AUDIO: Sendek Season Preview

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball finally gets to tip off the 2020-21 season on Wednesday during opening-day action of the Bronco Invitational. Idaho State, UC Davis, and Nicholls State make up the field with games Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday in the round-robin format.

The Broncos open tournament play against Idaho State on Wednesday. Tipoff time is set for 4 p.m. in Leavey Center where the team has enjoyed great success. Nicholls and UC Davis will face off at 7 p.m.

Due to current guidelines in Santa Clara County, spectators will not be permitted inside Leavey Center.

The Broncos are coming off a 20-13 mark last season, their first 20-win campaign in seven years and the fourth time in the last 19.

QUICK HITS...
• Santa Clara returns four starters and seven of its top nine scorers from last season, including preseason All-West Coast Conference performer Josip Vrankic, a three-year starter. The senior ranked first on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 pg) last season.
• The Broncos return six players who started at least 15 games last season.
• Before his injury at the beginning of league play, junior Guglielmo Caruso was among the most productive and efficient big men in the WCC. He would have ranked first in the league in field-goal percentage (66.1) and third in blocked shots (1.1 pg) but did not appear in enough games to qualify.
• Senior DJ Mitchell and junior Keshawn Justice were two of the top three 3-point shooting threats in the league in 2019-20. They each shot 38 percent from behind the 3-point line with Justice ranking tied for sixth (38.4) in the school history in that category.
• The Broncos had two of more productive first-year players in the WCC a year ago. Jaden Bediako was a member of the WCC All-Freshman team and Jalen Williams proved to be one of the most explosive first-year players in the league. Bediako was inserted into the starting lineup for Caruso as conference play opened and went on to average a team-best 11.9 rebounds per 40 minutes of play. Williams started the final 23 games and tallied the third-most steals (44) by a freshman in school history.
• Newcomers include freshman guard Trent Hudgens Jr. and three transfers in Christian Carlyle (Florida Gulf Coast), Joe Foley (Lehigh) and Vittorio Reynoso-Avila (Princeton). Carlyle and Reynoso-Avila are graduate transfers.

YEAR FIVE UNDER SENDEK...
The Broncos are in their 114th year, including fifth under Herb Sendek, who has been successful in each of his four head-coaching stops. With a resume that includes 18 postseason appearances and three conference coach of the year awards, Sendek has led the Broncos to three winning seasons, including a 20-13 mark in 2019-20. The program had not recorded three winning campaigns during a four-year stretch since Dick Davey led it to seven in a row from 1994-95 through 2000-01. He is in his 27th season as a collegiate head coach with stops at Arizona State, North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio).

SERIES RECORDS...
• The Broncos and Idaho State have met just six times though they are set to play three times in the last four years. Santa Clara won 78-65 last year, but fell 68-66 in 2018. The teams, which first met in 1981, will snap a 3-all tie in the series.
• Santa Clara owns a 17-2 record against UC Davis with the first meeting in 1919. In the most recent matchup, the Broncos fell to the Aggies, 63-58, in the 2016 Cable Car Classic.
• This will be the first time Santa Clara and Nicholls meet.

Counting down the minutes before tip-off before for @SantaClaraHoops ⏳ We've got @TheAndyKatz talking with @HerbSendek, @JosipVrankic, and DJ Mitchell #WCChoops pic.twitter.com/Fpsse6xLJV

— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) November 25, 2020

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS...
The Broncos have won their last five nonconference games overall and 17 straight nonleague home contests. The last loss was a 97-68 road defeat at the hands of Nevada on Dec. 4, 2019. Idaho State was the last nonconference foe to knock off the Broncos in Leavey Center, escaping with a 68-66 victory on Dec. 7, 2018.

HOME COOKING...
The Broncos have had tremendous success at home that last two seasons. They were on an historic run at home last season when the team's 17-game winning streak was snapped  with a loss to Pepperdine on Jan. 23. That was the third-longest stretch in school history and the most ever in Toso Pavilion/Leavey Center. By starting 15-0 in Leavey Center in 2019-20, Santa Clara set the school record for consecutive home victories to start a season. The Broncos had 11 twice, in back-to-back seasons, which established the school record of 22 straight home wins.

BY THE NUMBERS
1...One year after having nine underclassmen (four sophomores and five freshmen) scholarship players on the roster, the Broncos have two freshmen - Miguel Tomley, a redshirt, and Trent Hudgens Jr.
2...The number of consecutive years Josip Vrankic has earned All-WCC. He was also voted to the 2020-21 preseason All-WCC squad.
3...The Broncos finished 2019-20 third in the WCC in field-goal percentage defense (42.4), assists per game (15.4), and steals per game (6.9).
4...The number of times Keshawn Justice and Josip Vrankic scored 20-plus points in 2019-20, tying for the team lead.
4...Number of returning starters - Jaden Bediako, Keshawn Justice, Jalen Williams and Josip Vrankic.
23...Number consecutive games Jalen Williams and Keshawn Justice started to close out last season, the longest active streak on the team.
28...Josip Vrankic ranks 28th in school history in scoring (1,128 points). He became the 35th player to reach 1,000 career points by scoring 20 vs. San Diego (Jan. 25, 2020).
71.5...Percentage of points scored by current members of the team during 2019-20.
72.6...Percentage of steals posted by current members of the team during 2019-20.
82.2...Percentage of rebounds corralled by current members of the team during 2019-20.

RADIO/LIVE STREAM
Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) calls for his 14th season. All Broncos home games and West Coast Conference contests (not on an ESPN platform, CBS Sports Network or BYUtv) will be streamed through WCC Network (local blackout restrictions apply for games broadcast over the air). In addition, games can also be heard on the Tunein app.

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