Overview:
Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook recently tabbed UCSB senior transfer Aidan Mahaney as the Big West Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year while Lindy’s College Basketball Annual called him the league’s top NBA prospect
Recruiting Aidan Mahaney four years ago would have been nothing better than a Hail Mary prayer for UC Santa Barbara basketball.
A real Hail “Saint Mary’s,” as coach Joe Pasternack saw it.
“I saw Aidan play in high school, but he was very close friends with the son of (Saint Mary’s College coach) Randy Bennett,” he said. “They went to high school together, and I knew he was going there.
“So I wasn’t going to waste my time.”
But nobody invested more time in pursuing Mahaney last spring than the Gauchos’ ninth-year coach.
The former four-star recruit from Moraga’s Campolindo High School made himself available by entering the NCAA transfer portal for the second straight year.
“That recruiting battle is something that I’ve never been associated with before in my life,” Pasternack said.
“I’m sure Aidan would tell you, ‘Joe called me every five seconds.’”
Mahaney had only himself to blame after posing this question to UCSB’s coach during their first conversation last spring:
“If I come to Santa Barbara, can I be the leader of the team?” he asked.
Mahaney, who led Saint Mary’s to a pair of NCAA tournaments and then went to a third with Connecticut last spring, believes his final fourth will come with the Gauchos this season.
“One hundred percent,” he told Noozhawk at the conclusion of a recent practice at the Thunderdome.
“I don’t know a college basketball season without March,” Mahaney continued. “I don’t plan on learning what that feels like this year.
“I feel like we’ve got enough here to do it … We’ve got enough to make a real run.”
The starting line is a homestand with games against San Francisco State on Nov. 4 and San José State on Nov. 8.
The Gauchos released their schedule last week and are to go live with their ticket sales on Monday.
“We’ve had a record number of season ticket requests,” Pasternack said. “Our goal is to sell out the Thunderdome that first week of the season.
“We want Santa Barbara to make this their hometown team.”
Hunger Games
The Gauchos, who advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2023 after winning a school-record 27 games, sat out the postseason for the second-straight year last spring despite a 21-13 mark.
“We have some hungry guys who aren’t satisfied how last year went for them individually, both here and at other schools,” Pasternack said. “Aidan has played for two Hall of Fame coaches, so he’s been through three years of incredible practices.
“He’s a natural, vocal leader. His passion and energy is magnetic.
“And now, this year is it for him.”
Aidan Mahaney calls a play during a recent UCSB basketball scrimmage at the Thunderdome. Credit: UCSB Basketball photo
Mahaney has connected quickly with his new teammates, many of whom share his eagerness to lead.
“I think we have five real core leaders, and they all do a really good job of getting in touch with everybody and making sure everybody is good,” Mahaney said. “Colin (Smith) and Jason (Fontenet II) are the two returning starters and they’re obviously huge factors in that.
“And we have old guys coming in like me and Hosana (Kitenge from Louisiana) and Miro (Little from Utah) who have been part of good teams and have been to the tournament and stuff like that.
“You can easily throw K.K. (Koat Keat Tong) into that group, too — a big veteran player who went to the tournament with UCSB three years ago.”
Mahaney, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, was an impact player at Saint Mary’s from the opening tip of his freshman year.
He was a first-team All-West Coast Conference selection during both of his two seasons in Moraga, averaging nearly 14 points per game in that span while making 37.5% of his three-pointers (157-of-419).
Mahaney was named to the Lou Henson Mid-Major All-America team as a sophomore after leading the Gaels to records of 28-5 overall and 19-1 in the WCC. The victories included a sweep of their regular-season series against NCAA power Gonzaga.
He entered the transfer portal the first time, however, when Saint Mary’s associate head coach Justin Joyner left to take a job as an assistant at Michigan.
Joyner was the starting point guard for UCSB’s NCAA tournament teams of 2010 and 2011.
