After finishing 19-15 in his inaugural season, CSUN head coach Andy Newman has the Matadors ready to go in year two. It’s a total roster transformation yet again as 15 newcomers are set to don the red and white for CSUN as Newman only returns three members of the team from last season.

Roster Breakdown

Last season, the Matadors really struggled with shooting the ball. They shot a paltry 30 percent from three and an even worse 66 percent from the free throw line. Simply put, CSUN struggled when put in half-court offense situations. Newman and the Matadors coaching staff honed in on players who could shoot the ball effectively from range along with a bit of size.

“Lot of guys who can really score the basketball,” Newman said when describing what this year’s roster brings to the table. “We’re going to get up and down and score a lot of points in a lot of different ways. Last year we were a little one-dimensional in that space. this year I think we are gonna be able to score on all three levels.”

Matadors’ star forward Keonte Jones is back after averaging 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds last season. Jones will be in contention for the Big West Defensive Player of the Year award this season after putting up 1.5 blocks and 1.6 steals a game. Jones was the Matadors’ lone selection in the Big West All-Preseason team.

Also returning for CSUN will be guard Jordan Brinson and forward Mahmoud Fofana. Both players transferred into Northridge last season and suffered season-ending achilles injuries during the regular season.

Brinson, who sustained his injury during the Long Beach State game on Dec. 30, 2023, should return back to the Matadors sometime during the season. However, the status for Fofana is still up in the air as he picked up his injury during the Matadors final home game of the regular season on Mar. 2.

After losing a big chunk of production thanks to the departure of De’Sean Allen-Eikens to graduation and Dionte Bostick, who transferred to New Mexico State during the off-season, Newman re-tooled the entire roster. The Matadors brought in a mixed bag of talent through the transfer portal.

The crown jewel of CSUN’s transfer portal additions, forward Marcus Adams Jr should be a huge focal point of the new-look Matadors team. Adams Jr had a long and tumultuous path before arriving at BYU last year.

Adams, who was a former four-star recruit originally hails from the South Bay area of Los Angeles and signed with the University of Kansas out of high school. After spending a short time at Kansas, Adams Jr was released from his national letter of intent and took his talents to Gonzaga before finally landing at BYU before the 2023-24 season started. He only appeared in one game for the Cougars during the season and entered the transfer portal at the conclusion of the year, and subsequently ended up in Northridge.

Adams Jr has the talent to replicate the production that Allen-Eikens had for the Matadors, but if he can put it all together in the up-tempo scheme that Newman loves to run, then it could spell trouble for the Big West.

Arguably the most underrated pickup CSUN made however, could be Cal State East Bay transfer Grady Lewis. Lewis spent three years playing at CSUEB and is a 6-foot-9 forward that will be called upon to play center at times for the Matadors. He was a two time all-conference player in the CCAA and averaged 14 points a game in his last two seasons.

Lewis and Adams Jr, bring good size to the team and should control the frontcourt for the Matadors, something the team struggled with last season.

Schedule Breakdown

In the age of college athletics where mid-majors seemingly have fewer and fewer home games each year, CSUN will get the chance to host three home games during the non-conference portion of their schedule, including two non-Division I opponents.

CSUN opens up their season on the road as they head across the country for a two game road trip. In their season opener, the Matadors take on St. Bonaventure on Nov. 4 and a couple days later will travel more in-state to Syracuse to take on Le Moyne. Both teams will prove to be a good litmus test to see where the Matadors are and how their new-look roster will shape up.

They host Nobel University in their home opener on Nov. 13, and don’t play at the Premier America Credit Union Arena until Dec. 5 vs. UC Riverside in their early Big West matchup game.

During Thanksgiving week, the Matadors will travel up to Missoula, Montana and participate in the Stew Morrill Classic held at University of Montana. The Matadors will take on Utah Tech on Nov. 24, Denver on Nov. 25, and Montana on Nov. 27 before wrapping up their tour of the Treasure State with a game vs. Montana State on Nov. 30.

CSUN will travel to USC on Dec. 18 before back-to-back home games vs. Chicago State on Dec. 21 and vs. La Sierra on Dec. 28 as they conclude their non-conference schedule.

The Matadors are hoping that a good showing during their non-conference schedule will propel them back to the 2025 Big West Men’s Basketball Championships. CSUN was projected to finish sixth in the conference in the preseason coaches poll.

CSUN must take advantage of a lighter first half of the Big West schedule as they take on Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, and Cal State Fullerton twice before Feb. 20. All three of those teams finished below the Matadors in the preseason poll. The Matadors last six games of the season are against the five teams that placed ahead of them in the poll as well as UC Riverside.

Newman said it best when describing how the season will go.

“Buckle your seatbelts, it’s gonna be fun,” Newman exclaimed.