basketball for Cal State L.A.

“That's when she really explained why she was on me the way she was,” Dynnah said.

Jon’Nae said she was critical because she knew how great Dynnah could be and how important Dynnah was to the team’s success. She wanted Dynnah to stop worrying about making mistakes and simply play the game to the best of her abilities. And, perhaps most importantly, Jon’Nae finished by telling Dynnah that she always has her back.

“Her intentions were never bad,” Dynnah said. “At first, I sort of took it that way because it was the first time somebody really just came at me in a blunt way saying, ‘You need to get this together. You need to pick it up.’ But it was all out of love and wanting me to do better.”

On the court, it all comes down to winning for Jon’Nae. It doesn’t matter if it’s cross-town rival UC San Diego or a pick-up game at 24-Hour Fitness. Jon’Nae expects to win.

And she has high expectations for the Cougars this season. The team finished 18-10 a year ago, winning its first California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament game before ending the season with a loss to UCSD in the semifinals.

Jon’Nae wants to help CSUSM take that next step and reach the NCAA tournament. She worked throughout the summer to strengthen the shoulder and anticipates shedding the brace she has worn since her time at Mt. SAC, giving her more mobility on the court. She knows the shoulder won’t be 100 percent, and Jimenez plans to limit Jon’Nae’s practice time as the season progresses to help her stay healthy.

But Jon’Nae is used to playing in pain. She no longer has full range of motion and has accepted that she likely never will. The scars on her shoulder may serve as a constant reminder of what she has been through, but they no longer carry a negative connotation.

“I used to look at my scars and I used to be disgusted,” she said. “But now I’m proud of it. Scars tell the story of survival.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

“We used to throw him a pillow and put him up in the luggage rack when he was a kid with his brother,” said his father, Ben Foster. “There were times my wife pulled several of the players aside and told them to watch those two. She was worried I would be thinking of a game situation and forget they were there.”

As Father's Day approaches, it’s hard not to remember the good times B.J. had his with his father, a longtime Point Loma Nazarene University basketball coach. There were bus trips, getting ribbed by players and more importantly, getting a chance to hang with pops. After being exposed to the ups and downs of being a basketball coach through his dad, the ball didn’t fall far from the rim.

“I always did know that I was going to coach because I just loved the game from a young age,” said B.J., who recently finished his second season as the Cougars’ head coach and fifth with the school. “I used to go and travel with his teams when I was a little guy and get to sit on the bench when he was coaching. By just being around the game my entire life, it becomes a big part of your life.”

Basketball was never far from B.J.’s every waking moment. If he wasn’t thinking about it, he was playing it. If he wasn’t playing it, he was thinking about it. And when digging into supper each night, guess what the conversation d’jour was?

“In junior high, high school, really the whole time the topic of conversation over the dinner table was basketball,” Ben said. “Then he would go out and watch other games with me. It was just a big part of our life.”

The Point Loma contests were bigger than life for the young Foster. He father retired in 1992, after serving as the head coach for 17 years and an assistant for six.

“It was a lot of fun because when you were a kid the players didn’t look any different than if they were in the NBA or in a small college,” B.J. said. “They were all giants to me. But what I really remember was the intensity of the game and how passionate the people were that were playing.”

Maybe because it leaked down from their self-described “old-school coach.” The elder Foster was into it and so were his charges.

“You could see how passionate he was about it because he really cared a lot,” B.J. said. “His teams were always disciplined and really deliberate in going out there and playing really hard.”

B.J., who played at Point Loma before starting his coaching career, displayed an edge, too. Although as a tyke his big moment came at halftime when Ben and squad were in the locker room.

“I just wanted it to get to halftime so I could go out there and shoot,” B.J. said.

And if Ben delayed his son’s opportunity to shine, he often got a stink eye from his kid.

“Any time he called time out right before the half, it just would drive me crazy,” B.J. said.

What brings a smile then, and now, to both Fosters is talking about the coaching benefits that don’t reveal themselves on a bank statement. It’s those relationships that are nurtured over years -- and sometimes tough times -- that brings with them joy.

“Let me tell you, only in education and coaching does that happen,” Ben, 71, said. “In coaching, feedback doesn’t usually come until later in life. I have former players call me or come by all the time and that is very neat and very rewarding. That is what is so special is the idea that you really get to interact with young people and hopefully point them in the right direction.”

B.J. took note of his father’s moral compass and how his players’ compass always pointed in a similar direction.

“So many former players would come back at homecoming or come by the same house that they have lived in since I was little kid, right next to the campus, to see him,” B.J. said. “Players from 10, 15, 20 years ago, from different eras, they would want to bring their family back to meet him. Those players that came back to see him really made an impression on me on how a program should be run. He was trying to influence the players and make a difference in their life, and that always stood out.”

B.J. shares some strategic coaching philosophies with his father, but it was his bond with his players that was undefeated.

“Those are the things that stick out and that is how you want your players to feel,” B.J. said. “Like they have a home and a support system for their life, and that is what we are trying to do here. It’s in the realm of teaching, caring about your players and hoping you can set them up to have a great future.”

When thinking of the past, both Fosters mention how blessed they’ve been. To share not only a father-son relationship but one that includes basketball. Although with their roles reversed -- with Ben watching and B.J. coaching -- the games are just as nerve-wracking.

“It is a little harder than when he was playing,” Ben said. “He was a pretty good player, a smart player, and it felt like he had a better control of a game than now when he’s coaching. I do probably struggle with it a little bit more now because I know when you’re coaching, you’re pretty much helpless.”

Helping others, and their love of basketball, is a trait these men share.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The Matsumotos have had courtside season tickets since the inception of the Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball program – which until this year has played its “home” games a 20-minute drive west (on a good day) at MiraCosta College in Oceanside. Now that the Cougars have a brand new, state-of-the-art, on-campus arena, the couple is looking forward to even better times with an even stronger program.

“This is a great step forward for Cal State San Marcos,” Sash said.

The Cougars are in the final year of a three-year transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II, and The Sports Center is a big reason why. Completed at a cost of $11.4 million this past summer, The Sports Center also serves as the new home for the women’s basketball and volleyball programs.

“I’m very excited about the new arena,” said Catherine, a full-time lecturer in the Communication Department and a CSUSM graduate. “To have a building like this on campus is going to bring everything to a whole new level of excitement.”

Cal State San Marcos can thank the Los Angeles Lakers for the Matsumotos’ dedication. Lakers season ticket holders during the Showtime era of the 1980s, the couple had to give up their prized possession when they started raising a family and the price of their seats began approaching the cost of a second mortgage.

“When Cal State San Marcos began their basketball program and started playing at MiraCosta College, I decided to surprise him and bought him what he always wanted: season ticket courtside seats,” Catherine said. “It was kind of a joke at first, but the games were so cool. We were right there on the floor. It was so much fun.”

Said Sash: “I didn’t have huge expectations in the beginning because it was a brand new program. But it has developed very nicely, beyond anything I’ve imagined. It’s really a fun team to watch.”

Cougar Madness is modeled after Midnight Madness, a long-standing tradition in the college basketball world. Midnight Madness originated in the early 1970s and marked the first official practice for basketball teams. Over the years, the tradition has evolved into a celebratory kickoff event, often held in mid-October, signifying the start of the preseason for hoops fans.

With the opening of The Sports Center, the much-anticipated tradition comes to CSUSM. And Cougar Madness is sure to deliver.

The two-hour event will feature music from DJ Scrym, performances by the dance team and new cheerleading squad, games including a slam-dunk contest and half-court shot giveaway, and the opportunity to learn spirited chants and practice CSUSM’s official fight song. Players from both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be introduced, and fans will get their first glimpses of their 2016-17 squads in action, as the Cougars show off their impressive skills on the court.

Attendees are invited to arrive early for free pizza on The Sports Center plaza, and the first 100 fans in line will receive a free Cougar Madness t-shirt.

“This marks a new era at CSUSM,” said Collin Bogie, president of Associated Students, Inc. “I have looked forward to this moment as a student – the start of our first truly home season that will undoubtedly be a unifying experience for all Cougar fans.”

Cougar Madness is open to the public. For more information, contact ASI at 760-750-4990.

“I got a call from the athletic director at Cal State San Marcos while I was driving from Fresno to Los Angeles,” Saia recalled. “I had never heard of Cal State San Marcos before, but I drove down, took a look around and thought, `Wow, this is a great school with great people, and it would be great to start a program from the ground up.’”

