Who are the best players in the Southwest region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
As a cal poly alum who was born in Santa Clara, dad went to UCSB, mom went yo UCSD, son goes to Berkeley, daughter goes to Stanford, and who is a lifelong UCLA fan,
Johnny Ortburg is clearly coach of the year
Aiden Curry is MVP
Noah Chang Lyninburg is ROTY
And Zach whatever his last name is is Most improved
2 Likes
There are a few people I think are locks. KJ Koo, Andrew Roy, RKD. The top teams have a few other players I wouldn’t be surprised about, from SLO: Seamus Robinson, Jake Thorne. Cal: Evan Magsig, Max williams, and Gavin May are all in the conversation. Marshall Wildmann from UCLA could easily take a spot. From some of the smaller schools, Aiden Curry and Keaton Viadro have been spectacular for Santa Cruz and Santa Clara respectively.
Also Garrett Bush is a lock for ROTY.
Coach of the year
Felicia Yang (UCLA): has those boys working! She has them all bought in and on a tight schedule. Also very smart strategically and does work behind the scenes to make her team successful.
Dan Silverstein (CAL): saw him recording slo and ucla games at SoCal conferences. He’s putting in the work to set his team up for success.
Cody Mills (SLO): obvious reasons
Top Players:
Slo: KJ Koo, Jake Thorne, Matt Miller, Seamus Robinson
Cal: aroy and evan
UCSB: Rhys Gretsch and Kyle Johnson
USC: Jake shoyer
UCLA: RKD
Rookie of the year:
Tynan Sander (UCSD) runs the team now that their seniors left.
Coming in with outside perspective here, but watched all of the Southwest games on Ultiworld this year.
Obviously more will be said after regionals this weekend and headline names like Koo, ARoy RKD, Thorne, Robinson, Miller, & G Bush will no doubt be shouted out, but I’d like to give some love to an unbelievably talented freshman that might have flown under the radar for slocore: Anton Orme.
Anton does every thing for Slo on the O-line and is only a freshman. Beautiful timing with cuts, great decision making with throws and creates so much space with incredibly hard clears for the headline players on that team. Not to mention he can get UP in the deep space with the best of them. His growth from fall to spring is unmatched in the region and he is 100 percent worthy of all-freshman selection. Anton is going to be a PROBLEM alongside G Bush and those other talented freshman on slo for years to come. Don’t underestimate this kid.
1st team all-region
- Kj Koo (SLO)- KJ has been dominating the division since his freshman year and this year was the crown jewel of his college career. KJ is a 5 tool player that can beat you downfield and behind the disc. KJ has the ability to change the dynamic of the game with his versatility and causes matchup nightmares for opposing defenses.
- Matt Miller (SLO)- Engine of the Slo o-line and best mental game in the Southwest. Miller had to step up huge as center handler with Calvin being OFS, and certainly rose to the occasion being the anchor that Oline needed this season. Whether it be running 2-3 man sets dinking and dunking or slinging biscuits to our threats downfield, Miller’s impact on the success of the team cannot be overstated.
- Seamus Robinson (SLO)- Seamus is a wicked smart defender that straps up other teams’ primary cutters. His awareness of body positioning and high-pointing makes him the best defensive ball hawk in the division. Seamus’ motor is impressive as he exerts unrelenting pressure on long points and is disciplined off the turn in contrast to other players that make bad decisions as they fatigue.
- Kevin Tien (Stanford)- Granted we have not played Stanford since our Fall Series Final matchup so I have not seen his play this season and given Stanford’s underwhelming performance (Losing Colin Grant midseason significantly limited their upside) might make you question this KT’s selection for 1st-team all region, 6th-year victory lap KT certainly deserves recognition for the impact he’s had on Blood and the southwest region during his tenure as their best player.
- Marshall Wildmann (UCLA) - This is probably the most controversial take of my 1st team selections putting Marshall > Riley. I have made this decision mostly because I believe Marshall had a bigger impact on Smaug this season because of RKD’s absence from SMI, NW challenge, and sectionals. Playing Revolver with Marshall this past club season, it was really fun to watch his game develop getting reps as UCLA’s #1 option on offense. It’s apparent that Marshall can fill any role you need him to on the field and if UCLA had a little more defensive depth, I think Marshall leading the charge on O could have pushed them into the #2 spot in the region.
