Game Date: Oct 29th, 2044
Dominican Univ. of California
Mauricio Mata - C
Team: Dominican Univ. of California Penguins [ID #564] 
Location: San Rafael, CA (West)
Conference: I.1 [Division 1]
President:
gards710
[since May 17th 2020 | last seen April 13th 2025]
Coach: Darren Cahill
Arena: Conlan Center
Rank: #4
Rating: 834.64 - Overall Position: #1
Fan Mood: 133.66
Alumni Mood: 290.40
Prestige: 354
Team Notes:
• Oct 26 2044: 3-star prospect Juan Manuel Pizarro committed.• Mar 13 2044: Made the national tournament field.
• Jan 02 2044: 3-star prospect Frank Reardon committed.
• Nov 11 2043: 2-star prospect Mauricio Mata committed.
• Oct 15 2043: Ricky Stanfield was hired as the new assistant coach.
• Oct 15 2043: Assistant coach Loyd Cherry was let go.
• Oct 13 2043: Roger De Luca was hired as the new assistant coach.
• Oct 13 2043: Assistant coach Rafael Ferguson was let go.
• Jun 30 2043: Stevie Jeffers was drafted round #2, pick #10 by Boston.
• May 31 2043: Loyd Cherry was hired as the new assistant coach.
Record:
Wins: 4 Losses: 0 Pct: 1.000 Conf Wins: 0 Conf Losses: 0 Conf Pct: .000 Conf Rank: 3 Last10: 4-0 Streak: W4Pts Ave: 90.5 - 61.8 Pts Diff: +28.8 Team Power Index: 144.4
Press Releases:
Oct 06 2044: Penguins Pidder-padder to Peak - by gards710 on April 5th, 20252044 Season Review
Top of the food chain. That’s where the Penguins finally are, having achieved the distinct honor of having the most wins all-time in the history of Hardwood at 1243 wins. Dare I say, that is quite an accomplishment. The program happened to have aligned goals with president gards710, who had a noticeable drive to reach 1000 personal wins this season. Thanks to a roster built and managed with the most minute of care, the Penguins’ 36 wins pushed the president’s total to 1003, the fastest to ever do it.
Coming into 2044, the winds were changing at DUCA - the team was looking at the possibility of a more inside scoring and heliocentric offense than recent seasons and the defense was not particularly impressive. But things meshed better than expected thanks to the elite offense that head coach Doc Cahill and staff employ, as well the leadership of three seniors. The Penguins 36-10 record came in their record 17th straight season in Legends, with a 4th place finish in the conference, a conference tournament finals appearance, and a national tournament appearance, their 18th in a row.
Egads Egan!
As expected, redshirt sophomore Dan Egan was the focal point of the offense, averaging 18.1 points per game on the season, the second highest average for a DUCA sophomore (behind Marcus Choate’s 19.3 ppg in 2025). That also gave him the most total points for a sophomore in program history and it’s likely he only does more damage to his opponents in future seasons. Egan now has a chance to catch Choate for the program’s all-time records in points, POTG awards, and minutes, as well as Robert Hancock for rebounds and Dylan Swanson for blocks. All that would easily make Egan the best big man in DUCA history, at least statistically.
But here at DUCA, it has always been about the team’s performance. To be named the best DUCA big, or player, of all time, there needs to be success. Can Egan carry the team to the highs of previous stars? Will he sacrifice stats for team success if he needs to? Those will be the questions to answer over the next two seasons to see what Egan’s legacy at DUCA ultimately is.
Senior Send-Off
The Penguins say goodbye to three senior starters - point guard Cal “Cub” Young, small forward Rasheed “BDL” Williams, and big man Eric “Vault” Griffin. All were key in their years at Dominican, especially their senior years. Young and Williams provided tremendous efficiency in their shooting, with both shooting over 44% from 3 and being among the conference’s leaders. Young also finishes 4th in total assists in program history. Griffin was the backbone of the defense and when he was missing in the postseason, his absence was really felt.
