2025–26 Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball team

2025–26 Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball
2025–26 Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball
Conference	West Coast Conference
Record	9–3 (0–0 WCC)
Head coach	Herb Sendek (10th season);
Assistant coaches	Jason Ludwig; Ryan Madry; Will Burkett; Jackson Gion; Mitch Smith;
Home arena	Leavey Center

2025–26 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 7 Gonzaga	0	–	0	–	11	–	1	.917
Saint Mary's	0	–	0	–	9	–	2	.818
Seattle	0	–	0	–	9	–	2	.818
Santa Clara	0	–	0	–	9	–	3	.750
Pacific	0	–	0	–	8	–	4	.667
Loyola Marymount	0	–	0	–	7	–	4	.636
Portland	0	–	0	–	7	–	5	.583
San Francisco	0	–	0	–	7	–	5	.583
Oregon State	0	–	0	–	6	–	6	.500
San Diego	0	–	0	–	4	–	6	.400
Pepperdine	0	–	0	–	4	–	8	.333
Washington State	0	–	0	–	4	–	8	.333

† 2026 WCC tournament winner As of December 18, 2025 Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball team represents Santa Clara University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Broncos, led by tenth-year head coach Herb Sendek, play their home games at the Leavey Center as members of the West Coast Conference.

On July 21, 2025, the Broncos and Sendek agreed to an extension that last until the end of the 2029–30 season.^[1]

Previous season

The Broncos finished the 2024–25 season 21–13, 12–6 in WCC play to finish in fourth place.^[2] In the WCC tournament, they were upset in the first round by Perpperdine in the quarterfinals.^[3] They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Irvine Region. They defeated UC Riverside 101–62 to record their first NIT win in 41 years before falling to UAB 88–84 in the second round.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Tyeree Bryan	1	G	6'6"	205	Senior	Orlando, FL	Transferred to Texas Tech^[4]
Kosy Akametu	3	G	6'5"	210	Sophomore	Carson, CA	Transferred to Iona
Adama Bal	4	G	6'7"	190	Senior	Le Mans, France	Graduated, signed with the Westchester Knicks
Carlos Stewart	10	G	6'1"	185	Senior	Baton Rouge, LA	Graduated
Christoph Tilly	13	C	7'0"	240	Junior	Berlin, Germany	Transferred to Ohio State^[5]
Johnny O'Neil	14	F	6'10"	205	Senior	Miami Shores, FL	Graduated
Luke McEldon	20	F	6'10"	240	Sophmore	London, England	Transferred to Mount St. Mary's
Camaron Tongue	21	F	6'7"	220	Senior	Medfield, MA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Sash Gavalyugov	2	G	6'3"	175	Freshman	Botevgrad, Bulgaria	Villanova^[6]
Gehrig Normand	9	G	6'6"	190	Sophomore	North Richland Hills, TX	Michigan State^[7]
Chris Tadjo	14	F	6'7"	250	Sophmore	Montreal, Quebec	Iowa

2025 recruiting class

On September 23, 2025, former G League Ignite and Delaware Blue Coats player Thierry Darlan signed with the Broncos after the NCAA granted him two years of eligibility, marking the first time a professional athlete who previously played in the NBA G League to play college basketball.^[8] The decision has been widely criticized by other coaches.^[9]^[10]

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
KJ Cochran SG	West Chester, PA	Perkiomen School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sep 27, 2024
KJ Cochran SG	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (79)
Francis Chukwudebelu C	McKinney, TX	Argyle High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	217 lb (98 kg)	Oct 8, 2024
Francis Chukwudebelu C	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (79)
Bradley Longcor III PG	Quincy, IL	Quincy High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jun 20, 2024
Bradley Longcor III PG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports:
Overall recruit ranking: Rivals: 56 247Sports: 60 ESPN: NR
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Santa Clara 2025 Basketball Commitments". Rivals. "2025 Santa Clara Basketball Commits". Scout. "ESPN". ESPN. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

