We Speak Men's College Basketball

Fourteen New Faces, One Hilltop: USF Hosts Portland State on Saturday

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2026

San Francisco Dons men's basketball in action

Photo: @USFDonsMBB

College basketball rebuilds are usually quiet. This one is not. San Francisco head coach Chris Gerlufsen starts his fifth season on the Hilltop with fourteen new players on his roster, tied for the most newcomers in all of Division I, and on Saturday afternoon his Dons get a real early test when Portland State visits War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.

The Dons opened the season at home on November 2 with a 76-62 win over Radford, the fifth straight season opening win of the Gerlufsen era. The Portland State game sits in the middle of an opening homestand that also brought Montana to the Hilltop on November 10, giving a brand new roster rare time to grow up in its own gym before West Coast Conference play arrives.

Almost nothing carries over from last season. USF lost nearly all of its scoring and rebounding from a team that went 17-16, the program’s fifth straight winning season. The one proven piece back in uniform is graduate forward Ndewedo Newbury, a WCC preseason team pick who missed all of last season with a leg injury. Around him, Gerlufsen has built a roster drawn from Denmark, Latvia, London, Senegal and Cameroon, and the league’s coaches still picked the Dons third in the WCC preseason poll.

Portland State makes the trip south from the Big Sky Conference for a Saturday matinee that tips at 4:00 PM Pacific. For a young roster still learning each other’s names, a physical nonconference opponent in a loud old gym is exactly the kind of afternoon that tells a coaching staff what it actually has.

ACC Taps Niko Roberts as Senior Vice President for Men’s Basketball

Published

1 day ago

November 6, 2026

We Speak Media

Caleb Wilson of North Carolina reacts on the court during an ACC men's basketball game

North Carolina's Caleb Wilson reacts during ACC men's basketball action. Photo: @accmbb

The ACC is adding a leader shaped by both conference offices and the NCAA Tournament itself. Niko Roberts, who spent more than five years with the Mountain West and nearly five years with the NCAA working on the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, will join the ACC as Senior Vice President for Men’s Basketball on November 16, reporting directly to Commissioner Jim Phillips.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that Niko Roberts has been named Senior Vice President, Men’s Basketball. Roberts, who will report directly to ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, will begin his role with the Conference on Monday, November 16.

Roberts joins the ACC following more than five years with the Mountain West Conference, most recently as Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball. In that role, he oversaw men’s basketball operations, including scheduling, television, game operations, officiating and communications with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee. He also served as Tournament Director for the Mountain West Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.

“We are pleased to welcome Niko Roberts to the ACC,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “Niko brings a strong background in conference administration, NCAA championship operations, media partnerships and revenue generation, along with a creative and innovative approach to building meaningful basketball events. His experience, relationships throughout the sport and thoughtful approach to serving student-athletes and member institutions will be valuable as we continue to build upon the ACC’s longstanding success in men’s basketball.”

“It is an honor to join Commissioner Phillips and the outstanding ACC staff at such an important time for college basketball,” Roberts said. “The ACC’s tradition, national profile and commitment to its student-athletes and member institutions are unmatched. I look forward to working with our coaches, administrators and programs to continue building upon the league’s success and positioning ACC men’s basketball for the future.”

Roberts joined the Mountain West staff in 2021 and played a central role in advancing the conference’s men’s basketball initiatives. He founded the Mountain West Basketball Success Committee, which helped develop scheduling guidance and other efforts that contributed to the league earning at least four NCAA Tournament berths in all but one of his five seasons, including a record six selections in 2024.

Before joining the Mountain West, Roberts spent nearly five years with the NCAA, including as Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Championships. He supported the day-to-day administration of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, including budget oversight, preliminary-round and regional-site operations, Final Four programming and the planning and execution of the 2021 single-site NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

During his NCAA tenure, Roberts helped create and advance several Final Four initiatives, including Next Generation Sunday, Final Four Talks, the Final Four Course Curriculum and Mentoring Program with host institutions. He also was integral to the development and oversight of the NCAA College Basketball Academy.

Roberts was also named to The Athletic’s 40 Under 40 list in 2020, named by Seth Davis as one of the most influential upcoming figures in college basketball.

A native of Huntington, New York, Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree in communications, with a minor in business, from the University of Kansas, where he was a four-year men’s basketball student-athlete. He earned a Professional Master of Sports Administration degree from Ohio University. Niko and his wife Asia will relocate to Charlotte in November.