Sac State basketball starter enters transfer portal after big freshman season
Mark Lavrenov is known by those who know him best to pour himself into basketball.
He’s a gym rat who puts up hundreds of shots after a practice or a game, doing so throughout his record-setting Rocklin High School days in Placer County, where he capped his senior season by being named The Sacramento Bee’s Player of the Year. And he maintained this theme during his recently completed freshman season at Sacramento State. He’s also a regular in the weight room, toning his body amid sweat and determination.
Lavrenov likes the results in what he sees in the mirror and in the box score, but he isn’t satisfied, and so he entered the transfer portal to seek a new destination and new challenges. The portal closes Monday, and then the recruitment for the 6-foot-8 forward is expected to intensify.
Lavrenov played in all 31 games for coach Mike Bibby and staff, starting 21. He played a lot of center out of necessity as Sac State was ravaged by injury, and Lavrenov showed great promise, including scoring 17 points and snagging 17 rebounds against Northern Colorado, the rebound total tying him for the third-most in a single game in Sac State’s Division I era, which began in 1991.
Lavrenov averaged 12.5 points and nearly eight rebounds in Big Sky Conference play, and he competed to the point of exhaustion, per his nature. Sac State was good at home in the Pavilion, going 10-4 in front of overflow crowds, but the Hornets went winless on the road at 0-16.
It wasn’t the losses that prompted Lavrenov to enter the portal, he said. It was a sense that he can score and rebound somewhere else — a fresh start.
“My goal is to play at the highest level, professionally some day, and I’m entering the portal after a pretty good year, striking when the iron is hot,” Lavrenov said. “It’s the perfect time to explore options.”
Lavrenov said he would like to remain on the West Coast. He is close to his family and wants to keep that convenience. He spoke to his parents, his agent Keith Moss, and his prep coach Steve Taylor about his transfer options. They all had his back, whether he transferred or stayed put.
“It was the hardest decision of my life, but it’s the right decision,” he said of the portal entry.
Lavrenov was not part of Bibby’s first signing class. Lavrenov was signed to a national letter of intent by the previous coaching staff, which was binding. Bibby said during the season that he only needed to see Lavrenov for a few minutes in the first team workout to realize the kid can compete.
Lavrenov said the Hornets wanted him to return, and they discussed NIL — name, image and likeness options — and compensation, the new wrinkle to college athletics.
“I talked to the staff, and they were adamant that they wanted me back, but they said that whatever decision I make that they would back me,” Lavrenov said. “That bridge was not burned. Their support was relieving. They said that they would continue to be a Mark fan. It speaks to how good of a staff and how good they are as people.”
Lavrenov said he will take the five allowed NCAA official visits, though he isn’t sure which schools that will be. Oregon State, Washington State, New Mexico State, San Jose State and others have expressed interest for the forward who can bang inside, run the floor and hit the mid-range jumper. He is a business major.
Moss, his agent, coached at Saint Mary’s College in the Bay Area and at San Jose State. His son Devin Moss played for Rocklin High in the 2010s.
Taylor, the now-retired Rocklin coach, said Lavrenov is just now “hitting the tip of the iceberg of how great he can be.”
“The thing that’s great about Mark is he has an unusually high motor for his size, and he plays with such energy and effort that’s just different,” Taylor said. “He loves to be in the gym, to be in the weight room. He has a desire to get better. His high motor, his effort, his willingness to improve makes him a great recruit. I’m excited for him.”