“Since 2001, Sacramento has felt like home to me.” Former Kings point guard Mike Bibby had once said. Staying true to that statement, he returned home, not as a player this time, but as a coach. The Sacramento State team needed a new coach after the departure of David Patrick. Patrick left the Sacramento state team on May 2024 for the position of associate head coach position at LSU.

As such, the program desperately needed new leadership after going 7-25 under interim head coach Michael Czepil. This leads to the arrival of the prodigal son, Michael Bibby. Not to mention, the Hornets were knocked out by the Weber State to an 83-70 in the first round of the Big Sky Conference, thereby finishing last in the conference. Hence, the move to hire Bibby, who hasn’t coached since 2019, is to resurrect a struggling program. However, Michael Bibby isn’t a stranger to the NCAA tournament. After all, he has an NCAA title in his bag while playing for the Arizona in 1997. And the next year, he was drafted to the Vancouver Grizzlies before joining the Kings in 2001-02. He recorded an average of 14.7 ppg and 5.5 asts per game in six-plus seasons for the franchise.

Seeing the appointment, Matt Barnes, a former Sacramento Kings player, took to Instagram to congratulate Mike Bibby on his new role. He shared a poster of Mike Bibby on his story and captioned it, “Congrats bro @mike_bibby_10,” extending his heartfelt adulation for his former Kings’ teammate. Seeing this, other NBA veterans such as Joe Johnson also posted a story congratulating Mike Bibby. He captioned his story, “@mike_bibby_10 are u kidding me 😂 Congrats! Bruh.” 

Mike Bibby arrives at a time when the Sacramento State team needs leadership and expertise of a star player. They possess an abysmal record in tournaments and suffer from more losses than wins. Let us take a look at how big of a mountain Mike Bibby has to climb.

Mike Bibby and the state of affairs at Sacramento State

Mike Bibby is part of a recruitment with hopes to revive a struggling program desperately. As stated before, the Hornets suffered with a paltry win ratio of 7 to a humongous loss ratio of 25 under Michael Czepil. A lot to recover, right? The scene wasn’t too good when David Patrick was the HC either. The team suffered 42 losses and bagged only 28 wins in just two seasons. 

Sacramento State has never made the NCAA tournament since moving up to Division 1 in the 1991-92 season. Another fact to take into consideration is that the Hornets only have two winning records. Once in the 2014-15 season, going 21-12, and, in the 2019-20 season, going 16-14. But Bibby’s homecoming make them hopeful, with the Sacramento State President saying, “Mike Bibby’s basketball expertise, love for Sacramento, and passion for developing student-athletes perfectly align with our goals for Hornet basketball,” “His leadership and vision will elevate our program to new heights and inspire our community to rally behind Sac State basketball.” He continued. 

Mike Bibby’s appointment as Sacramento State’s head coach marks a full-circle moment for the former NBA player, bringing his leadership and basketball IQ back to his hometown. Bibby now faces the challenge of elevating the program, shaping future talent, and cementing his legacy in a new role.