Men's Basketball

The year just ending has been one for the college sports record books and many kudos are due to the Bobcat athletes and their coaches.

UC Merced men’s and women’s outdoor track swept the California Pacific (Cal Pac) Conference Championships in their inaugural seasons. Women’s soccer beat 14^th-ranked Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the Cal Pac Tournament Championship game and got to hoist their first trophy in front of Bobcat Nation on Bobcat Field.

It is often said in sports that you have to struggle and overcome adversity before being able to bask in the glory of success.

UC Merced athletics has faced adversity since first transitioning from a recreation program to a NAIA member eight years ago.

But the wait for success was, well, not long at all.

Last fall, Turlock native Marcus DeCouto reminded the sports scene that UC Merced consistently brings some of the top freshmen to the California Pacific Conference.

DeCouto, now a sophomore midfielder on the Bobcats’ men’s soccer team, became the first Cal Pac player since 2015 to record at least 10 goals and 10 assists in a single season. To little surprise, he was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.

Ke-Myrion Anderson had never set foot on college campus before he spent a week at UC Merced in July.

Long hours and hard work paid off for UC Merced’s intercollegiate athletics program last week when the California Pacific Conference’s 2014-15 awards were announced. For the first time in conference history, one school earned every departmental award.

UC Merced Director of Recreation and Athletics David Dunham was selected as the Cal Pac Athletic Director of the Year. UC Merced was also named the top institution in the categories of sportsmanship, sports medicine and sports information. 

A day off meant a day of service for some UC Merced students and staff and faculty members who volunteered to help spruce up Luther Burbank Elementary School in Merced as part of the 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.

The field is set for more success next year after UC Merced student-athletes earned top honors and played to impressive crowds during the debut season of varsity sports.

The bond between the San Joaquin Valley and the University of California, Merced, continues to strengthen.

This past year, UC Merced's ongoing research endeavors produced new knowledge that serves the San Joaquin Valley's community and economy, while the university's burgeoning athletics program became another source of pride for the community.

Additionally, the campus' continued development serves as major source of economic investment during a difficult economy.