Men's Basketball Opens Season With Exhibition At San Diego State

Wednesday, October 28

San Diego, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

San Diego State (Exhib.)

10/27/2026 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes - San Diego State

Chris Acker and the Beach return to Viejas Arena for the final tuneup before the regular season begins.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State begins the 2026-27 season with an exhibition game as Chris Acker returns to his former institution, taking on San Diego State at 7 p.m.

Game:....... Long Beach State at San Diego State (Exhibition)
Date:........................................... Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Time:................................................................................ 7:00 p.m.
Location:........................................................... San Diego, Calif.
Arena:........................................................ Viejas Arena (12,414)
TV:.............................................................................................. N/A
TV Talent:................................................................................. N/A
Webcast:................................................................................... N/A
Radio:........................................................................................ N/A
Live Stats:............................ beachlivestats.statbroadcast.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Before joining Long Beach State, Chris Acker spent five seasons as an assistant coach at San Diego State and played a crucial role in the recent success of the Aztecs. San Diego State reached the NCAA Tournament in each of his last four seasons and were 30-2 prior to the COVID shutout in 2020. The Aztecs played in the national championship game in 2022-23 and reached the Sweet 16 in 2023-24.

• Long Beach State will once again face a full rebuild, returning three percent of the team's scoring from the 2025-26 season as the Beach posted a 10-22 record.

• The two returning players for the Beach are junior JJ Chaikovsky, a depth option at forward for the team along with guard Christian Jones, who missed 14 games due to various injuries throughout the 2025-26 campaign.

• After taking on the Aztecs, Long Beach State will officially open the season on the road at Utah in just the fifth meeting between the two programs, and the first since 2001.

• That starts off a stretch where Long Beach State will play six of their first seven games on the road. The Beach will also take on Montana State and UCLA on the road, host Pacific and take part in a three-game MTE in Miami with games against FIU, Arkansas State and Southern Utah to close out November.

• Bold Week returns as the Beach welcome Utah Valley as a league opponent before a rivalry game at Cal State Fullerton. Trips to San Jose State, Illinois State and a home game against Portland on December 22 wrap up the non-conference before league play proper begins with the Black and Blue Rivalry against UC Irvine on New Year's Eve.

NEWS AND NOTES
• The Beach add two new assistant coaches to the program. Anthony Santos and Phillip Scott return, and are joined by former Arizona State and Rice assistant coach Greg Howell. Additionally, Jacob Eyman has been promoted to the program's first fourth assistant coach following two seasons as the Director of Player Development. Taking his role in that spot will be Cole Aubin, joining the program from UNLV.

• Long Beach State has also hired Ken Ammann as an Associate Athletic Director of Basketball Strategy & Revenue, who will serve as the General Manager for both the Men's and Women's Basketball programs at the Beach. Ammann recently retired after spending the last 25 years leading the Concordia University Irvine Men's Basketball program, winning 546 games in his career and two NAIA National Championship during his tenure with the Eagles.

• In his role as General Manager, Ammann will be responsible for strategic guidance of business operations for the basketball programs with a focus on fundraising, donor relations, NIL partnerships, revenue sharing, roster planning and student-athlete support. Working closely will all members of the Beach Basketball community, this leadership role will help strengthen the competitiveness, community presence, and long-term success of Long Beach State's basketball programs.

• The key departure for Long Beach State was freshman guard Gavin Sykes. The fourth player from the program to be named Big West Freshman of the Year, Sykes averaged 19.4 points per game, a total that ranked sixth in the nation last season among true freshman, and his 542 points in the season broke the freshman scoring record held by program legend Lucious Harris. Sykes transferred to TCU in the offseason.

PLAYER NOTES
• Long Beach State has reloaded with 13 newcomers. Nine are coming to the Beach from four-year colleges, including six from Division I, along with two junior college transfers and two incoming high school recruits as the Beach has aged up despite the roster churn.

• The Beach has some of the lowest returning rates in the nation among teams that have any returning players. However, the experience shows in total incoming as the Beach features 373 returning Division I games played and a total of 2,086 career Division I points scored.

• Kaleb Smith is a familiar face for fans of the Big West. A 6-10 forward, Smith played for two seasons at UC Riverside, seeing time in all 34 games as a true freshman before putting up his best season as a sophomore, averaging 11.0 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 33.0 percent from three, helping the Highlanders to one of their better seasons in recent years with a 21-13 overall record and a 14-6 conference mark. Smith spent last season with Grand Canyon, but returns to the Big West for his final season with 659 points and 331 rebounds in his career entering 2026-27.

• Noah Amenhauser also joins Long Beach State with three years of Division I experience, having played one season each at Grand Canyon, Coastal Carolina and Oregon State. Amenhauser's breakthrough season came as a sophomore, where he averaged 10.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game at Coastal Carolina, starting 30 games for the Chanticleers. That earned the center a move to Oregon State, where he contributed in 29 games, averaging 5.1 points per game for the Beavers last season.