- Evan magsig (CAL) - Similar to Marshall, Evan’s growth this season was among the most impressive in the entire country. I think he has to be in the discussion for BPOTY as he has ascended from dline cog to emerging star that forces defenses to gameplan around his skillset. Evan is a devilish 2-way player that is tough to contain in Cal’s handler driven offense. He has developed a great chemistry with his downfield weapons (Max W. and Gavin M.) and shoots to them with great touch and skill. If you take away his upfield looks, he can run dom sets with Aroy to generate openings for Ursa’s offense.
- Andrew Roy (CAL)- Aroy is exactly what Dr. Dan Silverstein ordered as a center handler that is comfortable hitting breakside looks downfield to get the disc into his playmaker’s hands. Adding a player of Aroy’s caliber and experience was vital to Ursa’s major success this season. With sneaky athleticism and quickness, Aroy forces defenders to work hard and smart to limit what he brings to the table. Off the field, I’ve been told he is a great teammate and lead by action captain that commands the trust of his squad.
2nd team all-region
- Kyle Lew (SLO) - What can’t Kyle Lew do? Kyle was a workhorse defensive handler that quarterbacked Core’s Doffense this season. As a 2nd year with a rare combination of skills that include top-tier athleticism, throwing ability, and game sense, Kyle is going to continue to terrorize the southwest for years to come.
- Rhys Gretsch/X Proschaska (UCSB)- I couldn’t decide who to choose from Tide this season so I decided to honor both. X was the more reliable player for Tide’s offense this season and provided a consistent stream of production. I think from a rarity of skillset perspective, Rhys is the more impressive player than X and provided some much needed juice for Tide’s Doffense. However, Sometimes Rhys is prone to hero-ball decision-making that shot SB out of some games which makes me not give him the edge over X. Coupled with Ladner’s + Turner’s System, these two players made SB very relevant this year, nearly upseting UCLA in the 2nd place bracket semis game to go.
- Liam Jay/Xaul Starr/Merc (UCSC) - Truth be told, I was thinking about making this list without any Santa Cruz representation because Core only played them once this season/they did not play fall series. It also seems to me that there isn’t one player that stands out in particular among their top 7 and that it is mostly Johnny Ortberg’s coaching prowess + system that propelled the slugs to a top 4 finish this season. I think #10 (Liam Jay?) had a strong game against us as well as their dline tandem Xaul and Merc. This Santa Cruz team is poised for a nice run next season as they only graduate 3 players and have some nice talent coming in.
- Simon Covington (Stanford)- Far and away best player on Stanford following KT’s departure next year. From my limited experience seeing him play, it seems that he can make huge plays and is ready to be blood’s #1 option next year. More high-level club experience for Covington will make him a contender for 1st team all-region and hopefully Dallman’s coaching can develop a nice supporting cast that eases some of the workload he’ll inherit next year.
- RKD (UCLA)- I’ve been playing against and with RKD since 2014, and when healthy he is as dominant as they come. From what I saw of UCLA at regionals however, It seemed like RKD was not in peak form being out with a concussion for so long. It was unfortunate that his season went down the way it did because I felt he was primed to take his game to another level and carry UCLA to nationals contention. Going into his senior year, RKD is a shortlist POTY candidate that will be hungry for success following this season’s game to go elimination at the hands of Cal.
- Any one of Alex Nelson, Keaton Orser, Anton Orme, or Garrett Bush (SLO)- I couldn’t decide which of our freshmen to nominate so I’ll give them all props.
Alex Nelson - Y’all didn’t know about him until easterns/sectionals, but Alex is probably the best deep threat in the division as a freshman. 6’4 frame,huge bounce, disc-reading ability, with consistent throws after the catch makes him a premier cutter in the college division already.
Anton Orme- Two-way stud that makes the right reads and rarely makes mistakes. Once he gets some high-level club experience, he could end up as the best player in the class.
Keaton Orser - Extremely reliable reset handler that is not afraid of the moment. He’s got that dog in them as the kids are saying and will be a rock for whatever role the team needs from him in the future
Garrett Bush- Another one of our 6’4 terrors. Garrett moved to Dline after Easterns which completely changed the flow of our doffense and gave us another big body for opposing team deep threats. One of the most passionate and hard workers on the team, Garrett will only get more dangerous as he gains more experience. - Max Williams (CAL)- TBH I thought max was scrub at the first Spiders tryout last year but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Max’s combination of speed, height and athleticism made him the primary deep target for Cal this year which was huge for their offense as he stretched the field well enough to create space for Aroy and Evan to run the show.
Honorable Mentions
- Aidan Curry (UCSC)- big throws and soul of the team for slugs. Probably the market’s favorite for Slug representation for all region recognition but his decision-making and defense kept him off my list.
