Cal Poly announces Colorado Mesa’s Mike DeGeorge as new men’s basketball coach
Cal Poly has a new men’s basketball coach, announcing on Tuesday it had hired Mike DeGeorge from Colorado Mesa University to replace John Smith.
DeGeorge spent the past six seasons leading the Division II program in Grand Junction, where the Mavericks reached five NCAA Tournaments and averaged 23 wins per season.
The team parted ways with previous head coach John Smith at the end of a poor 2023-24 season where the team went 4-28 and lost 20 straight games.
DeGeorge and the Mavericks won the regular season conference title and made it to the Sweet 16 of the Division II NCAA Tournament this past season.
“I have made a career of turning programs around and to be able to do it at the Division I level would be a dream come true,” DeGeorge said in a news release from Cal Poly. “In addition, I believe our system is built to help us maximize our potential, and we are excited to put that to the test.”
Before Colorado Mesa, DeGeorge was the lead assistant at Grinnell College in Iowa and Lawrence University in Wisconsin.
As a player, DeGeorge attended Division III Monmouth College, where his team won two Midwest Conference Championships and four Southern Division Championships.
What DeGeorge brings to Cal Poly
In an introductory video from Cal Poly athletics, Don Oberhelman called DeGeorge’s style of play an “equalizer,” especially early in his tenure as the team still tries to raise its talent level.
DeGeorge’s teams play fast, emphasize spacing and ball movement and shoot threes in both halfcourt and transition situations.
Under DeGeorge, the Mavericks finished first in two-point field goal percentage and third in three-point field goal percentage.
According to Synergy Sports, the Mavericks were in the 96th percentile in transition frequency.
The Mustangs in the past couple seasons have been one of the worst offenses in the country. In 2023-24, the Mustangs ranked 344th out of 351 Division I teams in points per game (63.7).
DeGeorge will hope to instill a pace and space style in a Big West Conference that has seen offenses across the board continue to get better.
Since the 2021-22 season, the number of Big West teams that averaged more than 70 points per game has grown from four teams to eight out of 11.
Where the roster currently stands
The Mustangs are set to lose their leading scorer and Big West Honorable Mention Kobe Sanders to the transfer portal. Sanders is garnering interest from high-major schools.
The two freshman guards, Quentin Jones and Justin Page, also announced they entered the portal on March 15. There is a possibility for both to return to Cal Poly.
Jones led the Mustangs in minutes and total rebounds last season and was third in the team in scoring. Jones also led the team in three-point field goal percentage at 40.2%.
In a 70-63 double-overtime loss to Oregon State on Dec. 4, Jones scored 21 points on three-of-six shooting from distance.
Page played in 27 games and made seven starts. After a rocky beginning to the season, he found his rhythm in conference play. He ended the season with a 21-point performance and scored at least nine points in the three prior games.
Junior Cam Malray and graduate student Julien Franklin entered the portal as well.
DeGeorge will look to revivea a Cal Poly men’s basketball program that hasn’t had a winning season in a decade.
An introductory press conference will be held Thursday, April 4, at 10 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center.