• At 7-2, Amenhauser is the tallest player ever to play for Long Beach State Men's Basketball, and is the seventh 7-footer to suit up for the Beach. The bar for impact at the Beach would be Andrew Betts, who averaged a double-double in his lone season at Long Beach State in 1997-98, putting up 18.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game on the way to earning First Team All-Big West honors and being selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets.

• Senior Jack Payne is yet another player joining the Beach with three prior years of Division I experience. Payne played a key role helping Idaho reach the NCAA Tournament last season, one year after an All-Big Sky season where he averaged 10.8 points and 5.1 rebounds and shooting over 30% from three from both seasons. Payne began his career at Colorado State.

• Another fourth-year Division I player is Grgur Brcic. The big man from Croatia spent two seasons at Toledo before transferring to Bucknell, where he played in 18 games, averaging 4.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game prior to an end of year injury that limited his minutes. His potential has shown, though, including a 14 point, 16 rebound performance against UMBC.

• French international Yohann Sissoko is also coming from a Division I program at Florida Atlantic. Sissoko played in 27 games for FAU as a true freshman, but is a highly touted international player who routinely represented France in international youth competitions and averaged 20.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game with ASVEL U21.

• Henry Lau redshirted last season as a top prospect at Pitt. The Sydney High School Player of the Year in the Class of 2025, Lau also played as a developmental player with the Sydney Kings in the Australian Basketball league before heading stateside to start his Division I journey.

• From the junior college ranks, Long Beach State turned to one of the top programs in the country last season to grab a pair of players. Snow College finished the season last year with a 29-5 overall record and reached the second round of the NJCAA National Tournament with guard McCaden Adams starring. Adams averaged 18.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game as a sophomore and was named a First Team All-NJCAA All-American. Adams shot over 40% from three, making 80 3-pointers and averaged 11.5 points and shot 39.4% from three as a freshman.

• Helping facilitate that was point guard Blake Bahr. As a freshman, Bahr played in all 34 games for Snow College and Averaged 5.6 points per game, but also put up a nearly 4:1 assist to turnover ratio, finishing the year with 119 assists with just 31 turnovers.

• The Beach also looked for standouts from lower divisions as well, bringing in two players from Division II and one from Division III prior to the season.

• Jaden Tengan was a First Team All-CCAA selection for Cal State Monterey Bay last season, where the point guard has starred for the last three seasons. Tengan was the leading scorer for the Otters last season, averaging 17.3 points per game while shooting 36.6% from three and showing a skill to get to the line, where he shot 88% and making 110 free throws on the year. Tengan also averaged double figures in each of his first two seasons at CSUMB.

• Brett Wright was one of the elite shooters in Division II last season, finishing the year second in the nation in 3-point percentage, making 85 of 179 3-point attempts to shoot 47.5% last season. Wright averaged 12.3 points per game for Trevecca Nazarene, helping lead his team to an 18-11 overall record.

• JJ Gray comes from the Division III level to challenge himself. Gray has one year of eligibility remaining, but established himself as an Oberlin legend. Leading the Yeomen in scoring in each of his three seasons, Gray finished his career as a 1,000 point scorer and shot 38.0% from three last year while averaging 14.9 points per game.

• Christian Jones started the opening game of the season last year for the Beach, and averaged 3.4 points per game, which his high output coming at Portland where he scored 12 points. Jones only played in five games for limited minutes after Jan. 1, missing 13 games with an injury. JJ Chaikovsky also returns for the Beach, playing in 19 games for the Beach as a depth option at forward. Chaikovsky made his first appearance for the Beach at Pacific, with a solid stretch in the front court against the Tigers, and had six points and three blocks against Lincoln.

THIS AND THAT
• November 19, 2025 was a significant day as Long Beach State entered into a naming rights agreement with LBS Financial Credit Union, changing the name of the home facility for LBSU to the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. The agreement is set for $8.5 million over a 12-year period.

• Mike and Arline Walter, who originally named the Pyramid in 2004, when they made both a cash gift and a planned giving commitment to the University, have agreed to step away from the naming in the interest of clearing the way for a significant new investment in the Beach Athletics programs and its Division I student-athletes. The Walters plan to continue their support and partnership with the university.

• Long Beach State's win over San Diego on November 30, 2025 set a program milestone, win number 1,100 in year 76 of Division I Men's Basketball in Long Beach.

• Tracking the portal, Long Beach State added nine collegiate transfers and had seven transfer out to Division I schools. Those players heading out were Gavin Sykes (TCU), Rob Diaz III (North Dakota State), Dallas Washington (UC Riverside), Leopold Levillain (New Mexico State), Petar Majstorovic (Pepperdine), Cole Farrell (Niagara), and Isaiah Lewis (Texas A&M Corpus Christi). Others still remaining in Division I from prior years include Kam Martin (Samford), Cory Curtis Jr. (Omaha), Andrew Nagy (North Dakota State), and Maddox Monson and Shaumba Ngoyi (Eastern Washington).