Dec 05 2041: 3-star prospect Allan Leahy committed.
Aug 29 2041: Quincy Stephens was hired as the new assistant coach.
Aug 29 2041: Assistant coach Drew Wilson leaves to pursue head coaching opportunities.
Aug 29 2041: Demoted to conference IV.1.
Feb 02 2041: Joel Whelan was appointed as the new head coach.
Feb 02 2041: Lee Grady was fired as head coach.
Jan 31 2041: 2-star prospect Ethan Varner committed.
Jan 31 2041: 3-star prospect Trent Meyers committed.
Jan 03 2041: 4-star prospect Morgan Kennedy committed.
Feb 18 2040: 3-star prospect Jon Burger committed.
Pts Ave: 77.3 - 78.8 Pts Diff: -1.5 Team Power Index: 134.8
Press Releases:
Apr 03 2028: Redlands Recap: Midseason coaching change fuels strong finish, promotion - by Eric83 on October 20th, 2022
The Redlands Bulldogs (32-14, 18-12) entered the 2028 season with high expectations – anything less than promotion would have been a disappointment. By season’s end, they had earned that promotion, along with a conference playoff championship and a bid D1 national tournament berth. But the path to success was anything but smooth.
After dominating its slate of non-conference opponents, Redlands started conference play with a 2-4 record. Wins in 11 of their next 12 games alleviated early concerns and seemed to put the team in a comfortable spot for promotion. But with only four home games scheduled in the back half of the season, the Bulldogs floundered again. Losses in seven of their next nine removed the team from the #3 conference spot and head coach Ed Summer from his job. However, new coach Lee Grady immediately saw success, leading the Bulldogs to eight straight victories– including the final three regular season games and all four playoff contests. Redlands also won its first round national tournament matchup before finally succumbing to the #1 seed Alabama. The Bulldogs were led by 5* JUCO Alan O’Dell (23.3 PPG, 50.4% FG, 37.5% 3PT), who led the conference in scoring and won its Player of the Year award.
Despite leaving as the Redlands’ longest-tenured coach, Sumner was unable to elevate the program from where it was almost ten seasons ago. The team spent seven seasons in IV.4, only rising to III.2 once. Although Sumner lived up to his reputation as a strong player developer and recruiter, that did not translate into sustained success on the court. Many of his most talented teams didn’t live up to its potential and sometimes he seemed like he was in over his head. Fueling this narrative was a report that Sumner sought lineup and strategy pointers on the “Advice” channel of a basketball Discord server earlier in the season. "Strange, if true," said junior Patrick Coleman (14.6 PPG 6.5 RPG). "But if that's what finally got me in the starting lineup, I'm not complaining." Comments from another player, who asked not to be named, were less generous: “It was hard to take Coach seriously sometimes. If there were ratings for a coach's motivation skills, he would get a 1 out of 20. The team mascot gave better halftime speeches than Ed.” Overall, Sumner amassed a 244-176 record (including 147-149 in conference, and 0-2 in tournament play).
Looking ahead to next year, Redlands will play in III.2 for the 4th time, where they have never finished above 8th place. But they’ve also never had a 5* player before. O’Dell will likely shift from SG to PG for his senior season, creating a formidable backcourt with former Freshman of the Year Brian Robbins. Rising seniors Coleman and Harper will remain in the starting lineup, giving the team lots of experience and length. Further down the line, the future also looks bright as 4* PG Andrew Webster just completed his redshirt freshman year, and former 4* SF Narvaez will be joining next season. Based on his early success, perhaps new head coach Grady is the man to maximize the Redlands talent and take the program to the next level.
Mar 15 2026: Bulldogs overcome injury-ridden season to clinch promotion - by Eric83 on June 24th, 2022
It wasn’t easy, but the Redlands Bulldogs (32-12, 19-11) will return to League III for the first time in 9 years following a 3rd place conference finish.
Redlands came into the year with high expectations and looked like one of the top teams in the conference, after a blistering 8-1 start to conference play. But then injuries began to take its toll.
Eight players missed a combine 28 conference and post-season games, leading to a constant shuffle of starting lineups. 10 different players started games. Boland was the only regular to play in all 45 scheduled games, although his availability was also an issue as he fouled out of 10 of those contests.
A 3-8 stretch late in the season made promotion seem all but impossible, but the Bulldogs finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak to dramatically clinch 3rd place on the final day. The team carried that momentum into the conference playoffs, making it to the finals game. The late season surge helped earn the Bulldogs a spot in the D1 national tournament for the first time in 11 years.
Seniors Monte Wood (23.2 PPG, 4.6 3PM) and CJ Boland (15.3 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 56% FG%) led a deep well-balanced team throughout the season. Wood led the conference in scoring, minutes played and 3-pointers, earning him a 2nd straight All-Conference selection. He'll graduate as the Redland’s 2nd all-time leading scorer.
But despite the team’s depth, the Bulldogs could ultimately only go as far as Wood could take them. A wrist injury caused him to miss the conference playoff finals and the national tournament game, both which ended in lopsided losses. Overall, the Bulldogs went 32-8 with Wood in the lineup and 0-5 without him.
Looking ahead to next year, the team will have to find new sources for offense against the tougher League III competition. Redlands’ top four scorers are all graduating, players who accounted for 73% of the team’s points this year. If the Bulldogs can hold off relegation next season though, the future looks bright. When Coach Sumner was hired seven years ago, he placed a renewed emphasis on long-term recruiting, size and balance which is just starting to pay off. Redlands now has one its strongest pipelines of young players and recruits in program history, which fans hope will keep the team competing in the upper levels of D1 for years to come.