- Michael Tao (UCLA) - Top 4 player for UCLA, squats three plates, and carried Gunn to a finals victory over a stacked Berkeley team at HS states that still makes me lol to this day.
- Keaton Viadro (Santa Clara)- I think he struggled with some injuries this season but was the best player for SCAB.
- Gavin May (CAL) - Strong initiating cutter and deep threat that can play solid lockdown cutter defense. I gave the edge to Max > Gav because he had some tough turns against us in the final when the wind picked up.
- Matt Barcellos (UCLA) - This guy is legit and could be argued for against RKD + Marshall in terms of impact of contribution to Smaug this year.
- Carson Crouch/Keaton Bates/James Whealan (SLO) - Core was good this year. These guys all deserve props.
Brandon Van Deusen (CSULB) - Really good player on a bad team. I fully expect him to make waves in AUDL + high-level club this summer.
Coach of the year
1.Cody Mills - Undefeated record against the southwest the past four years and fire huddle speeches off the dome. Wish I was in his top 5.
2.Dan Silverstein - Made Cal program incredibly fierce, has continually produced players that go on to be successful at the highest level of the sport post-college. Truly cares about his guys and gets the most out of them.
3.Johnny Ortberg - Brought Santa Cruz out of irrelevance and nearly made it to the game to go with far weaker top-end personnel than UCLA.
4.Ian Ladner - Did a great job with Tide this season. It’s apparent the squad was well-coached, I just don’t think they had the pieces to get it done this year.
6 Likes
I coach Cal Poly but I don’t think this is that biased 
1st Team
KJ Koo (Cal Poly #27) - continues to be the best all around player in the SW
Jake Thorne (Cal Poly #23) - best defender in the SW (top 5 in the country IMO), low key nice on O too
Matt Miller (Cal Poly #5) - from D-line QB to offensive rock, exceptional head up defender, no doubts
Andrew Roy (California #16) - best breaks in the SW, incredible possession handler
Evan Magsig (California #32) - really leveled up as a thrower, Cal’s top defender, plays both ways
Riley Kirkman-Davis (UCLA #47) - hurt but did enough for me while playing. Elite center handler
Kevin Tien (Stanford #24) - carried a lot of load for Stanford O downfield but also top shelf defense
2nd Team
Seamus Robinson (Cal Poly #30) - block machine, great head up defender, $
Max Williams (California #87) - big deep threat, reads space well, capable thrower
Matt Barcellos (UCLA #19) - QBs the UCLA D-line, takes big matchups, huge flick hucks
Marshall Wildmann (UCLA #25) - shared the Riley void with Matt, did work downfield, got it back on D
Aidan Curry (Santa Cruz #47) - a little one dimensional but his throws open up O for Cruz
Rhys Gretsch (Santa Barbara #81) - similar big hucks to Curry, also plays tough defense
Xavier Prochaska (Santa Barbara #16) - big time playmaker time and again downfield for Tide
Honorable Mention
Keaton Bates (Cal Poly #42) - could be 2nd team, universe line for us. O cutter w throws, block getter
Kyle Lew (Cal Poly #10) - kyle is so good, maybe should be 2nd team; explosive D, QB on a turn
Brandon van Deusen (Long Beach) - big driver for LB, flashy plays
Simon Covington (Stanford) - play making cutter and defender
Keaton Viadro (Santa Clara) - super solid thrower
Gavin May (California #00) - big man, catches a lot of goals, sees poaches well, nice throws off the line
Santa Cruz #10 - solid handler, foils well with Curry
UC San Diego #99 - tall guy, athlete, can also throw
All Freshmen
Dexter Clyburn (California #14) - love his defensive game. Taking KJ as a freshmen is not a small thing
Garrett Bush (Cal Poly #16) - universe line player for SLO as a freshmen
Alex Nelson (Cal Poly #45) - starts on our O line, roofs people, throws upfeld, makes good decisions
Keaton Orser (Cal Poly #6) - starts on our O line, poised under pressure, great teammate, D grinder
Anton Orme (Cal Poly #15) - starts on our O line, 2 way threat, sneaky good thrower, future unit
5 Likes
Really hard to do 1st and 2nd team so I just made O and D lines on what I thought would make a great team. All based on limited experience so this last is probably objectively incorrect, but so is everyone’s.
D-line Handlers:
Jake Thorne (SLO): Deceptively good defensive instincts and speed. Has all the throws you need to work it on O, and might even get you a couple extra yards with his almost undetectable “creep up” travels.
