Jeff Troesch is a mental coach for athletes. He works with lots of college programs, including at Cal Poly, and his career as a sports psychologist is super interesting. I have been wanting to have Jeff on the podcast for probably a few years, but had never made it happen. Our conversation was wide-ranging. We talked about how Jeff got into the business of helping players with the mental side of the game, what he sees more of nowadays, and how his job has changed a little with athletes working to cope with the issues surrounding COVID-19. 

Caroline Walters has been through a lot at Cal Poly. In her first full season as head-coach this year, the Mustangs are ranked in the top-25 in the nation. We talked about her time on staff at Cal Poly for two coaches and as an interim coach, what it’s like to coach your sister, and where she sees the program headed moving forward. 

The Joe Callero era is officially over at Cal Poly, and if the internet is to be believed, the search to find his replacement is already well underway. This will be Cal Poly Athletic Director Don Oberhelman’s first head coaching hire in the three major men’s sports, and speculation over who might be a candidate is already popping up on social media. What follows is a list of potential hires, somewhat comprehensive based on some things that are out there, but certainly not complete. If wagers were being accepted on the search, I would still take the field over any name on this list.

HUNGRY YOUNG ASSISTANTS

Omar Lowery – Butler University

If there’s a favorite right now for the head coaching job, Lowery would be it. An assistant at Cal Poly from 2009-13, Lowery was instrumental in recruiting a lot of the players that fueled Poly’s successful seasons during the beginning of Callero’s tenure, as well as the Big West championship team in 2014. Lowery is a highly regarded young coach who has worked his way up the ladder from high school and lower level colleges to the big time at Butler. His name has been whispered with the Cal Poly job for what seems like years now, and he obviously has familiarity with the Central Coast.

Drawbacks: Lowery isn’t a west coast guy – other than his stint at Poly, and one year at SJSU, he’s spent the majority of his career in the South and Midwest, and is originally from Wisconsin. There’s some question as to whether or not he may have an opportunity at a higher level than the Big West.

Adam Cohen – Stanford University

Cohen was promoted to Associate Head Coach at Stanford this year, his 3^rd year on the Farm. Has previous experience at Vanderbilt, Rice, and Harvard, so he’s no stranger to schools with strong academic requirements. Considered an excellent recruiter, and was named to the NABC top 30 under 30 list.

Drawbacks: Stanford hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire during Cohen’s tenure. Like Lowery, could be thinking bigger than Cal Poly. If you’re the kind of person who values high level playing experience, Cohen isn’t your guy – he was a student manager at Arizona under Lute Olson.

Jesse Pruitt – Stanford University

Pruitt has Big West experience – he graduated from Davis in 2005 and played there for two years. Has a Poly connection…kinda: he was an assistant at CPP from 2006-08. Also spent time at Santa Clara. Considered a bright young coaching mind.

Drawbacks: See note with Cohen. Also, he’s the third assistant at Stanford – it’s Stanford, but is that enough to take a head coaching job?

Mike Schrage – Ohio State University

Schrage has been mentioned in connection with the Poly opening in multiple places online, which makes me wonder if he’s putting his name out there for it. Lots of high level experience: OSU, Butler, Duke, Stanford, Indiana. Spent eight years with Johnny Dawkins at Stanford, so he should be familiar with the West Coast.

Drawbacks: Schrage’s not old by any means, just around 40, but he’s never been a head coach despite all that high level experience. The resume looks great, but he’s never been the head recruiter or off/def coordinator. Student manager under Bob Knight.

Jason Hart — USC

Lead recruiter for Andy Enfield and the Trojans. Is considered one of the best recruiters in the country. High level playing experience at Syracuse.

Drawbacks: USC is kind of a garbage fire right now. Hart came to the Trojans directly from Taft High School, though he has coached at Pepperdine in the past.

David Grace — Cal

Extremely respected recruiter – considered to be one of the best in the country, named top recruiter in the West by ESPN in 2016. Lots of Pac 12 experience. Neat story – was an Air Force veteran who came to coaching late.

Drawbacks: Unceremonious exits at UCLA and Oregon State. Has been mentioned with basically every HC opening on the West Coast for the past five years, but didn’t get any of them. May be a better recruiter than coach. 3^rd assistant at Cal.

Marcus Schroeder – St. Mary’s

Lead assistant for Randy Bennett at St. Mary’s. Played at Princeton, so academics blah blah. Originally from the East Bay, so knows the west coast.

