The University of San Francisco men's basketball team will officially begin its 93^rd season on Tuesday when the Dons host Sonoma State.  Tuesday's game, the 13^th matchup in the series, is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be streamed live on The WCC Network.  Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli will have the call. Olson and Brovelli can also be heard on the new home of USF Dons Basketball, KNBR 1050-AM.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Nov. 5, 2019 – 7:00 p.m. PST
Opponent: Sonoma State Seawolves (0-0/0-0 CCAA)
Site: War Memorial at the Sobrato Center
Stream:  The WCC Network
Talent: Pat Olson (play-by-play) and Jim Brovelli (analyst)
Radio:  KNBR 1050-AM
Talent: Pat Olson (play-by-play) and Jim Brovelli (analyst)
Live Stats: Statbroadcast.com

USF AT A GLANCE
• USF is beginning its 93rd season on Tuesday when the Dons host Sonoma State on Tuesday night.  It marks the 13th time the Dons have taken on the Seawolves, with USF owning a 12-0 advantage in the series that has only been played at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
• Golden Era:  Tuesday officially marks the beginning of the Golden Era at USF.  First year head coach Todd Golden was announced the 20th head coach in USF history on Mar. 27, 2019 by Director of Athletics Joan McDermott. Golden, 34, is the seventh youngest head coach in NCAA Division I, and his youthful age puts him in some good company - Phil Woolpert was 34 when he took over USF before guiding the Dons to back-to-back NCAA Championships.  Pete Newell was 31 when he was hired as the head coach at USF and led the Dons from 1946-50, including an NIT Championship.  Jimmy Needles was 23 when he was hired to lead St. Ignatius and The Gray Fog in two stints as the head coach he went 113-62. 
 
• The Dons were picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches' poll that was announced at the WCC Tip-Off event held at the Orleans Arena.  The Dons finished in fourth last season, going 9-7 in conference play.
 
• Home/Road/Somewhere In Between:  In 2019-20, the Dons will play 31 games, 18 at home and 13 on the road.  Included in that 18 home slate is a game at the brand new Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors.  The Dons will play the first collegiate game there on Saturday against Princeton at 6:00 p.m.
 
• Redshirt sophomore Charles Minlend was named to the annual Preseason All-Conference team, it marks the third-straight year that the Dons have had a player on that list - the second time Minlend was named to the team.  He was also named to the preseason team prior to the 2017-18 season. Minlend is the Dons leading returning scorer, he averaged 14.5 points per game last season.  
 
• Returners: USF brings back a deep and talented core for 2019-20. USF will have three fifth of its starting rotation back from last year's 21-win team and seven letter winners back overall.  Of the letter winners returning, four played 18 or more minutes per game last year. Starters include: Ratinho, Minlend and senior center Jimbo Lull who had a career year for USF in 2018-19, setting career-bests in nearly every statistical category.
 
• The Newcomers:  The Dons will welcome seven new members to the squad this season. Redshirt sophomore guard Khalil Shabazz is eligible after redshirting last season due to transfer rules.  USF welcomed transfer Damari Milstead (Grand Canyon) - the 6-2 guard will redshirt this season and be eligible next year.  Freshmen Justin Bieker (G/F - Portland, Ore.) Isaiah Hawthorne (F - Tracy, Calif.) Josh Kunen (F - Melbourne, Australia), Jonas Visser (C - Amsterdam, Netherlands), and Emmanuel Nwabueze (G - San Francisco)
 
• Two Longtime Starters:  Senior Jordan Ratinho and redshirt junior Charles Minlend both rank in the top-40 among active players with consecutive starts.  Ratinho ranks 38th with 52 consecutive starts, Minlend is 39th with 48 consecutive starts. 
 
• Milestone Watch:  Jordan Ratinho has a pair of major milestones on the horizon.  With 203 career 3-point field goals, Ratinho is 34 away from setting the career record at USF, its currently 236 set by Ali Thomas (1997-01).  With 30 more points he will become the 37th player in USF history to score 1,000 career points.  The last player to do it was Frankie Ferrari last season.
 
• International Flavor:  With five international players on the roster in 2018-19, the Dons are tied for eighth in the country with the most international players.  Freshman Jonas Visser (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Josh Kunen (Melbourne, Australia) join Remu Raitanen (Helsinki, Finland), Dzmitry Ryuny (Minks Belarus), and Taavi Jurkatamm (Tallinn, Estonia).  Freshman Justin Bieker was born in Australia and lived there one year in high school.  Saint Mary's leads the nation with 10 international players.
 
• Looking back at last Year:  Last season, the Dons went 21-10 and finished fourth in the WCC going 9-7.  The 21-win season gave USF its third-consecutive 20-win season.  The longest such streak since the Dons had seven-straight 20 win seasons from 1975-'76 to '81-'82.  USF opened the year 12-2 including a 7-0 run to begin the season.  Ultimately, USF missed out on the post season for the first time in two years after losing four-straight to finish the season.
 
• Dons Land New Home on KNBR 1050-AM: – University of San Francisco Athletics and Cumulus San Francisco's sports talk radio powerhouse KNBR 1050 The Sports Leader (KTCT-AM) announced a multi-year agreement making the San Francisco-based all-sports station the new radio flagship of USF Dons Men's Basketball this fall. KNBR 1050 will carry all games plus pregame and postgame shows on one of the region's strongest radio signals, and will stream all broadcasts via KNBR.com and the KNBR app.

THE SERIES
Tuesday's game against Sonoma State will be the 13th in a series that dates back to the 1986-87 season when the Dons defeated the Seawolves 73-68 on Jan. 5, 1987.  USF owns a 12-0 advantage in the series that has always been played at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.  Last time out, the Dons defeated the Seawolves 88-54 on Nov. 12, 2018.
 
ABOUT THE SEAWOLVES
Sonoma State, members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, is entering its 51st season. Last year, the Seawolves went 9-18, and lost eight of their last 10.  Head coach Pat Fuscaldo enters his 26th year at the helm of the Sonoma State, he returns six letter winners from last year's team, including senior forward Isaac Davidson who earned All-CCAA honors year, averaging 13.9 points per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT VERSUS THE SEAWOLVES
In last year's contest, the Seawolves scored first and led for a little over a minute, from there it was all USF as the Dons won their 12th consecutive game against Sonoma State, winning 88-54.  Three players finished in double figures for USF on the night and were led by Jordan Ratinho's game-high 20 points. Ratinho shot 7-for-11 form the field and was 5-for-9 from beyond the arc.  Matt McCarthy had a double-double scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. 
 
UP NEXT
The Dons will return to action on Saturday when they travel across town to host Princeton at the Chase Center at 6:00 p.m. The USF double header will begin with the women's team taking on Stanford at 3:00 p.m. The two games will be the first ever collegiate basketball games played at the brand new home of the Golden State Warriors.