KJ Koo (SLO): Plays O-line I think, but has some of the best handler D in the region, and can really play any role.
Evan Magsig (Cal): Sure his marks are basically just aggressive hugs, but he has the best defensive instincts in the region along with Jake and is virtually unguardable when it comes to getting the disc in isolation and immediately putting up a dime.
D-line Cutters:
Dexter Clayborne (Cal): Has quickly become a player with almost no weaknesses and a big force in the deep space.
Ethan Kleinman (UCSC): Tremendous closing speed allows him to eat up any floaty throws in his vicinity, and dime hucks to both sides.
Marshall Wildmann (UCLA): Similar to Ethan but trade the powerful flick hucks for better decision making.
Matt Miller (SLO): Just another Cal Poly player that can do it all
O-line Handlers:
Keaton Viadro (Santa Clara): Fastest uplines in the southwest, helped take his team to a suprise #6 in the region.
Riley Kirkman-Davis (UCLA): Will always be the go-to handler on the line, but when we’re getting forced backhand points will be over in 10 seconds or less.
Andrew Roy (Cal): Similar to Keaton, trading maybe a touch of speed for a touch of increased decision making/comforting backfield presence.
O-line Cutters:
Max Williams (Cal): Powerful deep receiver, but also has great instincts when he needs to help underneath against a zone.
Dylan Burns (UCSC): Skies just about everybody, even when it looks like he won’t. Similar to Max when it comes to being forced under. Probably a touch better in the air but a touch slower than Max.
Garrett Bush (SLO): Absolute workhorse as an O-line cutter, another deep weapon, and very adaptable into any system.
Kevin Tien (Stanford): Started playing college ultimate before most of these players were born, and has fewer weaknesses than he had points on the bench at regionals. Like Riley and KJ, can dominate at any position on the field, and brings an air of professionalism to the sport.
Subs:
Liam Jay (UCSC) 2nd fastest uplines in the region
Matthew Barcellos (UCLA) Great hucks and great defense
Adian Curry (UCSC) Best standstill hucking ability, suprising deep threat
Simon Covington (Stanford) How is he a sub? Oops. Has most if not all of spiderman’s abilities but with better hucks.
Xavier Prochaska (UCSB) Another workhorse that just makes his whole team better.
Kyle Lew (SLO) Full field speed and now has developed into an effective handler
Seamus Robinson (SLO) How is this guy also a sub? Only guy on the list to have baited Eli Kerns into a blue card.
2 Likes
I coach Cal Ursa, and unlike Cody, I’m probably biased 
(also for context, this is my 7th year coaching Cal and I coached Stanford for 6 seasons prior to that). Cal played SLO and UCLA twice at regionals.
Player of the region
I would advocate in a very biased way for Evan Magsig as a strong candidate for player of the region. There are a few very talented players in this region, and while some of them do have stronger technical throwing skills, I think that the overall breadth of Evan’s talent and his impact across all facets of the game for Cal allows him to stand out above the other great players in this region.
Evan played a major role on both offense and defense for Cal this season. On offense, he was equally adept as a handler throwing deep, throwing breaks, running endzone, or grinding out dominator sets. When matchups were favorable, Evan could also run as our initiating cutter. Likewise, he was a primary cog in our zone offense sets. He could play literally every offensive role and was almost never neutralized by any matchup the whole year.
Then on defense, Evan was also our best handler defender. He would go from drawing the toughest defender from the other team to turning around and guarding their best thrower the next point. Evan’s technical skill and athleticism as a handler defender is phenomenal and he combines that with exceptional field awareness and intelligence. That all is highlighted in his layout callahan vs Pitt (which you really should see if you haven’t). Even though he was primarily a handler guard (and somewhat short by my standards), he got a lot of deep blocks against good players. Evan also played in a big role in every one of our zone sets and got some key layout blocks as a wing throughout the season.
But I’m a data scientist so let me finish with some data. This spring season, Evan had the most assists, blocks, points played, and the highest plus/minus of anyone on the team. Even though Evan threw a lot of goals and took technically difficult shots, he did not give the disc away very much - his assist to turn ratio was 3:1 (which was way above the rest of the team).
He had huge contributions in our biggest games (eg 6A,1G,1D vs UW, 2A,2G,4D vs Pitt, 3A,2G,1D vs Colorado, 4A,1D vs BYU) and would consistently play 20+ points in a game when we really needed it from him.
If I were drafting players from my 7 years at Cal, he would be my first pick.
Great players on other teams that literally made me change or abandon certain gameplans.
Jake Thorne (Cal Poly). Jake’s handler defense in the finals of regionals was the best performance against Call all season. It is the only time where our offense has had to adjust to a reality where we could not assume that our first handler was going to get open every time. Jake is also great as a thrower and as a receiver but that defense was out of this world and a big reason why SLO had such a high margin win against Cal. Additionally a fabulous person. Great to see how stellar he has become; less great when he is using that against you.
KJ Koo (Cal Poly): KJ does not seem to have any weaknesses as an offensive player which makes him really frustrating to try to deal with as an opposing coach. We spent half a practice working on ways to stop KJ which, in fact, didn’t help us to stop KJ. He’s the only thrower Cal has faced this season that caused us to abandon certain zone sets (not even Henry Ing or Alex Atkins had that level of effect). Cal played SLO 4 times this season and got 1 (one) break total.
Marshall Wildmann (UCLA): I was surprised at the level of impact that Marshall was having on offense against Cal at regionals. Having seen him play throughout the year, I knew he was a strong presence and great all around player. What was unexpected was how truly unstoppable he was on offense. In the game-to-go, when Cal ran a standard defensive set, Marshall would cut through it as if it were easy. We tried several of our best individual defenders against him and he was still able to (with apparent ease) grind out openside unders and upline cuts. We had move away from matchup defenses in the second-place game because we couldn’t contain him. I was really impressed.
Great players on other teams
Matt Miller (SLO). Primary handler on a team we played 4 times and broke once. End of story.
Seamus Robinson (SLO). Throughout the season he has played some of the best individual downfield defense that I have seen in the region.
RKD (UCLA). Obviously has a very high ceiling. Missing ~ 3month of the regular season limited his impact and it was clear he wasn’t at 100% at regionals. I’m sure he + Marshall will be an absolute terror in the future.
Players that stood out at sectionals
Simon Covington (Stanford)
Kevin Tien (Stanford)
Keaton Viadro (Santa Clara)
Aidan Curry (UCSC)
Cal Players I want to highlight
Andrew Roy - You’ve probably heard of him by now. The most consistent player I have ever worked with in 13 years of college ultimate. Had only 1 bad game the whole season. Was able to get open against every matchup (except Jake Thorne) and break every mark - Cal got to run an offense predicated on the assumption that our handlers would always be open and always be able to throw to the breakside. Along with crushing on offense, Andrew got some impactful and impressive blocks on crossover points in big games. His presence was a key component of Cal’s rise from 10th at fall regionals to 2nd at spring regionals. Probably the best handler I have ever coached in college.
Dexter Clyburn - Very impactful young player (candidate rookie of the year). Drew the toughest defensive matchups. Got blocks on players like RKD and KJ Koo. Patrolled the deep space in the zone sets. Ran D-line offense. First Dline crossover onto the o line when needed. Impressive for a true freshman. Probably the best freshmen I have ever had on Cal or Stanford.
I think Max Williams and Gavin May both had great years and would be deserving of a mention and a vote for all region.
3 Likes
I am Cal Captain Evan Magsig. I think these are reasonable takes.
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Dan Silverstein deserves to be coach of the region Cal returned 8 players who had played in a game for Cal going into this season. That team, +15 rookies (many had never played before), placed 7th at Fall Regionals, and finished the Spring in 2nd with a bid to Nationals. In a regular season, Cal would have earned a bid for the region (we finished 12th in the regular season according to the algorithm). As a player, it felt absolutely natural in the Spring to be playing teams like Pitt, BYU and Colorado close. From an outsiders perspective it has to be mind-boggling. This team went from getting crushed (like 13-7 type crushed) by UCLA, SB, Stanford and Cruz in the Fall Series to competing at a Nationals level. Dan coached this team to handy wins over Nationals contending teams like Northeastern, Tufts, Oregon and Washington University, took Colorado to universe and had us up 7-5 at half vs Pitt. That growth is a direct result of Coach Dan’s passion and commitment to Cal Ultimate, his intelligence to game plan against other teams and ability put his players in positions to succeed. He is at every practice (3x a week), attends every weekly leadership meeting, and puts in hours and hours outside of scheduled events to scout, work individually with players and help run the team. Dan’s work this year has been absolutely incredible and his coaching has directly brought this inexperienced Cal team to Nationals.
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Andrew Roy - Deserves 1st team all-region. Best break thrower in the Southwest and was the centerpiece of our offense. Incredible player and incredible person.