Indeed, when Saia arrived in 2010 Cal State San Marcos didn’t even have a basketball program.

He has since built a powerhouse. The Cougars have won 30 or more games in back-to-back seasons, were voted No. 1 in National Association of Intercollegiate (NAIA) rankings 11 times and have made three consecutive trips to the NAIA National Championships tournament.

“He started from nothing and went out and found athletic players who were fun to watch,” said San Diego Union-Tribune sportswriter John Maffei. “He has really brought a lot to the university.”

Now Saia and the Cougars are taking the next step in their journey: the University this fall competes in its inaugural season at the NCAA Division II level. That comes after CSUSM earlier this year broke ground on a state-of-the-art, on-campus arena that will allow the Cougars to play its home games at home. Until now, `home’ games were played at MiraCosta College gym in Oceanside.

“The new Sports Center is going to be a rallying point for the region,” said Saia. “Having supportive fans in the stands allow our student athletes to perform at their maximum potential. When you add a great team with a great home fan base, you are a formidable opponent.”

The competition will be tougher at the NCAA level, the Cadillac of college hoops. What’s more, CSUSM's new conference, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), is the premier league in NCAA Division II. Its teams have combined for 153 Division II national championships—the most of any conference in the country. But CSUSM is ready to represent.

“It’s exciting to be a part of the NCAA and the CCAA conference,” Saia said. “It’s an excellent conference with excellent coaches, so it will be a challenge. The schedule from top to bottom is pretty tough. But basketball is basketball no matter if it’s NCAA Division I or NAIA. The fundamentals don’t change. You’re helping to mentor and develop student athletes so they can get a degree and be successful in life. As for the game itself, if you don’t execute, you’re not going to be successful.”

Saia has found success everywhere he’s gone. As the starting point guard at Sir Francis Drake High School in Marin County, Saia helped lead his team to capture two California state championships during his junior and senior seasons in 1981 and 1982.

A talented recruiter and an offensive mastermind, Saia came to CSUSM with 14 years of coaching experience on the NCAA Division I level, including a seven-year tenure as the top assistant coach at UCLA and one year at USC. Saia has helped more than 15 players onto rosters of NBA teams, including Baron Davis, Earl Watson, Jason Kapono, Nick Young and Matt Barnes. He also has coached at UC Berkeley, Indiana State, Fresno State and Columbia College, in addition to Fresno Pacific.

Saia’s first year at CSUSM was spent establishing the new basketball program. He attracted a crop of NCAA Division I and junior college standouts to join him at San Marcos, and immediately scheduled exhibitions against NCAA Division I programs. The first game the new Cougars played was an exhibition against a San Diego State University team coming off a Sweet 16 appearance. At a nearly sold-out Viejas Arena in San Diego, Saia’s squad made a run every time SDSU started to pull away.

“It was like the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where Butch and Sundance keep looking back at this posse that’s chasing them and asking, `Who are those guys?’” Saia said. “That’s what the SDSU folks were saying.”

Forward Together: Cougar Athletics

Today, the Cougars are on the map. And so is the CSUSM Athletics Department, which is now raising funds for student-athlete scholarships, athlete services and The Sports Center. Together, these initiatives are part of the growing momentum for creating a stronger community not only at Cal State San Marcos but beyond.

“Over the program’s history, generous students and donors have helped us transform dirt lots into athletic fields, enabling lifelong lessons in teamwork, persistence and leadership,” said Director of Athletics Jennifer Milo. “With campaign support, we can further enhance playing and practice facilities, grow scholarships and provide our student-athletes with an even greater experience so that they can be the best that they can be. In doing so, we also create a powerful source of Cougar pride.”

And as for Saia, he is as excited about the future as he’s ever been.

“We envision this program to grow into a top contender on the NCAA Division II level.”

To learn more about Forward Together: The Campaign for California State University San Marcos and how you can help build great communities through athletics or other initiatives, visit: www.csusm.edu/forwardtogether

Men's Bracket (PDF)
Women’s Bracket (PDF)

Men's Basketball

The men’s tournament takes place at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., from March 18-24. CSUSM received the No. 3 overall seed and will take on Philander Smith (Ark.) (20-9) in the first round on Wednesday at 11:15 a.m.

