Telepeer

Connectivity guided Cal State Fullerton to its improbable season

April 3, 2026

When the defiant chip reluctantly comes off his shoulder — emphasis on “reluctantly”— Dedrique Taylor neatly pivots to another adverb, one where the defiance submits to delight. The change in his voice literally sounds like the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball coach is doing impromptu ventriloquism.

Connectivity.

The C-word permeated the entire improbable CSF men’s basketball season, serving as not only a crossroads campaign in Taylor’s 13 seasons on the Titans’ bench, but providing the men’s basketball coach with what he unapologetically called “a season that ranks among the top seasons I’ve had at Cal State Fullerton.”

“It’s hard to say this season was better than seasons we had when we went to the (NCAA) Tournament,” he said. “But this season was right near the top and not necessarily for reasons you think. This season ranks near the top because of the character of the young men in the program; the genuine care and concern they had for each other and the way they showed up every day. Whether we won, whether we were winning, whether we lost, they showed up with their lunch pails and hard hats every day.

“There was a definite link of connectivity that brought this group together. I learned a lot about me as a person and me as a coach with this group, and through their level of connectivity, we were able to experience the highs and lows and still continue to move forward.”

You’ll excuse Taylor for the lilt in his voice when he talks about the Titans’ improbable 2025-26 season and how the C-word made it not only possible, but probable — if not inevitable. Picked to finish last in the Big West Conference by his fellow coaches — which we’ll get to momentarily — Taylor guided the Titans to an 18-16 record and 12-8 conference mark. The 18 wins were the most in three seasons and the 12-8 conference record not only brought the Titans back to the Big West Tournament for the first time since the 2022-23 campaign, but earned them a third-place, regular-season finish.

More notably, the 18 wins were only two fewer than the combined victories in CSUF’s last two seasons, and the 12 conference wins were one more than the Titans’ total during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns.

Those last two seasons, especially last season’s last-place 6-26, 4-11 campaign, caused Taylor to question his entire coaching philosophy. With his contract expiring after this year, it also caused no small consternation among some of the alumni, who had gotten rather fond of Taylor and the Titans displaying a regular on-court connectivity by punching above their weight. After all, this was a program that won the Big West Tournament and went to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and lost in the Big West finals to UC Santa Barbara in 2023.

And Taylor was the only coach in program history to bring the March Madness experience to CSUF twice: in 2018 and 2022.

Yet, after the last two seasons, when CSUF failed to qualify for the conference tournament, the long knives were out, and his fellow Big West coaches were the first ones wielding them. The Big West polls its coaches before every season, asking them for a predicted order of finish and a preseason all-conference team. Not only were the Titans picked to finish last, but not one CSUF player sniffed an all-conference mention.

Spoiler alert: Taylor was named Big West Coach of the Year and senior guard Josh Ward earned All-Big West Second-Team honors. Senior guard Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro grabbed an Honorable Mention berth. Ward led the Titans in points (14.5 per game), minutes (30.9 per game), assists (3.5 per game) and free-throws (127), adding 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals a game. De La Cruz Monegro finished second in the Big West in free-throw percentage (.891), adding 11.9 points and 4.6 rebounds. He also joined the 1,000 Career Point Club with a 10-point game against UC Davis in January.

So you’ll excuse Taylor for the sudden change in his voice — and the subsequent wielding of his own long knives — surrounding his first Coach of the Year honor in his 13 years on the Titans’ bench.

“No one outside of our immediate program thought we could do anything, let alone finish where we finished. Nobody. Nobody. Maybe our kids’ parents, maybe my parents. But nobody was counting on us to do anything,” he said, his voice getting more defiant with every word. “If you thought we were going to do anything, you’re a liar, a bald-faced liar. I would say that to anyone. … I don’t want anyone outside of this program to take credit for what we did.

“Not one coach in the Big West gave us a vote to do anything but finish dead last. That’s with two new coaches in the league, including one new coach who never called a time-out. They still picked (Cal State) Bakersfield, Cal Poly and (UC) Riverside over us. None of the coaches picked us and that became a driving point for us. Not for reasons to prove them wrong or right, but because that’s what they think of us. They were betting on our demise and that drove the connectivity of our program.”

Yes, even through the I-told-you-so defiance, there’s the C-word again. Taylor told a story that defined what the word meant on a personal level, citing the player who served as the glue for the Titans’ season-long connectivity: graduate-student forward Landon Seaman. The transfer from Menlo College wore No. 32 at Menlo and planned on wearing it at CSUF. But when he heard that Concordia University transfer Jaden Henderson wanted the number and the reason behind it, Seaman surrendered it — even though he was entitled to it by virtue of committing to the Titans first.

The reason? Henderson’s late father wore the number when he played. So Seaman told Taylor he’d give the number up because “If that’s what he needs to win, let’s go.”

That gesture foreshadowed a season Taylor and none of the Titans will forget anytime soon.

“Our season ended on a Friday, we came home Saturday and with most teams at this level, they’re getting away from each other; they’re going their separate ways,” Taylor said. “These guys went to the beach together on Sunday. They were at the pool Monday. Where you can find one, you can find all 14 of the other guys. It didn’t matter who it was, whether we won or lost, or what their playing time was, they were together.

“That’s what I mean when I say connectivity. That connectivity allowed us to go through the good times, the bad times and everything in between. It allowed us to endure whatever we were faced with, knowing they cared about each other. They cared about learning, about challenging themselves and each other and coaching themselves and each other. …

Every year, we go on a retreat and when you tell other people you’re going on a retreat, they mention team bonding. What does that mean? The true essence of it for me and the program is there has to be a level of connectivity to make up for the lack of things other people may have. We don’t have the money Santa Barbara has and we don’t have the resources (UC) Irvine has. So what makes us different? You have to be connected on a different level and sell out for the cause. And this group was.”

Orange County Register

News Details

Connectivity guided Cal State Fullerton to its improbable season

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS