Sac State releases men’s basketball schedule. Who’s back for Mike Bibby’s squad?
Sacramento State this week released its 2026-27 men’s basketball schedule that includes the program’s first year in the Big West Conference — as well as an update on coach Mike Bibby and his staff, the returning players and newcomers and the return of Shaquille O’Neal as the program’s general manager.
Bibby, the former Sacramento Kings star guard preparing for his second season heading the Hornets, announced the schedule release, one that includes a program-record 17 home games and 22 games against Big West competition. The Hornets were in the Big Sky Conference for 30 years and are now in a conference heavy on Southern California schools.
Coming off of an injury-plagued, 10-win season that featured overflow home crowds at the sparkling new on-campus Hornet Pavilion, Sac State opens its schedule Nov. 2 at home against Division II Jessup University of Rocklin. The Hornets cap the regular season March 6 at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo in a Big West contest.
The Big West Tournament is March 10-13 in Nevada, where the event winner will be an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament that starts March 16.
Sacramento State will be one of the host schools for the first two rounds of the 2027 NCAA tournament — March Madness — at Golden 1 Center, which the school and its media relations staff has done on multiple occasions over the years. Women’s March Madness came to Golden 1 Center earlier this year.
Sac State’s first Big West game will be Dec. 3, at Fullerton.
The Hornets went 10-4 at home last season in setting program records for season attendance. The program was founded in 1948. Sac State averaged 77.7 points last season, the most for the program since moving up from Division II to Division I in 1991.
Sac State will play UC Davis on Nov. 14 at the Pavilion, a 5 p.m. start, marking the 124th meeting between the rivals who first met in 1948. The Hornets own a 73-50 record against UCD all-time, including a 41-17 mark at home.
Shaq is back, as is coaching staff
Bibby said that his entire coaching staff will return next season.
O’Neal, the Hall of Fame great, served as a volunteer general manager last season due to his longtime friendship with Bibby. O’Neal’s role is that of recruiter, mentor and sponsorship branding.
O’Neal’s son, Shaqir O’Neal, started all 31 games last season in his lone season with the Hornets. He won the State Farm College Slam Dunk contest, the first Hornet to do so in the 37-year history of the event, and then graduated.
Old and new Hornets
Sac State has 16 players on its roster, 11 of them new to the program. The returning players are guards Mikey Williams, Arman Madi, Romari Robinson, Taj Glover and Zach Anderson.
Williams was one of the top players in the Big Sky last season, a dynamic scorer. The Hornets roster includes players from five different countries: the United States, Brazil, Greece, Serbia and Slovenia.
One of the new Hornets is Larry Hughes II, the son of Larry Hughes, who logged 13 NBA seasons. The elder Hughes was the No. 8 pick in the 1998 NBA draft, with Bibby going second that season to the Grizzlies, then based in Vancouver, Canada.
Glover’s father, Dion, played six NBA seasons.
This story was originally published July 17, 2026 at 11:46 AM.