New Penguins At The Igloo
For the second straight season, Dominican tied up their recruiting relatively early with their signings of local California kids Frank Reardon and Mauricio Mata. The Penguins have been longtime fans of the now 6’11”, 250-lb Mata, first noticing the big in his sophomore year of high school. His sheer size gives him an opportunity to make an impact, but it is his deftness around the basket that excites the coaching staff the most. Reardon, on the other hand, appeared on the radar in his senior year and the Penguins propelled to the front of his list quickly, not allowing room for any other suitors. Reardon displays immense potential and the work ethic to match, giving the program high hopes that he can reach the echelon of past players like Ford(s), Marshall, Clevenger, etc.
Outlook on 2045
The Penguins hope to take flight once again in 2045, because although they graduate 3 seniors, there is quite some talent that returns. Of course, that starts with Egan, whom the Penguins have spent the past couple of seasons building around. Senior D.J. McConnell will finally enter the starting lineup, having been a Swiss Army knife player off the bench so far in his college career, receiving minutes at every front court spot. But it remains to be seen where exactly he starts. Same for senior DeAndre “Taurus” Ford, who will start at one of the backcourt spots. Ford’s versatility being his main calling card helps but also makes this a hard decision to set in stone. The other backcourt spot will go to true sophomore Glenn Blackburn, who will be looked upon to improve drastically on his freshman season, one marred by a poor, inefficient shot selection that the coaching staff let run wild for too long. Blackburn also has displayed a versatile skillset, as well as the potential to be the primary perimeter scorer.
The other starter is completely up in the air, with four players realistically vying for the spot. If McConnell starts at power forward or center, Raymond “Ribosome” Bolden appears to be the frontrunner due to his experience in the program and performance in limited time. But of all the options, he has received perhaps the worst ratio of actual to possible playing time. Nipping at his heels is redshirt sophomore Darryl Grimes, who provides a bit more upside in a similar package. If McConnell starts at small forward, then the battle is between Gordon Cain and Leroy Kelly. Cain provides a better complement to Egan while Kelly is more well-rounded. Despite being a year younger than Cain, Kelly has a case for starting ahead of the Commissioner.
All those decisions give the coaching staff a lot of choices but figuring out the right combination as early as possible will be key in determining whether the Penguins can stay afloat in what looks like another competitive group of Legends teams.
Oct 08 2043: 2044 Preview: Penguins Proactively Produce Progressive Possibilities - by gards710 on February 9th, 2025
"This gotta be deja vu," said Emperor Penguin president gards710 at DUCA's season opening press conference. Despite the team’s success in 2042, expectations were moderate for 2043. While this team, like a few beforehand (2034 comes to mind most), were not supposed to be contenders for anything, the staff thought there was a special mix here. But that’s not the way the iceberg breaks sometimes.
While a hot start in conference felt good, it was hiding deficiencies. Then, we hit a rough patch and were all of a sudden in danger of not just not making the National Tournament for the first time in 17 seasons, but also demoting for just the second time in gards710’s 31-season presidency, or even sustaining its first losing season. All of a sudden, we’re playing in the Elite 8 as a 12 seed, having upset Louisville, archnemesis Richmond, and the top program in the game, Temple. The Elite 8 however is where the run would end, losing to eventual champion Ripon, just as in 2036.
“This team showed grit and resiliency at the end of the season,” said head coach “Doc” Cahill, who is entering his 18th season at the helm of Dominican. DUCA won crucial late season games to survive in the conference and keep their tournament hopes alive, despite starting PF Stevie “Alani Nu” Jeffers being hurt for four of those games. “We just pulled through. Guys stepped up, especially Dan [Egan] and Rasheed [Williams].”
The veteran lineup was key, with SG Brian “Pagan” Godfrey carrying the load as the primary scoring threat, Jeffers and Eric “Vault” Griffin providing solid interior play on both sides of the ball, Rasheed “BDL” Williams as a streaky shooting wing, and Cal “Cub” Young was a steady playmaker at the point. However, everyone’s attention was probably on the beast that came off the bench - 6’11” 275-lb RS FR Dan "Enviga" Egan, who was the team’s second-highest scorer despite rarely starting. Egan scored the most points of any DUCA freshman and now appears primed to become the fulcrum of the offense next season because with Young, Williams, and Griffin returning, the lineup is full of role players, none of whom look ready to be the go-to guy. Egan though has to realize that there’s a difference between being the focus of the offense and being the only source of offense. DUCA typically runs a very egalitarian style of offense, bar a few exceptions. Can the coaching staff, playmakers, and the young big man figure out how to make the offense mesh or will Egan suck out all the air of the offense?
