Followers of the Big Sky Conference know Sacramento State well.
The program with just two winning seasons since the early 1990s is most known for its charming high-school-level of a gym fondly called “The Nest” — which is one of the NCAA’s oldest facilities being in operation since 1955.
It sits a whopping 1,000 attendees.
The Hornets have often been feisty in a number of Big Sky seasons but have never amounted to much at all. The Nest is rumbling, though, with a run of major moves in 2025.
To kick things off, the program is set to play in a newly renovated facility, The WELL, in 2025-26. This of course is coming off the heals of the football program wanting to build a 25,000-person stadium as the school has clear sights set on moving up the college athletics world and (most likely) out of the Big Sky (Pac-12? Mountain West? Big East????).
The splashiest of all splashes have come in the form of not what, but who, however.
At head coach comes in former high school basketball coach and Sacramento King Mike Bibby, a legend of sorts around Sac Town.
Mike Bibby hasn’t coached organized hoops since 2019, at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix after a successful on-court time at Shadow Mountain coaching his son in Phoenix. He tenure ended with following sexual abuse allegations in 2019 stemming from an incident in 2017 (note: what is accused of is pretty gross). The charges were dropped the same year.
Next comes in the form of Television personality and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal as the team’s voluntary “General Manager” — a new position in hoops that many teams are staffing, in varying ways like Steph Curry (Davidson) and Trae Young (Oklahoma) joining their alma maters or a more professional role such as Rachel Baker (Duke).
Shaq’s role seems to fall moreso in the money and access to the media industry side — plus Shaq’s son Shaqir O’Neal is also now a Sac State Hornet after transferring over from Florida A&M in March.
And lastly, and most certainly not least, Mikey Williams is bringing his 3.3 million Instagram followers with him to Sacramento State from Central Florida.
For anyone needing a refresher on Williams: He was a five-star recruit out of the California prep hoops scene and had committed to play for Memphis.
He never played a minute for Memphis, as he was charged for allegedly firing a gun at a car full of people in front of his home in April 2023. Williams transferred to UCF as the legal process concluded — he never saw jail time, and he was sentenced to a year of summary probation in August and his felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.
He finally made his college debut for UCF last season and averaged just north of five points per game in 18 appearances.
There is something brewing at Sac State. Stingers up.
Are we ready to crown the 2026 Big Sky Champs? Or is this astroturfing of a college program going to fall flat?
No clue! But it sure as hell will be fun to watch.
