The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
Entering his second season at the helm of the Long Beach State men’s basketball program, coach Chris Acker is in a similar position to when he took over the program.
With only one returner in junior Derrick Xzavierro – Acker and his coaching staff spent a good amount of the offseason rebuilding the roster as they prepare to open the season at San Diego State on Tuesday.
The Beach will look very different as they aim to better their 7-25 season from a year ago that included a 15-game losing streak to finish the season as LBSU finished 10th in the Big West.
Acker is hoping depth will be something the Beach can lean on early in the season as the team builds chemistry and gets more minutes together with a big rotation. With the changing landscape of college athletics, LBSU is navigating recruitment without the backing of a Power 5 school that has ample resources.
“It’s not what it used to be,” Acker said of recruiting and building a roster. “In the sense that you know you just get to go pick out a roster and say, ‘Okay, we’re gonna upgrade.’ It takes a community because outside of recruiting, you’re also fundraising. Now we’re dealing with rev shares and NIL and where players are getting paid. With the support of people in the community that have contributed so far, we were able to, with the budget put together a competitive roster.”
While the roster has yet to play a game outside of scrimmages, Acker says “we’re at the at the start of what could be a very successful tenure as we continue to develop our basketball players, but also, you know, develop our fundraising and our our efforts to get people involved in the community.”
Xzavierro will be a valuable piece for the Beach with experience playing in the Big West, but LBSU has the task of finding who will contribute offensively after having their top three scorers transfer out. Most notably is Devin Askew, the team’s leading scorer from a year ago, which left a void in offensive production and leadership that the incoming group must fill.
Acker had used the roster rebuild to fill spots on the team that align with what the team is trying to do every night and who can provide the most experience.
“At the end of the day, who’s the best fit for the way we want to play?,” Acker added. “And what we’re most excited about is that we were able to put together. We have guys that are elite athletes that know how to play hard. Guys that come from winning programs and ultimately guys that had a lot of experience playing in division one basketball games, which is where I think we struggled the most last year.”
With a committee at guard, Beach expects Shaquil Bender, Rob Diaz, Isaiah Lewis and Cole Farrell to contribute in the backcourt. In the front court, the Beach will look to San Diego State transfer Shay Johnson to be a force inside the paint.
Along with Johnson, the Beach looked internationally to add depth to the frontcourt with Leopold Levillain (France) and Petar Majstorovic (Serbia). Levillain, a 6-9 forward who transitioned from rugby, brings athleticism and toughness, while Majstorovic, a former Syracuse player with French and Serbian roots, adds maturity, skill and leadership.
“Our starting five is still being formulated,” Acker said. “We’ve started two different groups in different scrimmages. We’re still trying to figure out through practice what the best lineups to put out on the floor. We play a very competitive, non-conference schedule.”