Drawbacks: Super young, has only ever coached at St. Mary’s. Word is out on the success of the Bennett coaching tree.

Gus Argenal — Nevada

Helped Eric Musselman turn the Nevada program into legit national title contenders. Has head coaching experience at Cal State East Bay. Also spend time at Rice. Graduated from UC Davis.

Drawbacks: Wasn’t great at Cal State East Bay – sub .500 record with two 20 loss seasons.

Todd Golden – University of San Francisco

Considered an up-and-coming coach who played for Randy Bennett at St. Mary’s. Spent some time at Columbia, so should understand academic expectations. Also a stop with Bruce Pearl at Auburn.

Drawbacks: Super, super young – early 30s. 2^nd assistant at USF…on paper, you would think Poly could do better.

DOESN’T HURT TO CALL

Joe Prunty – Phoenix Suns

Graduated from Cal Poly in 1992. Currently the lead assistant for the Phoenix Suns, Prunty has spent time with several NBA organizations over the years, including a stint as the interim head coach of the Bucks last year. Has three rings with the Spurs. The Suns are an absolute mess right now, and Prunty will probably not be there next year (through no fault of his own).

Drawbacks: For now, at least, probably makes more than Poly can offer. Has never coached at the collegiate level.

Kyle Smith – University of San Francisco

Head coach at USF, has engineered a remarkable turnaround for the Dons. Previously head coach at Columbia, and lead assistant at St. Mary’s. Maybe he would rather have a chance to compete in a smaller pond than trying to take down the Gonzaga-St. Mary’s-BYU monster? In alternate universe where Poly doesn’t make NCAA tourney, might have taken over for Callero after 2016.

Drawbacks: Just signed an extension at USF, no financial info but probably makes more than Poly can offer. Might be a candidate for any number of Pac-12 or high major jobs. Will not be the next head coach at Poly, but fun to think about.

Rick Croy – Cal Baptist

Head coach at Cal Baptist, leading program through DII to DI transition. Has been extremely successful, 147-42 over five plus years. Was lead assistant at St. Mary’s after Kyle Smith. WAC could implode at any moment. Can’t go to the postseason for another few years.

Drawbacks: Cal Baptist is dumping all kind of money into the program – have you seen their arena? May already be making more than Poly can offer. Has a better resume than Callero, but this would kind of follow the path that led to the Callero hire, if that concerns you.

Rod Barnes — CSUB

Has engineered an amazing turnaround at CSUB, getting the ‘Runners to the NCAA tournament and NIT Final Four, along with an invite to the Big West. Makes $50k less than Callero. Poly offers some advantages that CSUB can’t match, including stability.

Drawbacks: After great success, has put together two mediocre years. Fired twice, at Ole Miss and Georgia State. Poly is a different place to recruit than Bakersfield, for good and for bad. CSUB actually has put money into the program recently.

Tommy Lloyd — Gonzaga

Lloyd has been Mark Few’s right hand man for almost two decades now, and is seen as instrumental in the success that Zags have had over that time period. He’s extremely well connected overseas and serves as Gonzaga’s lead recruiter.

Drawbacks: Many programs have tried to lure Lloyd away over the past 15 years, and he’s said no to all of them. Probably makes more than Poly can offer.

Steve Lavin – Fox Sports

Would be a huge splash, attracting national attention. Did you know Lavin is only 54? Went 81-55 at St. John’s, so wasn’t exactly a disaster. Knows of Cal Poly via Jim Saia.

Drawbacks: Has been mentioned with Pac 12 openings. Poly probably can’t match whatever he’s making on TV.

BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK

Scott Garson – Santa Clara

Garson could have gone under the “Young Assistant” header – he’s only in his early 40s. Putting him here because he was actually a candidate back in 2009. High level experience at UCLA. Head coaching experience at NAIA College of Idaho. Graduated from UCSB.

Drawbacks: Has been mentioned with every mid and low major opening on the West Coast for seemingly a decade. Just started at Santa Clara. 

Bob Williams – Just chilling at the beach

Incredibly successful at UCSB. Obviously, more than familiar with the Big West. Had some interesting thoughts on Poly while doing color commentary this year.

Drawbacks: I mean, as successful as he has been…we hated this guy for years! It would be weird for him to be Poly’s coach. He’s 65 – might be fine with staying retired.