2025–26 Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Brenton Knapper	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	RS Sr	Colony HS	Ontario, CA
G	1	Christian Hammond	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	RS So	Dream City Christian (AZ)	Denver, CO
G	2	Sash Gavalyugov	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	RS Fr	NBA Global Academy Villanova	Botevgrad, Bulgaria
C	3	Francis Chukwudebelu	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	Argyle High School	McKinney, TX
G	4	Bradley Longcor III	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Quincy High School	Quincy, IL
G	7	KJ Cochran	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Perkiomen School	West Chester, PA
F	8	Elijah Mahi	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Potter's House Christian (FL) West Valley College	Toroto, ON
F	9	Gehrig Normand	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS So	Birdville High School Michigan State	North Richland Hills, TX
F	10	Nolan Badibanga	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Élan Sportif Chalon	Toulouse, France
C	12	Bukky Oboye	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS So	Clements HS	Sugar Land, TX
F	14	Chris Tadjo	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	So	NBA Academy Latin America Iowa	Montreal, Quebec
G	15	Thierry Darlan	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	NBA Academy Africa NBA G League Ignite Delaware Blue Coats	Bangui, Central African Republic
F	22	Allen Graves	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	RS Fr	Ponchatoula HS	Ponchatoula, LA
G	44	Jake Ensminger	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	RS Jr	Ratiopharm Ulm	Ulm, Germany
G	50	Bradan Yarusso (W)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	St. Francis HS	Lombard, IL
G	51	Juan Reyna III (W)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	GS	Duncanville High School UTSA Jackson State	San Antonio, TX
G	54	Malachi Douyon (W)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Pacific Collegiate Charter School	Santa Cruz, CA

Head coach

Herb Sendek (Carnegie Mellon)

Assistant coach(es)

Jason Ludwig (UCLA)
Ryan Madry (West Georgia)
Will Burkett (Santa Clara)
Jackson Gion (Sonoma State)
Mitch Smith (California)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Cal Poly Humboldt	W 83–53	1–0	14 – Mahi	13 – Darlan	4 – Tied	Leavey Center (1,116) Santa Clara, CA
November 7, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	McNeese	W 79–67	2–0	19 – Tied	13 – Graves	6 – Ensminger	Leavey Center (1,205) Santa Clara, CA
November 10, 2025* 5:30 p.m., FS1	at Xavier	W 87−68	3−0	18 – Mahi	11 – Graves	3 – Tied	Cintas Center (9,830) Cincinnati, OH
November 15, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	Nevada	W 98–83	4–0	27 – Hammond	10 – Ensminger	6 – Toed	Leavey Center (1,741) Santa Clara, CA
November 18, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Idaho State	W 64–55	5–0	16 – Hammond	9 – Tied	5 – Ensminger	Leavey Center (1,071) Santa Clara, CA
November 21, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Louisiana Acrisure Series campus-site game	W 80–43	6–0	19 – Hammond	11 – Ensminger	5 – Gavalyugov	Leavey Center (1,331) Santa Clara, CA
November 27, 2025* 4:00 p.m., CBSSN	vs. Saint Louis Acrisure Invitational semifinal	L 70–71	6–1	18 – Mahi	7 – Mahi	3 – Tied	Acrisure Arena Thousand Palms, CA
November 28, 2025* 6:30 p.m., TruTV	vs. Minnesota Acrisure Invitational third-place game	W 86–75	7–1	20 – Hammond	6 – Darlan	6 – Graves	Acrisure Arena Thousand Palms, CA
December 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Utah Tech	W 90–80	8–1	14 – Tied	8 – Tied	8 – Knapper	Leavey Center (1,969) Santa Clara, CA
December 6, 2025* 6:00 p.m., MW Network	at New Mexico	L 71–98	8–2	22 – Hammond	8 – Mahi	5 – Knapper	The Pit (13,614) Albuquerque, NM
December 13, 2025* 3:30 p.m., TNT/TruTV	vs. Arizona State Jack Jones Classic	L 79–82	8–3	22 – Hammond	6 – Mahi	5 – Ensminger	Lee's Family Forum Henderson, NV
December 17, 2025* 6:00 p.m., BallerTV	vs. North Texas	W 63−60	9–3	17 – Mahi	8 – Graves	5 – Gavalyugov	Kaiser Permanente Arena (120) Santa Cruz, CA
December 20, 2025* 2:00 p.m., BallerTV	vs. Loyola Chicago						Kaiser Permanente Arena Santa Cruz, CA
WCC regular season
December 28, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Oregon State						Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR
December 30, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Portland						Chiles Center Portland, OR
January 2, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Pepperdine						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
January 4, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	San Diego						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
January 8, 2026 8:30 p.m., ESPN2	at Gonzaga						McCarthey Athletic Center Spokane, WA
January 10, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Loyola Marymount						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
January 14, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Pacific						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
January 17, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	Saint Mary's						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
January 24, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	at San Diego						Jenny Craig Pavilion San Diego, CA
January 28, 2026 8:00 p.m., CBSSN	San Francisco						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
January 31, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Loyola Marymount						Gersten Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 4, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Pacific						Alex G. Spanos Center Stockton, CA
February 7, 2026 3:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Washington State						Beasley Coliseum Pullman, WA
February 11, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Seattle						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
February 14, 2026 7:30 p.m., ESPN	Gonzaga						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
February 21, 2026 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	at San Francisco						Sobrato Center San Francisco, CA
February 25, 2026 8:00 p.m., CBSSN	at Saint Mary's						University Credit Union Pavilion Moraga, CA
February 28, 2026 5:00 p.m., CBSSN	Oregon State						Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
WCC tournament
March 5–10, 2026 TBA	vs.						Orleans Arena Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source:^[11]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP^[12]	—	—	—	RV	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