DUCA must replace two-time All-Legends SG Godfrey, a feat only accomplished by DUCA players who have gone on to the pros. However, Godfrey did not. The leading candidates to replace him are Deandre “Taurus” Ford and true freshman Glenn Blackburn. The potential of Blackburn is enticing, but DUCA might value the size, experience, and immediate skill of Ford in their quest for glory. Whoever doesn’t start will get plenty of minutes regardless, as Clark Horton reportedly hasn’t inspired much confidence from the coaching staff yet. D.J. “Lift+” McConnell, Raymond “Ribosome” Bolden, and Darryl Grimes will be competing for minutes on the perimeter as well, as there is a bit of a glut out there.
On the interior, McConnell will surely get some looks while the coaching staff hopes “Commissioner” Gordon Cain develops into a player that can add a unique dimension to the team’s makeup. For the first time, the team’s defense may not be its strength. Several players struggled to defend in camp, but not Cain, who will be tasked with protecting the paint in backup minutes. “We’re going to have to figure out how to utilize our players to their strengths and work on our weaknesses,” said newly hired assistant coach Roger "Deadlift" De Luca, who replaced the fired Rafael "Fam" Ferguson, after Ferguson's tirade from being discovered with tapes of practices to send to other rival teams. President gards710 noted that "We respect the work that Fam assisted with here and that he was trying to secure a head coaching job eventually, but that's just not how you go about it, not here at a top-notch program like DUCA."
True freshman Blackburn highlights the incoming recruiting class, as he ranks in the top ten nationally and is the top rated recruit in the class for California, a somewhat rare target type for DUCA’s coaching staff. But that’s not to say that resources were not spent on the rest of class, as Dominican also landed an intriguing player in Earl Turner, who projects to be an excellent guard, and Canadian big man Leroy Kelly, who has been described as a “defensive savant” by some evaluators.
It is seemingly a time of transition for the program, as despite having 3 senior starters returning, the top offensive threat will likely be a sophomore and the program’s philosophy of defense-first may be at its weakest. Times are a changing, with assistant coaches De Luca and Ricky Stanfield joining the staff in place the departed Joel McDowell, now head coach at Coppin State. As always, we continue to learn and grow and this next era of DUCA basketball will be quite the lesson.
Nov 29 2042: Penguins Put Pen to Paper on Pennants and Prospects - by gards710 on December 30th, 2024
It seems the Dominican Penguins were deep in the lab last offseason. Because despite having no star player and no player with an immense ceiling in their rotation, the Penguins came away with the best record in the 2042 Legends Conference. Just their second such honor, the Penguins starting 5 weaved a masterclass in chemistry and teamwork. “We may not have seemed too intimidating on paper. But the guys just really fit well together,” said head coach Darren “Doc” Cahill. Questions arose over who would step up, as someone needed to put the ball in the bucket. And the answer was perhaps unconventional, but no less spectacular, as Brian “Pagan” Godfrey poured in the points thanks to an aggressive approach, getting to the free throw line at a rate unseen in DUCA history and earning All-Legends honors as a result. An overlooked recruit out of New Jersey, Godfrey has just put in a ton of work to be the top option at DUCA. Not that it was all Godfrey. Senior guard Chris Poston made a smooth transition from shooting guard to point guard, where his extremely high IQ played up in setting up the offense, and bigs Stevie Jeffers and Joey Wilson did a ton of dirty work down low.
The Penguins rode the wave to the conference tournament semifinals, where they lost to the talented East Central Tigers. Despite that setback, DUCA received a #1 seed in the National Tournament, beating their first two opponents West Virginia and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, only to lose to fellow Legends rival Fresno Pacific. All in all, it was a good year for the program, as no one expected a Legends title to come and once again, achieved the top rating in Hardwood.
