Big Red rising: What’s the encore for Jesuit boys basketball after CIF State title?
Well before his team takes the floor for home games at Jesuit High School, Tim Kelly will push a broom across the glistening wood floor inside Joseph F. Barry Gymnasium.
The Marauders coach does so to do his part, to ponder mental notes on that night’s contest, and because he’s an example that no task is below anyone on this 64-year-old Carmichael campus. And then Kelly turns his guys loose.
So what does Big Red do for an encore after putting on a clinic of how to play the game the right way in winning the 2024-25 CIF State Division II championship? Simple. Keep on competing the right way, which is to say textbook execution of fundamentals in setting screens, moving the ball, making free throws, playing defense and caring about their craft.
It’s a new team with just two starters back in guards Brandon Williams and Maison Phillips, but what’s the old saying? Tradition never graduates. Players are eager to slip on Big Red colors. Basketball means something on this campus, right on down to execution and legacy.
“This is a different team,” Kelly said Wednesday night after Sacramento Bee-ranked No. 7 Jesuit polished off Granite Bay 69-52 to move to 2-0 in the Sierra Foothill League.
Jesuit has No. 12 Whitney of Placer County coming in for a visit on Friday and a showdown with decades-long rival in No. 6 Christian Brothers on Saturday night at Golden 1 Center.
The last time the team played at the downtown venue was when they celebrated their 66-53 CIF State championship conquest of Los Angeles City Section powerhouse Chatsworth in dishing out 19 assists to just four team turnovers. Kelly was The Bee’s Coach of the Year for that magical campaign, though he still credits assistant coaches and players for doing the heavy lifting.
What is clear is that Jesuit teams mirror their cool and calm coach.
“We’ve been trying to focus on the process of doing things the right way: Playing unselfish,” Kelly said of this season’s plan of attack. “We want to move the ball. We want to celebrate our teammate’s success.”
Kelly after Jesuit’s state win said that “executing a game plan is these guys’ superpower.” That sentiment is still there. As for Jesuit’s pillars of success — the fundamental aspect of the game — Kelly said, “that will never change.”
High-haired Williams leads Big Red
Williams is a 6-foot senior ball-handling floor general. He has a shock of high hair that bounces when he bounds up the court. Williams is the key to this ride, and he embraces his role and that of a good student. His course load at Jesuit includes Advanced Placement Economics and AP Statistics. He wants to study business and fire science in college with a lifelong desire to be a firefighter. He is undecided where he will attend college.
“I’m the leader, the point guard, and I run the offense,” Williams said. “I’m the communicator, the heart of the team, and I love it. We try to be a well-oiled machine. We all know exactly what we need to do. It’s all about execution an effort, like rebounding and defense. That’s all effort.”
Said Kelly of Williams, “He’s great. He’s the starting point guard from our state championship team. He’s got championship DNA. He’s an extension of us, a coach on the court. He knows the culture that we want, all the intangible stuff that we want.”
Big Red resume rocks
One of the storied programs in the history of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section, Jesuit’s all-time resume is tough to top: 20 trips to a section final, 11 section crowns, 10 trips to a Northern California final with three such crowns, eight Bee Players of the Year and 55 Bee first-team All-Metro players.
Jesuit last season became just the third Sacramento-area boys team to win a CIF State Division II crown since the state tournament began in 1981, joining the Oak Ridge Trojans of El Dorado Hills in 2005 and the Elk Grove Thundering Herd of 2022.
The coaching tradition at Jesuit dates back to 1969 when a young Terry Battenberg coached the program to its first great seasons. It carried over into the 1970s when Len Stevens led the charge, to Hank Meyer, who led the famed Jesuit teams of the late 1980s, the 1990s and early 2000s, to Greg Harcos, who won more banners in the 2000s and 2010s at his alma mater, to another alum in Jon Rotz for several winning seasons and now to Kelly the past eight seasons.
A Stockton native and a UC Davis graduate, Kelly is also in his 22nd year teaching at Jesuit, including AP Government. He is a man in his element, be that sweeping the gym floor, teaching duties or coaching.
“It’s a great place to be, to teach and coach,” Kelly said. “My best friends are coaching with me on the bench.”
Jesuit has leaders and role players
Jesuit aims to add some more shine to their championship gloss. A state championship banner hangs on the gym wall, the latest achievement for a school big on such things, including the Marauders winning the CIF State Division II cross country championship to cap the fall 2024 season.
The state hoops banner looms above Jesuit’s spirited and entertaining rooting section called the “Galley Crew.” Those students form a tunnel of sorts for Jesuit players to run through after home victories, including Wednesday night against Granite Bay. Maison Phillips scored 16 points to lead the way offensively. He played beyond his years as a freshman, including scoring 19 in the state final.
Sahib Randhawa, a 6-4 senior wing, had 13 points against Granite Bay, and 6-6 forward/wing Jack Walker dropped in a career-best 20. Williams scored seven, but his impact isn’t specific to scoring — it’s setting up teammates and running the show.
Jesuit’s role players include junior forward Greg DuFosse, junior guard Tyce Hinkel and senior guard Carson Keplinger. Jesuit is 8-6 this season, a record that may not frighten anyone. But the Marauders’ execution and effort may. Jesuit is unbeaten locally with the losses coming to out-of-area or state teams, including setbacks of four, five and seven points.
“I like this team, and there’s upside here,” Kelly said. “We can be better. We haven’t been able to put four full quarters together. Guys are unselfish and understand their role. Our locker room is really, really good. We don’t have any detractors or people sucking the energy out of the room, and that’s all invaluable.”
Kelly added, “We talk a lot about this group living up to the standards that previous Jesuit players have set. That’s the standard that we’re trying to live up to.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 1:37 PM.