2025-26 Cal State LA Men's Basketball - Season Summary

LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's men's basketball team celebrated the past while also looking toward the future in a newsworthy 2025-26 season.

Jim Saia, who orchestrated the best season in program history by leading the Golden Eagles to a program-record 24 wins and the first California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament title in school history in 2023-24, announced in August that the 2025-26 season would be his last at Cal State LA. Following a challenging season highlighted by a 100-point outburst and some buzzer-beating wins, Cal State LA announced that basketball Hall of Famer and former Los Angeles Lakers' star Michael Cooper would lead the program going forward.

The Golden Eagles had to overcome some significant injury woes in 2025-26, but still managed a 9-19 overall record and an 8-14 conference mark that left them just outside a CCAA Tournament spot in one of the tightest races in recent years. Even without post-season hopes, Cal State LA finished the season strong with a pair of thrilling late-season wins over Stanislaus State and Cal State San Bernardino.

Cal State LA had to battle its way out of an early-season struggle that saw the Golden Eagles go just 1-6 through its first seven games with four of the six losses coming by four points or less. The Golden Eagles fought back with back-to-back December wins that were dramatically different, but equally notable.

First, the Golden Eagles limited Cal State San Bernardino to just 14 first-half points in a robust 63-45 victory in Coussoulis Arena, their first regular-season win in San Bernardino since 2018.

They followed that up with an explosive 101-57 win over San Francisco State in University Gym, reaching 100 points for the first time since 2021 and scoring its most points in a game since 2018. It was also the first 100-point performance in a CCAA game since a 101-99 win over Cal State San Marcos in 2017 during Coach Saia's first season at Cal State LA.

The Golden Eagles then had a healthy halftime lead over CCAA and West Region champion Cal State East Bay in a bid to make it three in a row, but the Pioneers' depth eventually proved decisive in a 77-69 decision.

Cal State LA had its difficulty in close games early in the season, but secured a pair of thrillers at home in early January. Isaiah Fields hit a go-ahead jumper with six seconds left to lift the Golden Eagles to a 57-56 win over Stanislaus State on Jan. 8 and Khemanni Davis was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 0.5 seconds left and hit all three free throws in a 76-73 victory over UC Merced on Jan. 10.

That win lifted the Golden Eagles to 4-4 in conference play and right in the thick of the conference race, but Cal State LA struggled mightily on the road and dropped its next six games away from University Gym and that proved too much to overcome.

One of the best performances of the season came in an exciting 82-77 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Jan. 22. Cal State LA shot 60 percent in the second half with Cal State Dominguez Hills shooting 53.3 percent in an exciting back-and-forth that reached its peak when Davis hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to break a 69-69 tie with four minutes left. A dunk by Deraje Agbaosi with 1:34 remaining and free throws from Fields and Michael Pearson Jr. sealed the deal.

The Golden Eagles, though, dropped seven of their next eight to fall out of the tournament chase.

Cal State LA, though, had two more thrillers left in it before the season ended. First was an improbable 66-64 win at Stanislaus State on Feb. 21 courtesy of three free throws by Davis with 0.5 seconds left that came shortly after the Warriors took a 64-63 lead with just six seconds to play.

The Golden Eagles followed that up with 69-68 win over Cal State San Bernardino thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer from Fields with 2.8 seconds to go. With the victory, Cal State LA earned its first regular-season sweep of the Coyotes since the 2017-18 season.

Deraje Agbaosi led the Golden Eagles with 13.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and earned second-team All-CCAA honors. Khemanni Davis averaged 12.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game and earned All-CCAA honorable mention.

Isaiah Fields was the third player to reach double figures in scoring with a 12.3 points per game average in his best season with the program. Michael Pearson Jr. averaged 9.9 points per game and led the team in assists with 2.43 per game. 

Cal State LA Men's Basketball
2025-26 Overall Record: 9-19. CCAA Record: 8-14 (T-9)
All-CCAA: Deraje Agbaosi (2nd team), Khemanni Davis (honorable mention)
CSC Academic All-District: Deraje Agbaosi, Connor Scales
CCAA Winter Academic Honor Roll: Deraje Agbaosi, Jordan Hansen, Michael Pearson Jr., Damarion Pouncil, Connor Scales, Martin Zarzuela
CCAA 2025-26 All-Academic Award: TBA
2025-26 D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award: TBA