Entering President gards710’s 31st season at the helm, the Penguins are vying to become the winningest program in Hardwood history, as they sit third all-time in program wins, just seven wins behind #1 Butler and two wins behind #2 Mississippi (although Alabama and Temple are close behind DUCA). And 2043 should bring another solid season of success, as Godfrey and Jeffers both return to highlight the starting lineup. Cal “Cub” Young now appears all grown up and ready to be the lead guard, while Eric “Vault” Griffin leaps into the starting center spot and is a defensive wall unlike any we’ve seen here in San Rafael, with his combination of size, speed, strength, skill, and athleticism. The large looming question is who starts at small forward? Most would assume that it will be redshirt junior Rasheed Williams, as he is the most experienced in the program. But redshirt sophomore big D.J. McConnell has been getting backup minutes at small forward and has been told to get ready by coaches to play more on the perimeter.
Further down on the bench is perhaps the next great big man in DUCA history, as Dan Egan takes off his redshirt. Egan’s scintillating mix of speed and size to go with his burgeoning skills have given high hopes that he can lead the team in the future, and perhaps be the big threat off the bench this season. DeAndre “Taurus” Ford followed in his fellow Ford’s steps and had a big offseason, and now looks ready for a bigger role. It may be necessary as redshirt freshmen Clark Horton and Raymond Bolden don’t quite look ready for serious minutes in the always-tough Legends conference.
Two young Penguins join the huddle this season, with Darryl Grimes from Santa Clara’s Hamilton High and big man Gordon Cain from New York’s Jackson High both slated to redshirt. Grimes appears to be the prototypical perimeter player - with speed, handling, shooting, defense, and excellent size. Cain was brought in after DUCA lost its recruiting battle for Landry Krueger, but some in the program see Cain as a perfect complement to Egan, as Cain’s best skill lies in his defense, an area where Egan needs improvement. Cain also should space the floor allowing Egan to roam alone inside the paint when the two share the floor.
Early on in the 2043 season, the Penguins are off to their usual solid start, despite sustaining a surprising loss in the opener to Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Perhaps even more important is that the Penguins received the signature of 5-star recruit Glenn Blackburn, the #1 player in California. After years of losses in recruiting, the Penguins came away twith the biggest fish on the West Coast. “It’s nice to see someone with the caliber of talent of Glenn buy in to our program and what we are about. He’s a great fit for how we play and what we envision for the future. We’re really excited,” said Coach Cahill. Shortly after that, DUCA got the commitment of Earl Turner, a recruit with scintillating potential.
And all that sort of describes the Penguins’ present and future - high hopes of big achievements. Let’s see if they can do it.
Nov 13 2041: UCLA Snares Krueger; Humboldt Penguins on Recruiting Trail - by gards710 on November 1st, 2024
For the third year in a row, UCLA snared a Californian big from the grasp of Dominican. Perhaps it was DUCA's recent coaching drama smearing their rep, or maybe it was that Krueger and Hubbard wanted to play together with a bunch of other 4-star players in LL3. Could it be that they didn't want the pressure of playing at one of the most prestigious programs at the highest level of the game? Or are the rumors true that Krueger didn't want a cool nickname based on an energy drink? Perhaps there is something else at play.
After the news broke, all of the coaches, except for "Fam" Ferguson, were immediately on the phones trying to line up visits with recruits around the country. Ferguson meanwhile was seen on his phone, snickering. With that, we move on to finding someone who thrives under that pressure of a Legends program.
Oct 03 2041: We Knew This Would Happen... - by gards710 on October 20th, 2024
Almost immediately after publication of the last press release gloating about a nepotism hire, the President of Dominican hastily fired "Nef" Ferguson and hired Joel McDowell, a 49-year old coach recently fired from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
"We received information that we would like to keep private per being part of an investigation into Neil Ferguson," stated President gards710. "All we will say is that there was an incident involving the former employee. We've informed Neil that we have to relieve him of his duties here at Dominican."
Assistant Rafael Ferguson, cousin of the fired coach, was apoplectic over the sudden coaching change. "It's unprofessional what they've done. That's family. You don't do that to family."