“He was one of my mentors growing up so I was already familiar with the program here,” Mahaney said. “Growing up, he helped me learn the game of basketball and pushed me every day.
“He had me wake up early — had me want to wake up early — to get better every day when I was young.”
Up-and-Down Move
The expectations couldn’t have been higher when two-time defending NCAA champion UConn signed him out of the portal before last season.
His junior year with the Huskies turned into a roller-coaster ride that ended with a loss to Florida in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Mahaney had several big games for UConn but barely played in others. He averaged just 4.5 points while playing 12.9 minutes per game.
He did take a few things away from the experience.
“One was just learning how to compete for a spot,” he said. “It was something I wasn’t doing as much before.
“Resiliency was also a huge theme for me. … Trying to stay even keel through all the ups and downs and finding yourself on the other side of the tunnel.”
He came off the bench to score seven clutch points and assist three other baskets to rally the Huskies to a comeback victory over Villanova in the Big East Conference tournament quarterfinals.
UConn basketball coach Dan Hurley congratulates Aidan Mahaney during a timeout for his play in the Huskies’ comeback victory over Villanova in a quarterfinal game of last year’s Big East Conference Tournament. Credit: Robert Deutssch / Imagn Images photo
“People think I’m mad at Aidan or down on him,” UConn coach Dan Hurley told reporters after that game. “He’s probably the guy on the team I interact with and talk to the most.
“I went through exactly the type of year he went through (as a player), where you have the external noise from the fans who are disappointed.
“Obviously, he was brought in here to fill some big shoes.”
Pasternack recruited Mahaney to help fill the voids left by two of the NCAA’s most accurate three-point shooters from last year: Cole Anderson (47.4%) and Stephan Swenson (43.2%).
But he doesn’t label him as a shooter.
“He’s a very versatile scorer — elite in the pick-and-roll — with an ability to come off screens, drive the ball, and shoot the ball,” he said. “Aidan has a real knack for scoring.”
High on Hurley
He comes to UCSB with no bitterness about his sporadic playing time at UConn. Hurley kept him “on the straight and narrow,” he insisted.
“I’ve got a lot of love for him … just the way he empathizes with players and relates to everybody,” Mahaney said.
“He’s special — a Hall of Fame coach — and he’s going to get a couple more rings on his finger, I’m sure of it.”
But Mahaney has also been made to feel at home at UCSB.
“The staff has done a really good job of making me feel comfortable, riding with me through my good days and my bad days,” he said. “So a lot of credit to them, and a lot of credit to my teammates for instilling me with confidence.
“I’m just happy that the guys and the team have embraced me.
“Coach has done a good job of recruiting good people. We’ve got a bunch of cool guys here, so it’s been really easy to gel.”
The scrimmages have been lively. He noted that freshmen Luke Zuffelato, C.J. Shaw and Michael Simcoe — as well as last year’s rookie class of Zion Sensley and Z.Z. Clark — have been pushing the veterans hard.
Aidan Mahaney’s craftiness as a driver has livened up UCSB’s preseason basketball practices this fall. Credit: UCSB Basketball photo
“Joe makes it competitive, and we go,” Mahaney said. “Guys are trying to get spots and guys are trying to get better and make something happen.
“The talent level here is different than it is at a high-major like UConn, which has such big positional size.
“But I really like our guard room here — we’ve got really good wings with a lot of potential — and our bigs are bold and experienced.”
Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook recently picked Mahaney as the Big West Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year.
Lindy’s College Basketball Annual opted for Fontenet, although it did select Mahaney as both the league’s Newcomer of the Year as well as its top NBA prospect.
But he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself.
“Hopefully we do what we need to do this year and I’ll position myself well to test the waters in next year’s draft,” Mahaney said.
“My favorite quote is, ‘A rising tide lifts all boats,’ so we’re all just focusing on the win column.”
It’s anchors aweigh now that he’s got the portal trailing far behind in his wake.