‘Zachramento’: Zach Chappell leads hometown Sac State Hornets with veteran voice and poise
It’s not a nickname as much as it is a declaration.
Sacramento State men’s basketball coach David Patrick said his team has been united this season in calling Hornets guard Zach Chappell something specific and fitting.
“We call him ‘Zachramento’ because everyone knows him,” Patrick said. “He’s home grown and everyone loves him.”
Chappell is the Hornets’ 6-foot-3 senior captain who leads the Hornets in scoring, averaging 14.5 points, and in-game poise. He is stoic in action, expressionless except when it comes to dramatic finishes. Chappell coolly dropped in game winners this season against Denver and Long Beach State, a burst of his nearly 1,200 career points in just two-plus seasons with the program.
Those big buckets soon prompted Sacramento State radio play-by-play man Steve McElroy to tag Chappell as “Second-Half Zach.” Hornets men’s basketball sports information director Ryan Bjork said Chappell can go from off-the-floor warm to in-game wrecking crew in a flash. Bjork is inspired and refreshed by it.
“Zach’s the most polite dude, maybe the nicest student-athlete I’ve met in my 22 years here,” Bjork said. “He’s just unreal. So genuine.”
Chappell smiles it all off. He insists he is just a student-athlete, from the 916, the pride of nearby Capital Christian High School where helped lead campus food drives and listened to the stories of the needy amid setting school records for career victories and points scored. Chappell admits only to enjoying his best collegiate season, of it being “surreal” and “special.”
It’s been a journey with speed bumps and detours, and this season has included some ups and downs, but Chappell never wavers. Life happens, and it’s a topic in the most broad picture that Chappell discusses in a campus leadership council. It’s how one responds that counts, Chappell stresses.
Sacramento State started the Big Sky Conference season fast, going 4-1, but entering Thursday, the Hornets had dropped five of six games, including four by seven or fewer points. Chappell has provided steady leadership if not game winners of late, part of the entire “Zachramento” profile.
Patrick, in his first season, needed a veteran voice and experienced floor general to help mold a team that included a host of newcomers, including six transfers. He found his anchor in Chappell as their bond took hold almost immediately.
But there were some tense moments for Chappell before this season even tipped off. After starring at Capital Christian, Chappell played two seasons at San Jose State, where he started 15 games as a true freshman in 2018-19 and played in all 31 games as a sophomore. But it wasn’t the right fit, so he transferred to Sacramento State before the 2020-21 season. He missed the start of the season with an injury and averaged 7.2 points. He started last season, averaging 11.6 points. Still, Chappell wasn’t sure he’d make it to this season.
With coaching change comes roster change. Chappell spoke to his parents about what to do if his Hornets career was over, by his own doing or that of the new coaching staff.
“I know what college sports can do, how it can make or break you,” Chappell said. “When I think of my ups and downs, there was a point in my college career where I was thinking, ‘I’ll get my degree and run a nonprofit if I’m not playing any more.’ But I loved coach Patrick from the first time we spoke. Hearing that he wanted me felt good. He could have said, ‘Sorry.’ I’ve seen it. It happens so often. But we locked in.”
Patrick said, “I like his spirit. I’m Zach’s fifth college coach. It could have been easy for him to leave. It could have been easy for him not to buy in. But he bought in from Day One, and he’s the one voice I know that has my back and my staff’s back.”
The coach added, “I like his work ethic and professionalism. Professionalism is how he approaches the classroom, the way he approaches life, the way he approaches extra work. He’s just what you want as a leader.”
That includes taking game winners. Two makes two mob-scenes after the game and two water bottle spray downs in the locker room.
“For Zach to win games like that here at home, in his senior year, it’s something he’ll never forget, and I get so pumped for him as a human being,” Patrick said. “He has more pressure on him than most. He’s local. His family is at every game, and friends. He’s been a joy to coach.”
Chappell has won games with drives and jumpers over his career, including this season. He’s a challenge to slow either way. For home games, Chappell competes with added purpose. For starters, his mother Kalyn, father Kevin and brothers LaBrent and Ryan Chappell are regulars at The Nest. Chappell can’t miss them. They sit in the front row.
Kevin starred at McClatchy High and played football and basketball at UC Davis. His brothers also played college basketball and they remain his biggest fans and harshest critics.
“I was telling my teammates about those game winners, that it felt like a movie, and it almost brings tears to my eyes knowing I’ve had big games at home,” Chappell said. “I’ve got everyone here. Surreal and special.”
What has added to his final collegiate season is playing with longtime best friend and fellow guard Rick Barros III, a teammate for years, including at Capital Christian.
Chappell’s aim is to get the Hornets back on track heading into the Big Sky Conference tournament, which starts March 4 in Boise. He hopes to play professionally, perhaps overseas, a vision that coach Patrick can see.
“Oh, definitely,” Patrick said. “I had an agent (recently) from Europe ask about him. He’s the player and person you’d want. I was fortunate enough to play overseas and some of my closest friends are people I met in Spain, England, Australia. He can play.”
When he is no longer playing, Chappell wants to work with middle-school students through faith-based basketball.
“I want to work with young people, or run a nonprofit,” Chappell said. “I just want to help.”