Donny Daniels — Gonzaga

Donny has spent nine years with the Zags after seven at UCLA. Head coach at Fullerton from 2001-03, and also graduated from CSUF. Extremely well respected within college basketball.

Drawbacks: Left Titan head job to become assistant at UCLA. Does he want to take a HC job at this point in his career, especially at a rebuilding school? Wasn’t great at Fullerton.

Dave Rice — Washington

Lead assistant for a UW team that is going to win the Pac 12. Was head coach at UNLV from 2011-16 and pretty successful – three 20 win seasons, two NCAA appearances. Stops up and down the west coast.

Drawbacks: Was fired midseason by Rebels, never seemed to inspire that fanbase. Hasn’t spent time at any high level academic schools.

Greg Kamansky – Cal Poly Pomona

Has had a ton of success at the D2 level: .710 winning percentage, 11 NCAA appearances in 19 years, a national championship in 2009-10. While Pomona isn’t the same as SLO, probably has some experience with academic issues and recruiting.

Drawbacks: Was a candidate in 2009 and didn’t get the job. D2 is obviously a different beast. Team hasn’t dominated the CCAA the last few years.

Gregg Gottlieb – Oregon State

Famous basketball family. Started his career at Poly (94-97). Well respected on the west coast, stops at SDSU and Cal.

Drawbacks: Like Garson, Grace, etc, name gets kicked around for every CA opening. Doesn’t really have any wow items on resume – teams have underperformed. Doug’s brother.

DUDES WHO MIGHT GET FIRED

Andy Enfield — USC

Was successful in years 3 and 4 but now Trojan Nation has the pitchforks ready. Could Enfield replicate his FGCU success at another school by the beach?

Drawbacks: This should probably be under “Doesn’t Hurt To Call” – Poly can’t afford Enfield. Has a reputation as kind of a jackass. Vaguely involved in the FBI-NCAA stuff.

Marvin Menzies — UNLV

UNLV has high standards (see Dave Rice entry). Menzies dominated at NMSU – 5 tourney appearances in 9 years. West coast guy with stops at SDSU, USC.

Drawbacks: Hasn’t ever coached at a tough academic institution. Taking Poly job might complicate buyout. Could very well end up back at NMSU.

Wyking Jones – Cal

West coast guy from LMU, with stops at Pepperdine, New Mexico, and Louisville. Considered an ace recruiter, especially in southern CA.

Drawbacks: Dude…Cal sucks. They’re really, really bad. Has never been a head coach before taking over the Bears.

Coming off an injury-plagued 1-10 season in 2017, Cal Poly football will have a lot of eyes on it this season. Can the Mustangs boomerang back into Big Sky Conference and FCS playoff contention?

I asked Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh about what went wrong last year (not just injuries), what the team has been doing this offseason, and his outlook on whether he feels more pressure this season. 

Day two of Cal Poly football camp began a little after 9:00am on Saturday morning. As the morning sun bathed over Doerr Family Field, Cal Poly’s offense, specifically the skill position players were the most vocal and energetic. 

Coming off injury

Quarterback Khaleel Jenkins looks as though he hasn’t missed a beat after missing most of last season due to injury. Cal Poly actually has five quarterbacks in camp, including Jake Jeffrey — who took most of the snaps last season — and redshirt freshman Kyle Reid. 

A new addition

Preseason All-American Joe Protheroe was not at practice, and for good reason. His wife gave birth to their third child this week. I don’t think Cal Poly fans will lose any sleep over Protheroe knowing the plays. He is expected to begin practicing in plenty of time to be available for their first game.

Hold onto the ball

It’s clear from talking with Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh and others around the program that ball security is a priority this season. Things happening in practice also made that apparent to anybody watching. Fumbling is a weird beast, but here’s hoping the added conscious awareness can help the Mustangs win the turnover battle. When they don’t, things can go downhill fast. 

