New Broncos Stampede Into Men’s Basketball Season
Santa Clara men’s basketball is back in full swing. With eight new players courtesy of the transfer portal and first-year arrivals, Santa Clara's men's basketball team got a makeover during the offseason. Here's a look at the 2023-2024 Broncos.
Men’s Basketball player Tyeree Bryan takes a shot on our home court. Tejas Akula
Guards
In the backcourt, Adama-Alpha Bal transferred from the University of Arizona, bringing with him high-level collegiate and international experience. The 6’7” junior guard appeared in 49 games at Arizona, shooting 39.2 percent from the 3-point range and 42.3 percent from the floor.
Bal’s transfer to Santa Clara elevated national discourse on the Broncos’ coming into this season with a smorgasbord of new faces. Bal previously played on the U16 and U20 French National Teams, helping lead France to a thrilling second-place finish at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) basketball competition during the U16 European Championship back in 2019.
In addition to Bal, three more guards joined the Broncos this season: Jalen Benjamin, Tyeree Bryan and Christian Hammond.
Benjamin is a graduate transfer] who averaged 3.3 points and 4.0 assists per game during his junior year at Mt. Saint Mary’s. In his senior year, he averaged 16 points per game and shot 41.8 percent from the field, becoming one of the more underrated but sought-out players in the transfer portal.
Junior Tyree Bryan played one season with Charleston Southern, where he started 28 games out of 29 and averaged 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists. Freshman Christian Hammond from Colorado was a second team all-conference selection as a sophomore at Cherry Creek High.
Returning to the Broncos are two sophomore guards Brenton Knapper and Kosy Akametu. Last season, Knapper appeared in 31 games in a reserve role where he averaged 3.2 points and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 31.1% from beyond the arc. Akametu had 28 appearances with one start as a true freshman and had his season-high performance of 10 points and four rebounds against the University of Central Florida.
Graduate student Carlos Marshall Jr. returns after a season-ending injury last year, when he averaged 10.0 points per game across the Redshirt freshman Jake Ensminger also returns after missing the 2022-23 season due to injury. Walk-ons, Malachi Douyon and Brendan Yarusso, also return to the Broncos for their sophomore season.
Forwards
Forward Camaron Tongue returns for another season. Tongue played in 50 games for SCU, averaging 4.1 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting last year.. e posted his first-career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Pepperdine, and had a highlight reel “and one” dunk vs USF.
New comers Johnny O’Neil and Luke McEldon will join Tongue as forwards. O’Neil, a junior, played three seasons with American University, where he ranks seventh on American's career blocks list with 96. During his time there, he averaged 10 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. McEldon will make his college debut with the Broncos. The freshman forward is a three-star prospect and was rated one of the top players in New England in 2023.
Centers
Last season, Christoph Tilly played in 26 games and became one of Santa Clara’s top players off the bench, averaging 5.0 points per game on 53.6 percent shooting.
Tilly will be joined by two new centers. Graduate student Francisco Caffaro played four seasons at the University of Virginia and brings international experience to the Broncos. He played for the Argentinian National team in the FIBA international tournament, averaging 16.7 points and 8.8 rebounds. Last but not least, 7 '1 Bukky Oboye joins the roster for his college debut. The freshman was rated a three-star prospect, according to ESPN, and the 28th best player in Texas.
The Santa Clara men’s basketball team returned to Leavey Center for a successful season opener on Nov. 8 against Utah Tech, where they earned a 77-69 victory and will look to move to 2-0 when they play St. Francis on Saturday, Nov.11 .