Santa Clara Men’s Basketball Reloads for Another Strong Season
From left to right: Bukky Oboye, Allen Graves, Sash Gavalyugov, Brenton Knapper and Christian Hammond. (Photo illustration by Dylan Ryu/The Santa Clara)
The college basketball offseason has become as eventful as the season itself. Between transfer portal movement, NBA Draft declarations and constant roster turnover, programs across the country are being forced to rebuild. Santa Clara University men’s basketball has done the same, navigating how to build upon last season’s success and develop a roster worthy of another March Madness run.
When Sash Gavalyugov ’28 announced on April 6 that he would enter the transfer portal, the Broncos were on the verge of losing one of their rising stars.
Ten days later, the narrative changed. Gavalyugov confirmed he would be returning for another season with the Broncos.
In today’s era of college basketball, where loyalty from top players seems almost nonexistent, Gavalyugov’s decision raised an obvious question: what changed?
According to Gavalyugov, the answer came down to trust, relationships and realizing what mattered most to him.
Entering the portal was not something that Gavalyugov took lightly. Coming off of a self-described “solid freshman season,” Gavalyugov garnered interest from many top teams. Having previously played at Villanova his first year, Gavalyugov said, “I kind of wanted to try again at the highest level.”
The decision to enter the transfer portal was about evaluating his opportunities and understanding where he felt that he could best continue to develop—ultimately growing towards his goal of playing in the NBA. Gavalyugov explained that it was very similar to what he did when he played professionally in Europe.
“We’re living in a different era of college basketball, so it’s more like a pro league,” said Gavalyugov. “I play pro overseas in my home country, and players are always trying to get to a bigger team.”
But after head coach Herb Sendek reached out, Gavalyugov decided that Santa Clara would be the best place for him to continue his development.
This meant a lot to Sendek, who sees retaining players like Gavalyugov as a central priority.
“We’re very much a developmental program,” Sendek said. “It’s always our first order of business to retain our roster in today’s college basketball world.”
The program was able to do just that. According to Sendek, they did a solid job of retaining a healthy nucleus of players that they believe will continue to move the program forward. This nucleus will be increasingly important as Santa Clara navigates additional roster movement.
Allen Graves ’29 declared for the NBA Draft following a breakout first year, drawing attention to the program’s growing ability to develop professional-level players. The current graduating class has witnessed the rise of former players Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski to the NBA, and now Graves may join that list.
While his NBA draft future remains uncertain, Sendek is proud of the player that Graves has become.
“We’re really excited about the prospect of having another NBA draft pick from Santa Clara,” Sendek said.
The Broncos also saw departures from leading scorer Christian Hammond ’28 and starting big man Bukky Oboye ’29. Both started all 34 games for the Broncos this season and were a huge reason behind the team’s run to the NCAA Tournament.
Riding on their success, Hammond transferred to North Carolina State and Oboye to Auburn University, leaving a major void on the roster.
“Going to the ACC and playing for NC State puts me at the best opportunity to make the NBA,” Hammond said. “That’s been a lifelong goal of mine. It wasn’t about the money. Obviously, that is a huge positive, and we’re not going to act like it’s not. But at the end of the day, my decision was about putting myself in the best position for my career and chasing that dream.”
Hammond said his agent helped him field offers from numerous institutions, including the likes of NC State, University of Virginia, University of Southern California and Mississippi State University.
Hammond preached the importance of finding the right fit with the head coach and the coaching staff when making his decision.
In addition to losing players to the transfer portal, the Broncos are also parting with two more starters, Elijah Mahi ’26 and Brenton Knapper ’26, who are graduating this year.
“It goes by fast, honestly, just remembering my freshman year coming in as a redshirt, and then all the way up to now, just don’t take anything for granted,” Knapper said. “Take every opportunity to learn and create connections.”
Knapper hopes to take his talents overseas after he graduates and follow in the footsteps of many recent Bronco graduates, including Camaron Tongue ’25, Carlos Stewart Jr. ’25 and Johnny O’Neil ’25.
Knapper gave credit to the coaching staff and praised the team’s culture throughout his five-year tenure in a Santa Clara jersey. He also expressed confidence in the blend of incoming talent and some of the returners from last year who didn’t get much playing time.
“I’ve seen some guys who were hurt last year be great in practice,” Knapper said, naming Brad Longcor III ’29, Noah Badibanga ’29 and Chris Tajo ’28 as players to watch.
To help fill the void, the Broncos added a pair of transfers: former University of Arizona forward Sidi Gueye and Kansas State guard David Castillo.
Castillo averaged 10.3 points per game while shooting 35.2% from 3-point range for the Wildcats last season, and heads into his junior year looking to build on his success.
Gueye received limited playing time during his freshman year at Arizona, averaging just 3.4 minutes per game. However, Gueye was a top-200 recruit coming out of high school and looks to follow in the footsteps of former Broncos Podziemski and Adama-Alpha Bal ’25, who barely played for Illinois and Arizona, respectively, yet found tremendous success at Santa Clara.
The Broncos will have a tall task replacing four out of five starters from last season’s NCAA Tournament team, but if Santa Clara’s recent track record has shown anything, the program shouldn’t be counted out heading into next season.
With a mix of returning talent and a pair of transfer additions, the Broncos are gearing up for another competitive season in the WCC and hope to make another March Madness appearance.