Odds and ends

• Bradley Mickey, a redshirt sophomore from Arroyo Grande who missed the beginning of last season with an injury, has switched his number to 17 this season. Seventeen is the number of Mickey’s friend Ryan Teixeira, who passed away in March 2017. It is also the namesake of the charity — 17 Strong — that he started. You can find it at seventeenstrong.org .
• A few freshman were interesting to see out on the field. As they start practice at the college level for the first time, it’s always fun to observe who is still wide-eyed and who comes into camp with a college football mentality. Among the guys I caught a glimpse of, quarterback Jalen Hamler (Lawndale) was probably the one I watched the most. He looks fast. 
  This season, freshmen can play in up to four games and still keep their redshirt. This is a big deal for a Cal Poly program that has traditionally redshirted a LOT of their players. If the rule had been in place a season ago, Cal Poly might have used players like quarterback Kyle Reid alongside Jake Jeffrey as the season wound down. 
• Cal Poly will play their first game on September 1st in Fargo, North Dakota against the best FCS team in the nation — North Dakota State. The Bison seem like they win the national championship every season. The Mustangs’ schedule, start to finish, is probably more difficult than last year’s, despite having no FBS opponents on the slate (a rarity). In conference play the Mustangs will take on Montana at home and Montana State, Eastern Washington, and Northern Arizona all on the road. 
• I taped a podcast with head coach Tim Walsh last week that I’m hoping goes up before the weekend is over. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher — just search Fansmanship. 

Photos by Owen Main. Browse the gallery online and purchase photos here. 

You can also just contribute to the cause via Paypal (owen@fansmanship.com) or Venmo

After a summer hiatus, I sat down with Don Oberhelman last week. We had the recording scheduled for a week or two. On the day before, a Tribune article came out with video, showing an Cal Poly wrestler whose scholarship was rescinded after he used homophobic slurs during a rally. 

Unfortunately, this was not something Oberhelman could comment on when we talked. We did talk about the upcoming Fall season, the football, men’s basketball, and volleyball programs at-length. For me, the most interesting part of the conversation was when I asked Don how his job had changed over the past year or so. 

Behind good pitching, solid fielding, and some clutch hitting by a junior draft prospect, Cal Poly baseball swept UCSB in its final home series of the season last weekend. 

Meyer gets hot

For his part, catcher Nick Meyer was red-hot all week. Meyer went 5-6 in Cal Poly’s Tuesday mid-week game and followed it up with a great series against UCSB. On the week, he went 9-17 with three doubles, five runs, and three RBI’s, including a game-winning RBI double on Saturday afternoon on a pitch around his eyeballs. 

Meyer was named the Big West Field Player of the Week on Monday. 

Meyer, who was named to Team USA during the summer of 2017, was already rated as an above-average defensive catcher. He’s been red-hot at the plate over the past month or two as well, probably solidifying a relatively high-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft. 

Senior Day

Trent Shelton has been flat-out terrific all season for Cal Poly. Photo by Owen Main

Sunday was senior day and six players were honored. Austin Dondanville, Kyle Smith, Elijah Skipps, Josh George, Colby Barrick, and Trent Shelton all saw their final games at Baggett over the weekend. 

Shelton pitched a great game on Friday night, a healthy Skipps was a key cog in Cal Poly’s offensive output all weekend, and Dondanville and Smith both saw action on the mound as well. George was the senior day darling, going 3-4 with 2 RBIs in Sunday’s victory. 

So long to some juniors?

As happens every year, Cal Poly will have some juniors drafted this year. The question will be which ones leave. 

The two likely candidates are, in likely draft order, are Alex McKenna and Nick Meyer, though Kyle Marinconz is also a candidate to be drafted and turn pro. If you’d asked me before the season, Michael Clark would have also been high on this list. Last season’s closer, Clark’s role changed this season and his workload was less. After pitching 48 innings in 30 games with a 2.58 ERA last season, Clark’s workload has increased to over 65 innings (nine games started) with a 5.79 ERA. Clark’s k/bb percentage also went from 2.12 in 2017 to 1.84 this year. 

That said, Clark pitched a gem on Sunday afternoon, lasting 7 1/3 innings while giving up just a pair of earned runs en route to the win. It was Clark’s longest and probably most productive outing of the season. 

We’ll wait to see where and how these guys get drafted and what decisions they make as far as coming back to school. If it was their last weekend series at Baggett, it was pretty special. 

A great finish

The level of play this weekend could be seen as bittersweet. This team has talent that has been playing much closer to their true talent level over the course of Big West play. 

As they’ve been prone to do over the past few years, Cal Poly is playing its best baseball at the end of the season. As has also happened in recent years, that great baseball doesn’t have any postseason implications. For the third time in four years since the program hosted a regional in 2014, Cal Poly put up a losing non-conference record this season, including losses to Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, a series split to Pacific, a mid-week split with San Jose State, losing two of three at home to San Diego State, losing three of four at Nebraska, and being swept at home by UCLA.  

With the exception of UCLA, Nebraska, and Maybe San Diego State, a regional team doesn’t have that many losses against middling or low level Division I teams on the west coast. The Big West wasn’t really great this season either. Preseason favorites like Long Beach State and UCSB flamed out, but losses in series at CSUN and a sweep in Fullerton took Cal Poly out of the race. The conference will only have a single program — Cal State Fullerton — in this year’s NCAA Tournament. 

Under construction

While the bleachers were ready for the home season in 2018, the second phase of construction – demolition of the current clubhouse — looks like it’s starting soon. On Friday, fans noticed some portable buildings far down the first base line at Baggett. The project had originally been scheduled for groundbreaking right after last season, but I believe that the new clubhouse will still be under construction during the 2019 season and be ready for 2020. 

Photos below from Friday night’s game by Owen Main. Find more photos at photos.fansmanship.com, or you can show love by contributing to the cause via Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Josh Martin – Junior – 6’7”, 220 lbs

By the Numbers:

Injuries were once again a factor in Josh Martin’s final season at Cal Poly. By Owen Main

25 Games

19.9 Minutes per game

7.4 Points per game

5.0 Rebounds per game

1.3 Assists per game

36.7.% Field Goals

33.3% 3 Pointers

65.5 % Free Throws

A transfer from Minnesota, Josh Martin’s highlight reel and skillset were all high-major. When he came in, I remember thinking about the potential of what he could allow Cal Poly’s coaching staff to do in terms of schemes. Could they put him at the five, use the physicality of their guards at the time, and go with some kind of super-small death lineup? What would it look like to play Martin at the three with two bigger players around him? With a relatively mature individual offensive skillset, Martin seemed like the kind of player you could maybe plug-in and go with. 

But it was never that easy. 

Injuries early in his Cal Poly career caused limited practice and game time. He missed the first nine games of his first eligible season at Cal Poly in 2016-17. We saw flashes of his dynamic athleticism going to the bucket. It made you wonder what he could do with a full season. Early-on in what was supposed to be his junior year, Martin had a 17 point, 21 rebound game against Pepperdine. In the team’s fifth game, he broke his foot and missed the rest of the season. 

In his true junior season (fifth in college) this past year, Martin again sustained an early-season injury, missing six games during what was probably Cal Poly’s best stretch and only three-game win streak of the season. When he returned, he again seemed like he was playing catch-up. He scored 19 points in a loss at Bethune-Cookman, 24 points in a loss at UC Irvine, and 20 points in a loss at UCSB. But his production was mercurial. Martin scored in double digits in just two of 10 home games against Division I teams and went five straight conference games late in the season without scoring more than 2 points. 

At season’s end, Martin announced he would be finishing classes to graduate from Cal Poly, making him an eligible grad transfer, eligible immediately. 

When he came to SLO, I asked around and all anyone ever told me was how much time Martin liked to spend in the gym. During his first redshirt year, I arrived early to games to see Martin and then associate head coach Paul Fortier working to get shots up. Maybe it was all in my head, but there was so anticipation about what impact he could have. 

Martin’s career at Cal Poly will be remembered in flashes. A soaring left handed dunk. A blocked shot. That two-footed takeoff. One of those same feet in a boot more than once. Crutches. That consistent weapon that Cal Poly thought they had in the holster never quite got calibrated while in San Luis Obispo.

Looking forward

Assuming he ends up at another Division I school (no announcements have been made yet), Martin can be an impactful contributor. Wherever he ends up, a guy who has gone through everything he has with injuries will be an easy guy to root for and a very interesting player for Cal Poly fans to keep track of throughout next year. 

*Ed note: Over the next few weeks, we’ll be recapping the season of every Cal Poly player who played in 2017-18.

Cal Poly baseball (16-19, 3-6) will host defending Big West champs Long Beach State this weekend at Baggett Stadium. After a renovation to the seating/bleacher area, the game will be the first television game in the new stadium. The 7pm game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. 

While the new bleachers are beautiful and bigger and steeper than many imagined, Baggett Stadium hasn’t been full yet with the new seating. The team, which hasn’t made a regional appearance since they hosted in 2014, hasn’t played consistently well and some weather has probably been a factor too. 

Trent Shelton (2-2) will start in front of the TV cameras on Friday for the Mustangs. Despite missing time due to appendicitis, Shelton has been Cal Poly’s most consistent starter. The lefty has a 3.98 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 40.2 innings. 