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Gavin May - Statistically, had the most dominant year I have ever seen at Cal. Going into Regionals, he had a +/- of 111, with 76 goals and 33 Assists. Huge in the air, sneaky good break throws and is an absolute menace in the endzone. Definitely would be deserving of a mention/vote for all-region and a strong candidate for Breakout Player of the Year. (he maybe played 10 points his freshman year)
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Max Williams - Comes down with almost every jump ball in the deep space, great backhand hucker and is an intelligent defender. At times the best player on the field and it’s not even close. Had a great year and deserving of a mention/vote of all-region
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Dexter Clyburn - Good bet for Freshman of the Region and a candidate for Freshman of the year. Consistently guarded the toughest matchups on other teams (Riley, KJ) and in our zone sets got tons of blocks. Great handler and crossed over to our O-line a bunch. A dynamic player that will only get better.
My picks for 1st team all-region (from other teams)
KJ - hes good
Seamus - always got multiple blocks against us. Probably the best cutter-defender in our region
Marshall - Similar to Jake’s message, I think that Marshall’s impact on Smaug was undeniable, especially with Riley being out for most of the season
Jake Thorne - A big time player who always shows out in the biggest moments. Took on the Andrew matchup and did the best of anyone all season. Wish I could play Handler D like him
Kevin Tien - Somehow he is still playing and of course it is at a high level. What a player. Was pretty unstoppable every time he played against us
Matt Miller - Great possession handler. Flick blades. No turns against us but plenty of assists.
Other people we played against who I think are great players:
Garret Bush (SLO)
Liam (UCSC)
Simon Covington (Stanford)
Brandon Van Deusen (Long Beach I think)
Michael Tao (UCLA)
Matthew Barcellos (UCLA)
Riley (UCLA) - too bad he was hurt most of the year :(. might be POTY next year. Could absolutely be 1st team all-region but didn’t play most of the year + I think recognizing Marshall’s effort makes sense
Keaton (SCAB)
Chip (SCAB)
Keenan McKelvey (Davis) - we played Davis like 6 times this year he was always their best player
I play for UCLA Smaug, so this all just comes from playing each team a couple of times or watching their games that are on ultiworld.
First Team:
- KJ Koo (SLO) - Best player on the best team, not much more to say.
- Matt Miller (SLO) - Super fast and hard to guard
- Andrew Roy (Cal) - Can throw anything he wants within 10 yards and then get it back (I’m sure he also has great hucks, but he just didn’t need to use them against us).
- Evan Magsig (Cal) - Great handler defender, can also get open in the handler space almost at will. Also plays like every point and never gets tired.
- Marshall Wildmann (UCLA) - Can get open under at will, a menace in the deep space on O and D, and can come back and handle well if needed.
- RKD (UCLA) - Best hucks in the southwest, can both take shots and also be incredibly efficient while doing so. Underratedly one of the best cutters on our team also.
- Jake Thorne (SLO) - Great defender. Handblocked me at sectionals :(.
Second Team:
- Keaton Viadro (Santa Clara) - Led them to top 6 finish at regionals as the 11 seed (on a hurt ankle too!). Incredibly quick and hard to guard in the handler space with good throws.
- Brandon Van Dueson (Long Beach State) - Great handler and cutter, doesn’t have much depth behind him but super good.
- Seamus Robinson (SLO) - Gets everything in the air on defense.
- Liam Jay (UCSC) - Super quick and great getting open as a handler and also great handler defender.
- Matt Barcellos (UCLA) - Captain of our D-line, got a bunch of D’s and then #1 reason we punched in the break. Great hucks.
- Gavin May (Cal) - Really good cutter and came back to be third handler in dom sometimes.
- Lefty on UCSC with longish hair/Aiden Curry - Both have great hucks. Lefty was a great cutter too.
Honorable Mention:
#99 on UCSD, great athlete and also good thrower. Killed us one game in sectionals.
X on SB - can get open deep or under really well
Dexter Clyburn (Cal)
Small update following nationals (regarding cal).
Evan Magsig and Andrew Roy played phenomenally at nationals against the hardest matchups. They will both finish in top 5 for assists for the entire tournament - even with teams knowing that Andrew and Evan were the big threats and matching up their best defenders/systems/etc.
Evan also had the most blocks for cal and the highest plus minus (I think he was top 20 at the tournament for goals) which I think continues to demonstrate his all around contribution to the team.
Dexter Clyburn was phenomenal. He was a top 3 impactful player for cal in our big wins.
Gavin and Max also played well against top competition.