The athletes of the Knights men’s basketball team groomed up for squad photos with their shoelaces tied, shirts tucked in and best smiles ready.

“Even if we don’t win a single game this year at least we will look good,” interim head coach Andy Ground yelled out. 

The growing excitement  for the perennial powers of  the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference was palpable as the players prepped for team pictures.

City will open the season with the three-day Gehler Memorial Tournament hosted by Miramar College tonight. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

The Knights will be going first against the Fighting Cacti of Copper Mountain College.

“They are extremely athletic and a good challenge for us,” Ground said. “The game will be a good measure to see where we are at.”

Copper Mountain College is the smallest community college in California, located six miles from Joshua Tree. The men’s basketball team is one of only two athletic programs at the school.

This season is a restart after the 2020-2021 season was canceled due to the California COVID-19 restrictions on sporting events.

In the offseason, longtime coach Mitch Charlens left for the University of San Diego after 16 years. Charlens as head coach of the Knights led his teams to a state championship, two state final appearances, seven PCAC titles, and four undefeated conference seasons.

City has a new head coach with over 20 years of community college coaching experience in Ground. The former college player named seven-time Orange Empire Conference Coach of the Year has eight new freshman players on the roster.

“Every game has meaning, depending if you win or lose,” Ground said, “and how that team does at the end of the season impacts the standings, so every game is pretty important.”

The non-conference season will include four different tournaments. That will include the Knights Invitational, which runs Nov. 12-13 and serves as the first opportunity for City to showcase its skills at home.

“We have a new coach and a lot of new guys,” sophomore center Drew Cisse (Rancho Bernardo) said. “I am excited to see how much more successful we can be.”

In 2020, City finished second in conference to undefeated Southwestern for the second consecutive season before advancing to the Sweet 16 of the state tournament.

“We have big goals,” Cisse said. “We have goals of being state champions, conference champions. There will be hard work and we will hold each other accountable.”

Guard Jonathan Ogugua moved from Texas to follow his professional basketball aspirations as a recruit for City.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUJdfielGNL

“We have been practicing every day since the beginning of August,” said the behavioral science and liberal studies major. 

Ogugua meanwhile looks forward to finally playing competitive college basketball.

The Miramar College Tournament will run from Nov. 4-6.

To see all upcoming games, go to the Knights athletics schedule.