At 3-6 in Big West play, Cal Poly is tied for last place with UC Davis. The good news is that they are still only three games out of first place. The Dirtbags are 16-21 overall and 3-3 early in conference play. 

For their part, Cal Poly has put together a smart marketing campaign to ramp up to the game. 

Yo what’s Musty doing up there? Getting a good seat for the green out game on Friday! #RideHigh pic.twitter.com/XEaTi4SYLf

— Cal Poly Mustangs (@CPMustangs) April 16, 2018

Coach Lee was nice enough to bring me some reading material today to pass the time…

Is it Friday yet?! #GreenOut #PackTheBagg #RideHigh pic.twitter.com/wztBYHJoF4

— Musty the Mustang (@MustytheMustang) April 17, 2018

Musty is trying to get camera ready for the big game on Friday, good thing he has @Alexjmckenna to help!

: https://t.co/VQPSEkn3iW | #RideHigh #PackTheBagg pic.twitter.com/ZPDRBTNrt5

— Cal Poly Mustangs (@CPMustangs) April 18, 2018

Just my buddy @Alexjmckenna showing me how to improve my selfie game before the Green Out Game on Friday! #PackTheBagg #RideHigh pic.twitter.com/YUQrcYkpvd

— Musty the Mustang (@MustytheMustang) April 18, 2018

I wouldn’t expect a sellout or anything close. Capacity is over 3,000 at Baggett and Friday night’s forecast says that it will likely be under 50 degrees at first pitch. But the marketing department at Cal Poly Athletics is certainly doing everything they can to hustle more people for the TV game.

While bleachers were renovated prior to the season, the clubhouse facility is scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt as well. Construction is likely to last through next season. 

Hank Hollingsworth – Redshirt Sophomore – 6’10”, 235 lbs

By the Numbers:

Hank Hollingsworth was one of Cal Poly’s more effective players early in 2017-18. By Owen Main

31 Games

9 Minutes per game

3.1 Points per game

3.4 Rebounds per game

.2 Assists per game

1.7 Blocks per game

63.1.% Field Goals

35.1% Free Throws

Early in the 2017-18 season, Hank Hollingsworth looked as though he was probably Cal Poly’s best defensive player. The 6’10” center led the team in blocks and patrolled help-side in the paint extremely well. 

As the season wore on, teams began to scout a little more and sniffed-out the few offensive sets the big man was super comfortable in. 

In 13 of the team’s first 17 games, Hollingsworth played 20-plus minutes. He wasn’t getting into intense foul trouble — something that plagued him as a freshman — and he generally held his own against other bigs as Cal Poly began the season 7-10. 

In the team’s 17th game of the season, Hollingsworth recorded a career high (and program record) 7 blocks in a 101-97 loss to the Titans at home. 

Following that loss in the team’s second conference game, Hollingsworth’s time on the floor and effectiveness waned. Over the last 15 games, Hollingsworth eclipsed the 20 minute mark just three times, failing to score in eight of the final 15 games. Cal Poly went 2-12 during that span. For a players whose effectiveness was never measured simply by points and rebounds, Hollingsworth’s success seems at least like a kind of retroactive bellwether to this past year’s team. 

Looking forward

Having come onto campus as a tall, skinny freshman, past Callero bigs like Ryan Pembleton and Ben Eisenhardt instantly came to mind. But, unlike those players who didn’t stay on-campus long enough to make real impacts, Hollingsworth did make real and tangible positive strides. He improved his strength, his conditioning, and his confidence in the summer of 2017. 

Hollingsworth is also a company man in the locker room. After his seven-block performance when he didn’t see the floor late in the game and in overtime against Cal State Fullerton, Hollingsworth was pretty impressive at diffusing my question about him not being on the floor:

Whenever head coach Joe Callero talked this season about how great some of his kids’ character was, I always pictured that Hank was front and center there. 

If he continues to develop, Hollingsworth has the potential to be a rotation player on a winning team. He’s got all the off-the-court attributes. In his junior season, he’ll need to put a little more bite into his on-court demeanor. He was a great help defender, but resisting strong post guys like Tommy Rutherford in the post are the real tests. Hank is also going to be in his fourth year on campus. Intangibles like leadership will be increasingly important as well. In his fourth year on campus, Hollingsworth will be alone as the most tenured Mustang. With a team that will have at least six new faces, don’t underestimate the importance of the old guy setting the right tone. 

*Ed note: Over the next few weeks, we’ll be recapping the season of every Cal Poly player who played in 2017-18.