In a unique twist, an athletic program with a high retention rate is essentially in the transfer portal.
UC Davis, which hosts Hawaii tonight, retained 10 of a possible 11 returnees to this season’s men’s basketball team. All-Big West guard Elijah Pepper and three other seniors completed their NCAA eligibility last March. Drew Carter joined Oregon as the Aggies’ lone out-going transfer.
UC Davis’ stability and potential in men’s basketball and other non-football sports in the Big West earned the Aggies an invitation to join the Mountain West on July 1, 2026. The UCD football team will remain with the Big Sky, an FCS conference.
“The invitation to join the league was kind of validation for a lot of work by our university administrators — our chancellor Gary May, as well as our athletic director Rocko DeLuca,” UCD basketball coach Jim Les said. “They’ve done a lot of heavy lifting to move the university forward, move the athletic department forward. And with that, you can see it gained a lot of respect in this ever-changing world of college athletics. You have to look at opportunities and options because you’re not sure of the status quo and what that’s going to look like a year or two down the road.”
The UH basketball team is among 15 of the school’s sports that move from the Big West and will join the football Rainbow Warriors in the Mountain West in 2026.
UCD joined the Big West in 2006, fielding teams in 19 of 21 conference-sponsored sports.
The Big West has “been great for us,” Les said. “But this is an ever-changing world. The opportunity to join a Mountain West league was too good to pass up.”
Les cited the attractiveness of UC Davis’ academics (more than 75,000 applicants each year), the vibe of a campus town, and the value of a UCD degree.
“Those things resonate with our student-athletes,” Les said.
Last April, TY Johnson, one of half of a dynamic starting backcourt, entered the transfer portal. But after deeper pondering, Johnson withdrew his application and remained with the Aggies.
“He loves his experience here on and off the court,” Les said of Johnson. “He knew he was really close to graduating. And the work he put in academically to get that degree was important to him. And I think a comfort level of knowing the system. I think he embraced the challenge of Eli is gone and everybody is saying ‘UC Davis isn’t going to be as competitive or as good.’ He’s an elite competitor and embraces the challenge of being able to come back as our leader and best returning player and trying to lead this group to being successful.”
Johnson, who is 6 feet 3, is sixth nationally in scoring with a 21.2 average. He leads the NCAA with 341 field-goal attempts, accounting for 32.2% of the Aggies’ shots.
“We want him to be aggressive,” Les said. “He’s got an attack mindset. That leads to shots, and it also leads into creating opportunities for others. We want him with that mindset.”
The Aggies also are ensemble rebounders, grabbing 32.3% of their missed shots. “We try to do it by committee,” Les said.“It’s an important part in finishing off our defense and getting first rebounds and not giving people extra opportunities. We like to get to the offensive glass and create opportunities. Both of those are things that we stress, and guys have bought into that. Those are important quotients of what we do and how we play.”
Rainbow Warriors basketball
At University Credit Union Center, Davis, Calif.
Hawaii (12-6, 4-3 Big west) at UC Davis (11-8, 5-4)
>> When: Today at 4 p.m.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1420-AM; 92.7-FM
>> Streaming: ESPN+
