[1]RIVERSIDE, Calif. (BP) – It belies an old stereotype, but California Baptist University couldn’t be happier about sending students to a Big Dance.
Western Athletic Conference tournament championships on March 14 by both the men’s and women’s teams set up opening round matchups not that far from campus. The men earned a No. 14 seed in their inaugural trip to the tournament and will face No. 3 Kansas in San Diego at 9:45 p.m., EDT, on Friday, March 20. The 16th-seed women go to Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on March 21 to face No. 1 UCLA. It will be their second tournament experience, also facing the Bruins two years ago in an 84-55 opening round loss.
“It’s really exciting,” said CBU Vice President for Athletics Micah Parker. “We’re one of only six universities with both their men and women to win their conference tournament.”
The women took care of business against Abilene Christian, 76-54. The men rode late-game heroics from sharpshooter Dominque Daniels Jr. to come from 6 back with two minutes to play. A missed alley-oop dunk attempt at the last second by Utah Valley preserved the 63-61 victory.
Just to know, a No. 14 seed has beaten No. 3 a total of 26 times, coming to about a 15 percent chance of such a feat.
Daniels hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the final two minutes for the championship. The last one came with its own set of drama as he slipped to the floor but retained his dribble with a Curly Neal-recovery. Then, after receiving a pass back from teammate Jayden Jackson, Daniels took the ball near the logo, stepped forward three times and delivered a 23-foot dagger [2].
Such performances by the guard from Compton have led to a team-high 23.2 points per game and student section chants of “DAH-mi-NAY-tion.” It wasn’t always the case, though, as his memorable third season as a Lancer came after issues with injuries.
“When they were recruiting me, [CBU] was showing me so much love and support, and … gave me a chance to do what I’ve always wanted to do, which is play Division I basketball,” he said. “My first year, I got hurt and didn’t finish the last 10 games. Last year, I was playing under minor injuries, and then I just decided to come back because [CBU] stayed loyal to me and I thought, ‘Why not stay loyal to them?’”
[3]The women’s win gave a jolt to finish the drill.
“When [they] got the job done, it just got me more excited to play this game. I thought, if we get this job done, we’re taking back two trophies. It’s truly a blessing, it’s definitely an honor and a moment I will never forget.”
Jackson noted that the prospect of both teams making the tournament together for the first time wasn’t entirely a surprise.
“We’ve joked about and talked about this since the summertime, us and the women’s team, about how we both have a special group of players and how it would be crazy if we both go dancing,” he said. “All glory to God to be in this special moment with these special guys. I can’t wait to move forward with this team.”
Women’s coach Jarrod Olson has built a 71.8 winning percentage while earning five conference Coach of the Year awards over 13 seasons at CBU. During the 2020-21 regular season, his team lost the first game and no more, finishing 26-1 and building a Division I-leading 29-game winning streak.
“It’s not easy to share a floor with Jarrod Olson,” said men’s coach Rick Croy. “We practice on Jarrod Olson court. He sets the bar pretty high. We have so much respect for how [the women’s team] does things. We see them work.”
Croy has done some bar-setting of his own, arriving in the spring of 2013 to completely revitalize the program. A 250-128 overall record includes 160-43 at home. During the 2023-24 season, the then-46-year-old became the youngest active NCAA head coach to reach 350 wins. He is also the all-time winningest coach in CBU men’s basketball history and currently holds a top-20 winning percentage among active D1 coaches.
“We have a great situation at CBU with a great administration and a president (Ronald Ellis) who cares,” he said. “There are so many positives, but you’re in the trenches every day, in the same building, in the same weight room, with the women’s program. We see the sweat equity they put in, and it’s all respect.
“It’s going to be a great moment for CBU.”
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