The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
For most programs, graduating a class like last year’s Long Beach Poly boys’ basketball seniors would mean entering a rebuild phase. Most programs aren’t like the Jackrabbits, though. Poly graduated the program’s all-time career scoring leader Jovani Ruff (now at Cal) along with three-year stalwarts Austin Unegbu (Redlands) and Giovanni Ofoegbu. They made the Division 1 CIF Southern Section playoff bracket last year, where they lost in the second round in a two-point thriller with Los Al.
Somehow, this year, Poly is better. The Jackrabbits finished last year unranked in the CIF State poll and open this year ranked No. 20 in California. That’s the reload expected for a school like Poly, which has 2,187 wins in its history (more than 300 wins clear of the second-best team in the state) and a state-record 66 league titles, as well as 20 CIF-SS titles (second-most) and 7 NBA alums (tied for the most in California).
“This year reminds me of when Sharrief (Metoyer) lost Ryan Anderson, Alexis Moore, Alex Carmon, Chris Camper all those guys, and then the next year it was Roschon Prince, Jordan Bell, Chris Croom, RJ Strickland, Josh Munzon and they still go to a CIF championship,” said Poly coach Shelton Diggs. “They lost a lot but their cohesiveness was just as good. So we did lose a lot, but we had a lot of young guys within the pipeline that are stepping up. They’ve been a group together coming up so that cohesiveness is already there.”
Leading the way is 6-10 big man Jonas Oware, a scholar baller who’s committed to Yale, as well as fellow returning first-team All-Moore League honoree Nana Ofoegbu, a speedy 6-2 guard. Playing alongside Oware in the frontcourt is 6-7 junior rebounding machine Isaac Hagens, while three-year varsity guards John Chansy and Julian Calderone will fill out the backcourt.
“We don’t have (Jovani Ruff) this year and he was a great scorer, and that’s going to make everybody else step up,” said Oware. “I had to take steps offensively to get more involved–and our team approach, too. We got sent home last year in a way we didn’t like, so especially as seniors we’re like, we really gotta make something happen.”
Ofoegbu agreed with the idea that the team has stepped forward despite losing some major senior talent, including his older brother.
“I love all those guys, but this year’s team there’s a little more freedom,” he said. “We’r really growing in our chemistry and we all embrace our roles. We’re brothers on and off the court, it’s something truly amazing. We love each other and we don’t care about who scores how many points.”
The top-end talent is there, but Poly’s depth is what has them looking so good this year. He’s not penciled in to start just yet but the team’s best player may end up being sophomore Jakobi Oware, Jonas’ little brother. After rocketing up to 6-6 and showing both guard and post skills over the summer, Jakobi started pulling in mid-major scholarship offers. Jett Von is also a 6-7 depth piece off the bench, and the Jackrabbits have welcomed in a pair of transfers for the first time in years, with 6-2 guard Jeremiah Graham and 6-3 sophomore Jayden Ganther.
“It’s a little new for us, yeah,” Diggs said of the transfers. “It’s just getting them caught up to speed on what’s going on.”
One thing watching the Jackrabbits that stands out immediately is their size–with seven players listed at 6-3 or taller, it’s a traditional-looking Poly team with a lot of length and athleticism.
“We’re long and big, we should be able to rebound and force things on defense,” said Diggs. “It’s part of coaching at a public–you’re not going to have a 6-9 Jonas check in as a freshman every year. We’ve had our years where we’re small and we weathered that and now it’s back to some size.”
The Jackrabbits have a strong nonleague schedule this year as always. They will play in the Pac Shores against Windward and Harvard-Westlake and face fellow state-ranked public Mayfair at LBCC on Jan. 10, along with games against Etiwanda and Roosevelt. They’ll also compete in the Bosco Winter Tournament (12/8-12/13) and the St. Francis Tournament (12/26-30) as well as the Moore League.
Diggs, a Poly alum, is also aware of how badly the Jackrabbits’ campus needs a fun Winter from their basketball team after a disastrous football season.
“We want to win league, and we want to win whatever CIF division we’re in,” he said. “We have no control over where they put us but we’re going to play a tough schedule like every year and let the chips fall where they do. Our goal is to win and hopefully go get our first state championship since coach (Ron) Palmer was here.”
