Beach Reads: A Proven Scorer

LONG BEACH, Calif, -- Out of a post up, Gavin Sykes buried a baseline jumper as part of a 28-point effort at Cal Poly, showing his versatility once again as a scorer and ending the day with 469 points in the 2025-26 season, setting a new scoring record at Long Beach State.

That basket and record brought Sykes, a true freshman from Sacramento into sharp relief with a Long Beach State icon, Lucious Harris. One of four retired numbers for the program, Harris burst onto the scene in the 1989-90 season and ultimately left as the program's leading scorer in his career, piling up 2,312 points over four seasons before moving on to a decorated NBA career.

You don't set career records without strong starts, and Harris did just that. Scoring 457 points in his first season, Harris became the first player in program history to score over 400 points as a freshman and just one of now six to score over 300.

Head Coach Chris Acker reflected on his relationship with Harris. "He was obviously someone that I had watched play, and one thing that you realize immediately working here how much his name resonates here in the Long Beach community," said Acker. "We're very fortunate to be here, being in a line of players like Lucious that played at Long Beach State."

In a pair of bookend achievements with the Long Beach State legend. Gavin Sykes quickly enmeshed his name with one of the best to ever do it at the Beach. Sykes moved into the starting lineup in just his third game at LBSU, and responded with a great performance, scoring 20 points on the road in 30 minutes at Pacific.

After scoring 24 points against Montana State, Sykes' next home game saw his first link with Harris. Making 5 3-pointers and shooting 54% from the floor, Sykes finished with 30 points against San Diego, becoming the first player since Harris in 1990 to score 30 points in a single game as a freshman.

Since then, Sykes has gone on to become one of the most prolific scorers in the nation, joining an elite class of freshman along with Cameron Boozer of Duke and AJ Dybantsa of BYU on the Kyle Macy Award watch list, presented annually to the nation's top freshman.

That effort goes into the work that Sykes has continually shown throughout his life. Living in Sacramento and picking up the game at four, following in his brother Donovan's footsteps. Sykes immediately showed promise, but a move to Modesto Christian High School along with the work of his personal trainer Rasheed Caan helped him continue to develop.

"Once I got transferred to Modesto a lot of teams really started to have interest in me," said Sykes. "Long Beach was one of them; they came in early and stuck with me throughout all of my ups and downs, and that why I stuck with them."

For the coaching staff, they were quickly impressed. "We liked the fact that he wasn't a volume shooter and was able to score within their system," said Acker. Sykes' resilience stood out as well. "He got hurt one game before we were coming up to see him, but in that next game he helped his team win just by still being physical, playing aggressively.

The fit was important as well. "I really liked the coaches, they were really personable and I made a great connection. I loved the campus and my brother living in the area played a big part my decision, I can always see him at our games."

After playing just eight minutes against San Diego State, Sykes came off the bench and scored 11 points at Fresno State and a streak of 19 straight games in double-figures with 12 games of 20 points or more was ready to begin.

"Eventually my confidence carried me through," said Sykes. "I think I came into the season kind of nervous, but once I hit that first bucket, I was able to take in that it's just basketball, and I could be myself and be more calm, taking it play by play."

Even after an injury that cost Sykes three games and slowed his scoring pace just outside of the Top 10 freshman in the country, he continues to stay humble, even as he sets marks held by some of the LBSU greats.

"It's obviously a cool accolade, but I'm really just focused on winning as many games as possible." Acker agreed with that assessment. "I think that's the interesting thing about Gavin, is he doesn't really worry about any of the numbers. He's a guy that is focused on getting better every day, every game, every practice.

"We're certainly aware of what it means, though, and we want to celebrate that achievement for what's been an unbelievable season."

An unbelievable season, that is now unmatched by any freshman in the 75 years of Long Beach State Men's Basketball.

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Gavin Sykes

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