Despite averaging 19.6 points per game with a great shooting touch as a senior at Cal Poly, Kobe Sanders was no closer to playing in the NBA than Manny Machado.
So Sanders, the former Christian High School standout, decided to play his final college season at Nevada. And pro teams took notice.
Sanders averaged 15.8 points and 4.5 assists for the Wolf Pack and was selected by the New York Knicks in the recent NBA Draft, the 50th pick overall. He was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in a draft-night deal.
At 6-foot-9 and 210 pounds, Sanders is a long, lean wing whose size, mobility and vision make him a candidate to contribute in the NBA.
Sanders, whose brother Gage played at Steele Canyon, was an All-Eastern League player at Christian as a senior, averaging 16.7 points and 5.0 rebounds a game. He averaged 12.0 points and 3.8 rebounds as a junior for the Patriots after spending his first two high school seasons at Steele Canyon. He finished his high school career with more than 1,000 points.
Sanders spent his first four college seasons at Cal Poly, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark in the final game of his senior season in a game against UC San Diego.But he was only an honorable mention All-Big West pick after averaging nearly 20 points a game as a senior.
At Nevada, he rarely left the court, averaging 31.5 minutes a game. He scored 20 or more points nine times, and put up 30 against both Boise State and UNLV. He was named a third-team All-Mountain West player.
He’ll start his pro career later this month at the NBA Summer League.
Guard Kelsey Plum #10 of the Los Angeles Sparks drives to the basket past forward Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky in the second half of a WNBA basketball game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, June 29, 2025. (Libby Cline Birmingham, Contributing Photographer)
#### WNBA
Three San Diegans are playing in the WNBA this season:
• Kelsey Plum (La Jolla Country Day/Washington) is playing for the Los Angeles Sparks, where she is averaging 20.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Drafted by No. 1 overall by San Antonio after a spectacular college career, she moved with the team to Las Vegas, winning a pair of WNBA championships. A three-time All-Star, MVP of the 2022 All-Star Game, she was traded to the Sparks in the winter.
• DiJonai Carrington (Horizon Christian/Baylor) is playing for the Dallas Wings, where she is dealing with a rib injury. Carrington has appeared in 14 games this season, averaging 11.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. She played for years for the Connecticut Sun and was traded to Dallas after averaging 12.7 points and being named to the league’s All-Defensive Team. She played four years collegiately at Stanford before finishing at Baylor.
• Te-Hina Paopao (La Jolla Country Day/South Carolina) was taken 18th overall by the Atlanta Dream in this year’s NBA Draft. Through her first 17 games as a professional, Paopao is averaging 5.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists. She had a career-high 16 points against Chicago, hitting five 3-pointers.
#### Water polo
Kendall Wyer (Bishop’s) finished her freshman season at Princeton with 15 goals, 22 assists and five steals. An attacker, she had hat tricks against Wagner and Bucknell and two goals vs. USC. She was a two-time CWPA Rookie of the Week. The Tigers finished 21-7, had 10 wins over ranked teams before losing in overtime to Harvard in the CWPA championship game.
#### Softball
Shortstop Breanna Lutz (Ramona/Palomar College) was named State Athlete of the Year by the California College Sports Information Association. A left-handed hitter, she batted .560 to lead the state and had 10 home runs, 19 doubles, six triples, 59 RBIs and scored 72 runs for the Comets, who finished the season 44-5.
Quarterback Julian Sayin calls for a snap during the first quarter of the Ohio State Spring Game at Ohio Stadium on April 12, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)
#### Football
Julian Sayin (Carlsbad) is expected to be open the 2025 season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback. He was ranked as the No. 5 QB in the 18-team Big Ten by USA Today behind Penn State’s Drew Allar, Illinois’ Luke Altmyer. Nebraska’s Dylan Railola and Dante Moore of Oregon.
#### Track & field
Ethan Heldman (La Jolla Country Day), a freshman pole vaulter at NCAA Division III Bowdoin College, cleared a personal best 14-7 1/4 at the State of Maine Championships.
• Ethan Estrada (La Jolla Country Day), a senior at Bowdoin, cleared a personal best 13-5 1/4 at the conference championships.
#### Scholars
Taylor Wessel (La Jolla Country Day), a senior swimmer at Idaho, was named Academic All-WAC.
• Dani Hackman (La Jolla Country Day), a junior swimmer at Washington and Lee in Virginia, was named a Scholar-Athlete for the third straight year.
#### In the pros
Trey Kell (St. Augustine/San Diego State) has signed to play for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia’s NBL. A guard, he averaged 20.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists last season for the Adelaide 36ers.
• In baseball, Grant Larson (High Tech-San Diego/Central Oklahoma) and Shane Telfer (Cathedral Catholic/Pepperdine) are playing for the Ottawa Titans in the independent Frontier League. Luke McCullough (Coronado/Villanova) is pitching for the Washington Wild Things in the Frontier League. Aidan Risse (La Jolla Country Day/USF) is pitching for the New York Boulders in the Frontier League.
_John Maffei’s Alumni Report appears during the college season. Readers are encouraged to send items on local athletes to john.maffei@sduniontribune.com._
Originally Published: July 3, 2025 at 2:41 PM PDT