References

^ "Herb Sendek's Contract Extended Through 2030". santaclarabroncos.com.
^ "2024-25 Santa Clara Broncos Men's Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
^ "Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara Box Score (Men), March 9, 2025". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
^ "Officially Signed: Tyeree Bryan". texastech.com. April 9, 2025.
^ "Buckeyes Get Big Man Christoph Tilly from Santa Clara". ohiostatebuckeyes.com. April 15, 2025.
^ "Men's Hoops Adds Three Talented Transfers To 2025-26 Roster". santaclarabroncos.com. April 25, 2025.
^ Wenzel, Matt (April 20, 2025). "Michigan State guard names transfer destination". mlive. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
^ Woo, Jeremy (September 23, 2025). "NCAA rules former G League player Thierry Darlan eligible". ESPN. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
^ Nagel, Cody (October 22, 2025). "Tom Izzo questions NCAA direction after G League players deemed eligible for Division I basketball". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
^ Bedore, Gary (October 22, 2025). "KU's Bill Self comments on NBA G League players returning to college basketball". Kansas City Star. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
^ "2025–26 Men's Basketball Schedule". santaclarabroncos.com.
^ "AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Poll". AP News. Retrieved October 14, 2025.

[1] "Herb Sendek's Contract Extended Through 2030". santaclarabroncos.com.

[2] "2024-25 Santa Clara Broncos Men's Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2025.

[3] "Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara Box Score (Men), March 9, 2025". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2025.

[4] "Officially Signed: Tyeree Bryan". texastech.com. April 9, 2025.

[5] "Buckeyes Get Big Man Christoph Tilly from Santa Clara". ohiostatebuckeyes.com. April 15, 2025.

[6] "Men's Hoops Adds Three Talented Transfers To 2025-26 Roster". santaclarabroncos.com. April 25, 2025.

[7] Wenzel, Matt (April 20, 2025). "Michigan State guard names transfer destination". mlive. Retrieved April 21, 2025.

[8] Woo, Jeremy (September 23, 2025). "NCAA rules former G League player Thierry Darlan eligible". ESPN. Retrieved September 26, 2025.

[9] Nagel, Cody (October 22, 2025). "Tom Izzo questions NCAA direction after G League players deemed eligible for Division I basketball". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 22, 2025.

[10] Bedore, Gary (October 22, 2025). "KU's Bill Self comments on NBA G League players returning to college basketball". Kansas City Star. Retrieved October 22, 2025.

[11] "2025–26 Men's Basketball Schedule". santaclarabroncos.com.

[12] "AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Poll". AP News. Retrieved October 14, 2025.

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Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball
Venues	San Jose YMCA (1904–1927) Kezar Pavilion (1927–1951) Seifert Gymnasium (1935–1951) San Jose Civic Auditorium (1951–1975) Kaiser Permanente Arena (alternate; 2020–2021) Toso Pavilion / Leavey Center (1975–present)
Culture & lore	"Fight for Santa Clara" Radio: KSCU / KDOW
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics