SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Former Sacramento Kings star Mike Bibby was hired to take over the struggling basketball team at Sacramento State.
Athletic director Mark Orr announced the move on Tuesday, saying he believes Bibby can help generate excitement for the program.
“It’s a second home for me,” Bibby said. “It’s a storybook, not ending, but a storybook story of coming back to Sacramento for basketball purposes and instead of playing now I’ll be coaching and do my best to change this program around and turn it into a winning program.”
Bibby is already in the process of putting together a staff and was hired at the same time the NCAA transfer portal opened. Bibby said he will target the portal aggressively in his first season to improve the roster with players who will fit his style of playing a fast-paced game featuring an aggressive, pressure defense.
"We’re going to get kids that will want to come play and want to come win," he said.
Bibby won an NCAA title as a player at Arizona in 1997 and then starred in the NBA for 14 seasons, with his most successful stint coming during seven seasons with the Kings. He helped Sacramento reach Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bibby retired in 2012 and has had various coaching jobs since. He won five state titles and coached 25 players who received college scholarships in six seasons as coach at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix. He also has been an assistant for the Puerto Rican National Team, summer league teams for Cleveland and Memphis, and the NBA G-League Ignite.
Sacramento State has been looking to increase its profile in college athletics under President Luke Wood. The school has hopes of being able to move from the FCS level of college football to the FBS level and a spot in a bigger conference such as the Mountain West or even a newly formed Pac-12. The Hornets are currently a member of the Big Sky.
The move to hire Bibby is part of that effort as he will try to revive a struggling program.
“That’s not my decision to make," Bibby said. “I don’t handle that stuff. But regardless, we've got to play basketball. Whether we’re in the YMCA conference or the Lifetime conference, we've got to go out there and play basketball. It was appealing to me just to come back to Sacramento to get my start.”
The Hornets went 7-25 this season under interim coach Michael Czepil, who was promoted last spring after David Patrick left to take a job as associate head coach at LSU.
Sacramento State had gone 28-42 in two seasons under Patrick and the program has never made an NCAA Tournament since moving up to Division I in 1991-92. The Hornets have had a winning record only twice since then, going 16-14 in 2019-20 and 21-12 in 2014-15.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself and a lot of confidence in my staff,” Bibby said. “I told Mark and Luke, I’m going to turn this thing around. I’m not saying we’re going to go 27-0 or whatever it is. But there’s going to be changes that come with this. We’re going to have guys that play hard and that play for each other. We’re headed for that NCAA Tournament bid.”
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FILE - Sacramento Kings guard Mike Bibby stands on the court as time runs out during an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, on April 4, 2007, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings in a ceremony Friday night.
“There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings.
“What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn't have scripted it any better.”
A choir in the left field pavilion sang “We Are the Champions” to open the ceremony hosted by actor Anthony Anderson.
“Nobody was like us last year and I have a feeling that nobody will be like us this year,” said Anderson, a Dodgers fan.
Ohtani, World Series MVP Freddie Freeman and Roberts received some of the loudest cheers walking a blue carpet to a circular stage between home plate and the mound.
Ohtani waved to the fans. They chanted “Freddie! Freddie!” when it was Freeman's turn.
They were greeted with hugs from owner Mark Walter, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, president and CEO Stan Kasten and general manager Brandon Gomes, who presented the coaching staff and players with blue boxes.
An injured Kershaw didn't pitch in the postseason last year, which culminated in the Dodgers' five-game victory over the rival New York Yankees in the World Series. Ohtani's Japanese countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and catcher Austin Barnes were busy warming up in the bullpen and had a clubhouse manager accept their rings.
The Dodgers unveiled their World Series championship flag in center field and a championship emblem on the right field suite level before a 5-4 win over the Tigers in Thursday’s home opener.
“This is the final piece,” Roberts said. “Just to kind of have the fans here to kind of enjoy this with us and close the book on 2024.”
Roberts had not seen the ring ahead of time.
“It’s a symbol for me,” he said, adding that he doesn’t wear rings although he wears a wedding band.
Roberts said he keeps his World Series rings from 2004 (as a player with Boston) and 2020 (as manager with the Dodgers) in a home safe.
Mookie Betts picked up his third championship ring, to go with a 2018 title in Boston and now two in LA.
“This is my favorite one so far,” he said. “Hopefully I can get some more and then we’ll be able to compare.”
The hand-crafted rings by Jostens contain 14-karat yellow gold, diamonds and genuine sapphires.
Inside the box’s lid, a video plays highlights of the World Series. Using a specialized hinge mechanism, the top of the ring opens to reveal Dodger Stadium displayed in detail and features the Commissioner’s Trophy with one diamond to mark the victory. Eight diamonds represent each of the team's World Series titles and the years 1883 and 2024 mark the franchise's 142 seasons.
The left side of the ring top interior includes a piece from the bases used in the World Series. Encircling the base are 34 sapphires honoring the Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who died days before the World Series began.
In a personal touch, players' signatures are on the interior palm of the ring.
“The ring is incredible,” third baseman Max Muncy said.
Former Dodger Jack Flaherty started for the Tigers on Friday night, so he'll receive his ring Saturday.
“We can go beat him up today and give him the ring tomorrow,” Roberts joked.
Flaherty, a native of nearby Burbank, California, started Game 1 of the National League Championship Series and Game 1 of the World Series, both at Dodger Stadium where he attended games as a kid. He joined the Dodgers at last year's trade deadline and provided stability to a starting rotation rocked by injuries.
“He was the right person at the right time for our club," Roberts said. “He delivered.”
Utilityman Kiké Hernández got out of his sick bed to participate in the ceremony after missing the home opener a day earlier.
“He's feeling much better,” Roberts said.
The team gathered behind the mound waiting for everyone to cross the stage and then posed for photos, smiling and admiring the bling on their fingers. A brass band broke into “They Not Like Us.”
“I hope it fits,” Roberts said. “If it ends up on my pinkie, we'll be in trouble.”
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A Los Angeles Dodgers 2024 World Series ring sits in its box after a ceremony at Dodger Stadium on Friday, March 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Beth Harris)
A Los Angeles Dodgers 2024 World Series ring sits in its box after a ceremony at Dodger Stadium on Friday, March 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Beth Harris)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman, left, Shohei Ohtani, center, and Mookie Betts pose with their rings during a World Series Champion ring ceremony prior to a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw and Will Smith show each other their rings during a World Series Champion ring ceremony prior to a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Max Muncy, left shows his ring to Shohei Ohtani during a World Series Champion ring ceremony prior to a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman, left, Shohei Ohtani, center, and Mookie Betts pose with their rings during a World Series Champion ring ceremony prior to a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
