Men’s Basketball Team Starting Season with Many Freshmen, Good Chemistry

Much has changed in the past 12 months for the Eagles men's basketball team, which is starting its 2025-26 schedule Thursday with 13 freshmen and 3 sophomores on the roster.

On the plus side of all those changes is team chemistry, according to head coach Kyle Heath. "The chemistry is much better," said Heath, now in his 15th season leading the Siskiyous hoops team with assistant coach Adrian Russell. "The guys play hard, listen, and like being around each other."

On the other side of the ledger, this is the second year in a row that the Eagles don't have any of their top scorers returning from the previous season.

They'll open the season Nov. 6 against Los Medanos at 3 p.m. at Los Positas's Tony Costello Tip-Off Classic with two returning sophomores who played a significant amount last year. Gavin McLean is a 5-foot-9 guard from Grants Pass, OR, and Jeremy Gaut is a 6-7 forward from South Medford. They both began last season as starters, fell out of the rotation, then got back into the rotation by season's end. They're both starters again along with newcomers who have shown potential in practices and during scrimmages in September and October.

Heath, whose Eagle teams qualified for the state tournament the past two seasons, said he likes how this year's group responded during the scrimmages, including one against a Southern Oregon University team that started the season ranked in the NAIA's Top 15. "We were able to learn from them. Our guards saw how their guards worked and brought some of that back to practice."

Another returning sophomore, 5-9 guard Kyler Ellyson, is described by Heath as "a great teammate, probably the heart of the team, brings energy every day. He's a great kid."

Jayden Dunbar, a 6-1 guard from Yreka, and 6-6 center Lyja Whitbeck from Fossil, OR, are both redshirt freshmen.

True freshmen on this year's roster are 6-2 guard Julius Blair from Portland, OR; 6-3 guard CJ Crane from Meridian, ID; 6-6 forward Eli Bryant from Medford; 6-foot guard Jojo Jointer from Portland, OR; 6-1 guard Jai Blair from Portland; 6-2 guard Gannon Ysais from Kuna, ID; 6-4 guard Jack Wheeler from Clackamas, OR; 6-foot guard Ili McCabe from Lahaina, HI; and 5-11 guard Drew Bird from Pollock Pines.

Two freshmen from Weed are both redshirting this year: 5-9 guard Maddox Mize and 5-10 guard Mike Kellar, who played at Dunsmuir High School.

Heath said Julius Blair, CJ Crane, and Eli Bryant will be in the starting lineup with Jeremy Gaut and Gavin McLean when the Eagles tip off against Los Medanos, which is 1-1 after two games, including a 106-102 overtime loss to Redwoods.

Unlike Los Medanos and many other teams nowadays, Heath said the Eagles won't be firing up several dozen three-point shots each game. "We want our guards to drive and kick it out, make the extra pass. We're looking for high percentage shots, which also set up the defense. If you can make jump shots, it opens things up. On defense, we want to press and trap, mix it up. If the other team takes a bad shot, we want to turn it into an easy layup."

Heath said Julius Blair is a "scoring point guard type" who scored a lot in high school, while 6-3 CJ Crane is "a good athlete and energy guy who can play above the rim, get rebounds, and defends well."

Coach wants both Crane and 6-6, 185 pound Eli Bryant to attack the rim. He said Bryant is "super athletic," while 6-1, 170 pound Jojo Jointer came to the Eagles "physically ready to play. He's aggressive on defense, competitive and coachable."

Jai Blair, Julius's brother, and Gannon Ysais, are two other new Eagles who know how to compete and play defense. Heath said Jai displayed his defensive talents in the scrimmage against SOU, and Ysais has shot well of late, plays under control and has "a good basketball IQ."

Jack Wheeler, at 6-4, 155, is an active guard who can shoot and get rebounds, according to Heath, who sees Ili McCabe as "a point guard in the old school sense. He's strong and quick, looks to pass and runs the team on offense."

Drew Bird is another freshman guard who can make some shots, and 6-6, 210 pound redshirt freshman Lyja Whitebeck will get some court time after coming to Siskiyous from a very small Oregon community where his high school had only five students in the senior class.

Heath said Mike Kellar and Maddox Mize are both great kids who can use the redshirt season to develop.

One of the players the Eagles will go up against when they play Los Medanos is 6-2 guard Jeremiah Collins, who averaged 16 points per game for Siskiyous last year. That Eagles team found their way into the state playoffs after finishing 3-7 in conference and 12-17 overall one year after they won College of the Siskiyous' first Golden Valley Conference men's basketball championship in 20 years.

As usual, the Eagles will mostly be on the road in November and December, hosting only Umpqua College on Nov. 24. "Seven road trips before Christmas," Heath said. Then conference starts on Jan. 7 at Lassen before Shasta comes to Siskiyous Jan. 10.

By Steve Gerace