The Cougars, who hold a 28-3 overall record and a five-game win streak, qualified for their third straight national championship tournament after taking home their second consecutive Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference title last Saturday.

If the Cougars are victorious on Wednesday, they will advance to play the winner of No. 14-seed Georgetown (Ky.) (25-7) and Arizona Christian (24-8) on Friday, Mar. 20.

The Cougars advanced to the NAIA quarterfinals last season before being eliminated by eventual national runner-up Emmanuel (Ga.).

For a full release on the men’s national championship, click here.

Women's Basketball

The NAIA Division I Women’s National Championship takes place March 18-24 at the Independence Events Center in Independence, Mo. No. 8-seed CSUSM will play top-seed and No. 1-ranked Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) in the first round on March 18 at 6 p.m.

The Cougars (16-15), who are making their second straight trip to the “Big Dance, qualified by winning their second consecutive A.I.I. championship last Saturday in Montgomery, W. Va. They’re also riding a five game winning streak with three of the games decided by three points or less.

Freed-Hardeman carries a 32-1 record after winning the American Midwest Conference, and were the 2014 national runner-up. The winner of CSUSM-FHU will advance to play the victor of No. 5-seed Wiley (Texas) (22-4) and No. 4-seed Benedictine (Kan.) (25-8) on Friday, Mar. 20 at 10:30 a.m.

CSUSM fell to then-No. 1 seed Vanguard in the opening round of the 2014 national tournament.

For a full release on the women’s national championship, click here.

The first 30 games of the both NAIA national championships will be video-streamed live on NAIANetwork.com, the NAIA’s official video-streaming platform, powered by Stretch Internet.

Cal State San Marcos is building its own hoops tradition.

With three seasons in the books, the CSUSM men’s basketball team has set a standard of excellence that will serve as the litmus test for future CSUSM squads. The 2013-2014 campaign might be hard to match though.

“This group will go down in the history of Cal State San Marcos basketball. People will remember this group,” said head coach Jim Saia, who founded the program in 2011-2012.

The Cougars debuted at No. 12 in the NAIA Division I Top 25 and steadily rose through the ranks. CSUSM became the first team in the nation to reach 20 wins and were rewarded with the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking on January 28 – a position the Cougars would hold for the next six weeks.

CSUSM took its 28-1 regular-season record to the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference Championship, where the Cougars would win back-to-back games and capture the program’s first-ever conference title. Saia took home A.I.I. Coach of the Year and four players were named all-conference.

CSUSM was granted the No. 1 overall seed for the NAIA National Championship. The Cougars won their first two games before being ousted in the Elite Eight by eventual national runner-up Emmanuel (Ga.).

When it was all over, the Cougars had gone 32-2 overall, spent seven weeks at No. 1, strung together 23 consecutive victories and, most importantly, put Cal State San Marcos basketball on the map.

“We were the number one team in the country, and we don’t have a gym,” said Saia. “They all decided to come here, and they became one great team. This was a special group.”

CSUSM continues to play its ‘home’ games at MiraCosta College—11 miles west of campus—until an on-campus arena is completed in the fall of 2016. But despite the location, CSUSM seems to be getting comfortable in the surroundings; the squad is 32-5 all-time at MiraCosta and won all 13 games there this season.

So how does a basketball team without a gym attract talented, qualified student-athletes to campus?

“It isn’t about the building—it’s about the people inside of it,” said Saia. “We’re selling a world-class education in one of the most attractive locations in the country; we have one of the best state schools in California and we’re minutes from the beach. There’s a lot to sell even though we don’t have a gym.”

Another thing Saia can sell is himself. Saia was an assistant coach at UCLA for seven years, where he made five Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight. And he also served as the interim head coach at USC for 25 games in 2004-2005. He’s guided the Cougars to a 74-21 mark over the first three seasons, using a combination of local prep talent and NCAA Division I transfers to comprise each squad.

It’s been just the right recipe for CSUSM.

“We have established something when people and high-level recruits know that they can come here, work toward their degree and have an opportunity to compete for a national title. I think we’ve got something,” said Saia. “We’ve done it for three years now. We’re making our steps and hopefully one day we can cut the nets down.”