New coach, band of freshmen and obvious potential highlight the program’s first season since 2019-20
It was the first week in November. In lieu of a matchup against San Jose City College, basketballs dribbled and bounced on the Las Positas Tony Costello Court. Private team conversations echoed from the gym locker rooms.
A new group of coaches and players had made themselves home at the Hawks’ Nest.
LPC women’s basketball played for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The COVID-19 pandemic and a retired head coach put the program into an off-court hiatus. Former players graduated, and recruitment efforts were null since the head coach left. Caleb Theodore, a former assistant coach at Cal State East Bay, answered the call and fit the bill.
Theodore was determined to help rejuvenate the program. Once he heard about the program’s lengthy hiatus, he got right to work. His connections and networks were used to recruit players ahead of the 2022-23 season. All the pieces fell into place for the program to return and set a good example for itself.
Athletics Director and men’s basketball coach, James Giacomazzi, recognized the importance of the program and prioritized finding a head coach for the women’s basketball team. Giacomazzi also recognized the efforts of former coach Clarence Morgan, who retired ahead of the 2021-22 season.
“Coach Morgan did a great job while he was here. Not only were the girls competitive, they worked hard. They were diligent, good students who transferred and became good representatives of the college. It was a big hiatus when he retired and nobody had a season, which took another year away,” Giacomazzi said.
Giacomazzi expressed he was “anxious and motivated” to get the right coach for the program.
In September 2021, when the campus started opening up to the public again for students to attend classes, Giacomazzi ramped up efforts to bring the program back as soon as possible but didn’t want to rush the process either.
Giacomazzi spread the word about the coaching vacancy through advertising companies that often partner with LPC. Including LPC’s community college district, the LPC Athletics website, California Community College Athletic Directors email blast, social media and through word of mouth.
Giacomazzi wouldn’t take just anyone either. The struggle of finding someone to fill the shoes had its complications.
“The fact that it’s a part-time position makes things a little challenging. There’s not a lot of money in part-time salaries for coaches. You can’t make a living just doing part-time coaching. It’s tough to find someone who’s willing to take a second job in coaching and put in the number of hours to be successful,” Giacomazzi said.
Caleb Theodore, a Modesto native, was told about the LPC opportunity by a friend. He once played basketball for Modesto’s Big Valley Christian School, and transitioned to playing internationally. Theodore redirected his experience and intelligence to coaching.
“I was working at East Bay and a friend shared with me that LPC had an opening. I originally recognized the name of the school because a player I once worked with played for Coach James. I proceeded to pursue the job, and because I was already on the women’s side of the sport, I was immediately interested,” Theodore said.
“There’s more responsibility that’s put on you and more tasks that need to be done. Being an assistant prepared me more for this position. I give my flowers to Shanele Stires at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Bradley Davis at the University of Pacific because they prepared me for this position,” Theodore said.
Theodore mentioned that when it came to reviving the program from the ground up, the amount of pressure he faced didn’t seem to faze him.
“There are no challenges. Pressure is a privilege. I’m honored and blessed to be in a position privileged enough to have pressure to provide this program with high-level athletes with quality character,” Theodore said.
Theodore had to stand before the hiring committee and have an outstanding presentation. Things worked out for the better, and Theodore was named the new head coach for the women’s basketball program.
When Theodore realized there was no team for 2 years, he knew he had to get right to it. Using a similar approach he had taken during his tenure at Cal State East Bay, Theodore utilized his resources, connections, and networks to bring players in. Being prime examples, state-leading rebounder and freshman forward, Monique Cavness, along with freshman guard Ranaye Manu, won All-Conference Honorable Mention.
“I first saw him at CSU San Marcos and he was coaching at CSU East Bay. I followed their Instagram page and Theodore reached out to me through there,” Cavness said.
When it came to hiring Ashley Hart as an assistant coach, Theodore had some great connections who set him up with her to be by his side in his efforts. Theodore previously scouted Hart when he worked at East Bay and was excited about having her come to work where she found great success as a former player.
Prior to transferring to San Francisco State University, Hart began her collegiate career at LPC and was named First Team All-Conference and led her team averaging 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in the 2018-19 season. Theodore says she is “the heart and soul to this program” and he couldn’t be more proud to have her showing the next generation of athletes what it means to be an LPC Hawk.
Soon enough, the rest of the dominos fell and the program had a roster of 12 players with a majority of college freshmen. Coach Theodore set out on a mission to empower women in sports and basketball and, in the classroom, to teach life lessons to student-athletes. Theodore has four pillars in place for them to achieve those goals at a high level. Theodore won’t share what the four pillars are, as it is kept within the team.
The 2022-23 season kicked off with two early road games and a lot of forfeits from LPC. They only played 2 games in November, but the team’s number of forfeits decreased once December came around. The Hawks had lost consistently up until February 1, where they won for the first time against Gavilan College, 54-41. To Theodore, their record didn’t define the team.vIt allowed them to get a big victory over Merritt College 67-58, five days later.
The Hawks’ victory against Merritt was the first of two victories in the team’s final five games of the season. The second, and third overall victory, was at Mission College in Santa Clara on Feb. 15. The Hawks kept their head above water and won 59-57 in overtime.
In their first season back, the Hawks finished with a record of 3 wins and 24 losses. Despite their losing season, the team saw light in what others might think is darkness. They saw improvement, effort, and growth within themselves and each other.
“I’m satisfied that this group finished out the year strong and got three wins in February. I’m very satisfied with how our girls came out and responded, with what they’ve accomplished this year,” Theodore said.
He also called out key players for the team.
“I’m very proud of Ranaye getting All-Conference Honorable Mention and of Monique getting State Leading Rebounder. I’m proud of her for pulling off 409 rebounds in 23 games.” Theodore said.
Giacomazzi had expectations that the program would have a team come together and to get better throughout the season. The team met his expectations of improving and representing the college with class. They also met Giacomazzi’s definition of student-athletes, which are people who give their best effort both academically and athletically.
“As an Athletics Director, I was very happy to see student-athletes work together, get better, and be connected. They really stood together when it wasn’t easy to do at times. I thought Caleb did a great job. The girls continued to get better throughout the year” Giazomazzi said.
“They played their hardest, game in and game out. They really stayed together through adversity and they didn’t make excuses. They just kept pushing forward”
Cavness looked back on her first full season on the court, coming out of a long hiatus and playing for a motivating head coach and a family-like group of teammates.
“Playing with this team and this particular group is nice. It was really nice because it felt like family. Everybody brought nice energy and love to each other. Coach Theodore was more than a coach to us, he was our mentor,” Cavness said.
We have all heard the sentence starter “let the record show” at some point in our lives. This time, the record doesn’t show or reflect this program. A program that has had positive development through competitiveness, good students, good representatives of the college, who practiced and played hard for themselves and each other.
The record does not show that despite their losses, the team got better on and off the court.
A program that was inactive because of lockdown and vacant coaching positions found its foot again. Looking to compete with tough opponents in their conference, the likes of Chabot College and City College of San Francisco, there are positive signs about the future of this program and they are just getting started.
The 2023-24 season will tip off in the fall. The team will have to keep developing and practicing for the next game wherever it will be and if they want to compete with their conference opponents.
Gibran Beydoun is a freelance writer for Express. Follow him @Gibran580MSCM.