Feb 09 2023: Dockery becomes Redlands all-time leading scorer - by Eric83 on December 27th, 2021
Earlier this week in a game vs St. Bonaventure, Dalton "Hickory Dickory" Dockery etched his name in Redlands Bulldog history. With a 2nd half finger-roll, the senior became the program's all-time leading scorer.
As the Bulldogs' first ever 4-star recruit, Dockery brought lofty expectations when he committed to the program and has done everything to live up to them. In earning his first All-Conference honor last year, Dockery finished 2nd in the league in scoring (21.2 PPG) while shooting blistering from outside (3.8 3PM on 42.7% 3Pt shooting), and followed up with similar production this year. Over 164 games (all starts), the shooting guard has averaged 16.6 PPG.
Despite the personal accomplishments, the team's performance during his tenure has been mixed, largely due to the poorly-constructed, undersized roster around him. Redlands demoted from League IV.4 to V.7 during his redshirt season and had a disappointing 13-17 conference record in Dockery's freshman year. Dockery became more of an offensive focal point in his sophomore season, which helped lead the team to a 3rd place finish and promotion. The Bulldogs narrowly avoided demotion last year, finishing in 10th place. With a more balanced roster, the program had high expectations going into this year, but has remained a middle-of-the-pack team, currently in 7th place at 13-10.
If the team is going to make a final push for promotion over the final stretch, there is no doubt that the Redlands' all-time leading scorer will be a major part of it.
Mar 01 2018: Redlands head coach Maxey to retire after 8+ seasons - by Eric83 on March 28th, 2021
After a 14 year head coaching career, including eight at Redlands, head coach Albert Maxey has announced his retirement.
“Albert’s impact on the Redlands program can’t be overstated,” team president Eric83 said. “When we brought him onboard, he already had a reputation as a masterful recruiter and player developer. But what he accomplished here and how quickly he did it exceeded even my highest expectations. He took what was a perennial bottom-feeding D6 team and showed the world that they deserve to be a perennial Division 1 competitor.”
Maxey wasted no time in proving why he was the right hire. His first recruiting class in 2011 ranked 16th in the nation and set the team on the path to success for years to come and became the foundation of a team that promoted three consecutive years from 2013-2015. During that 3-year span he went 119-23 and won 2 conference titles and finished in the top 15 RPI in back to back years. His 2015 squad also won the IV.4 playoff tournament, made the sweet 16 in the national tournament, and finished the season with #22 national ranking.
Overall in his time at Redlands, Maxey compiled a 235-129 (151-104) record, including 10-3 in tournament play. Although some will say Maxey’s recruiting chops waned as time went on, he finished with an exclamation point - adding 4 star recruit Dalton Dockery and 12 POT swingman Ray Schroder.
The team announced that Tom Lyman would replace Maxey on an interim basis and added that they would not make any official announcements on a permanent hire until the offseason.
Oct 02 2014: Redlands promote to Division 1 for the first time - by Eric83 on August 29th, 2020
In their 4th full year leading the program, director Eric83 and coach Albert Maxey have fulfilled their first promise to Redland fans – a promotion to Division 1. The duo inherited a program that only played above level VI conference once in nine seasons, but will be joining level IV for the first time after winning back-to-back conference titles.
“When I took over the program in 2010, I made it clear that mediocre play would no longer be acceptable at Redlands,” Eric observed. “We planned to rebuild the program with smart, selfless, hard-working, defensive oriented players. Coach Albert [Maxey] has exceeded my expectations in the way he has recruited with that vision in mind, and blended his recruits with the team he inherited to play winning basketball.”
Maxey hit the recruiting trail hard in his first year, nabbing 6 players and a #16 national recruiting rank. His first commitment, point guard Warren Reid, is a star in the making and is the emotional leader of the team. Unheralded recruits from the same class Jorgensen, Cleveland, and York have been significant contributors and will be likely starters in the future. But Maxey’s biggest recruiting prize came from an unlikely place – the JUCO market.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but our program instantly changed from rebuilding to contending when Deandre [Chavis] committed,” Eric noted. “He was already a great player at the JUCO level, but I remained stunned by not only how much he dominated at the collegiate level, but also how much he developed these last two years.” The advanced analytics support this – estimating he popped 26x as a junior and another 10 as a senior.
Chavis’ career goes down as the best two-year stretch for any Redland player thus far (23.5 PPG, 12.6 RPG, 1.5 BPG, 63%/45%/83% shooting splits, 2 regular season conference titles, 56 POTG awards, 2 All-Conference awards, and ultimately a Player of the Year award). The team reached the D3 tournament finals his junior year, and was a #1 seed in the D2 Tourney in his senior year. But the team could only go as far as Chavis could lead them. After a dominating 42-5 (28-2) regular season that peaked with a #25 national ranking, Chavis’ herniated disc injury caused him to miss the entire 2014 conference playoffs and the first three D2 tournament games. He returned for the Elite 8 game, but the lingering injury and foul trouble limited him to only 26 minutes in a 19-point loss to the #2 seed.
The road gets tougher from here, with three key starters graduating (Chavis, Oliver, and Givens), and much stiffer competition going forward. Still, the future remains bright and the program appears to be in good hands. Reid is expected to lead a deep, well-balanced team over the next two years. The recruiting pipeline is strong and getting stronger. When high school senior Glenn Hurst committed last year he was a 4-star recruit, the first such commitment in program history.