By Matt Schwab

To say it's an exciting time for the Las Positas College women's basketball team might be an understatement.

The Hawks are off-the-charts thrilled to embark on a 'Welcome Back' season under new head coach Caleb Theodore — their first campaign since the 2019-20 season.

Theodore's team opens the season at San Jose City at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2. The Hawks prepared for the opener with a scrimmage at San Francisco State.

"Our primary goal is to make the playoffs for the first time in school history," Theodore says. "What we are building is more along the lines of historic. The platform itself provides opportunity for them to set records in all statistical categories: win-loss record, playoff berth, and cumulative GPA. It also presents the opportunity for us to break CCCAA records."

The Hawks are led by powerful Monique Cavness, a 5-foot-11 freshman forward out of El Cerrito High who is geared to have a breakout season.

"She will be a difference-maker for us defensively with her presence and ability to rebound and shot block," Theodore said of Cavness. "Offensively, she is a workhorse and a playmaker, so I feel blessed to provide her with a platform here to make history in our program."

Ranaye Manu (Patterson HS), a 5-8 freshman guard, is an "aspiring" player who has "shining moments," Theodore says.

"I am excited to see her develop this season and make an impact on both ends of the floor," the coach said of Manu.

He mentioned Mi'Ari Garnett (Fairfield), a 5-8 freshman guard, as the team's best "on-ball defender whose presence is suffocating. Her ability to slash to the basket is also a huge help to our program."

The Hawks clearly intend to establish a high standard in Theodore's program.

"We want to play the best, recruit the best and set the tone in state of California," Theodore says. "It will take time, but we are making strides in the right direction to making Las Positas a destination location for prospective athletes."

The Hawks sat out the 2021-22 season after former head coach Clarence Morgan retired, and the 2020-21 season was wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so this season puts the Hawks back in the game.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH: Caleb Theodore previously served as First Assistant Coach at Cal State East Bay under former head coach Shanele Stires (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), with a team that finished as California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament Champions, advanced to the NCAA Division-II West Region Championship while maintaining the #1 seed in the West, hosted the West Regional Tournament at Cal State East Bay for the first time in school history, and finished with a D2SIDA National ranking #10 with an All-Time record of 24-3 overall, 15-1 in conference.

Prior to Cal State East Bay, Theodore served as a Graduate Assistant for Bradley Davis's University of the Pacific Women's Basketball team.

A native of Modesto, Theodore made history as the first player in Big Valley Christian College Prep school history to play professional basketball. He played professionally in Montenegro (MNE) and Australia (AUS).

ABOUT THE ASSISTANT COACH: Ashley Hart had a successful career at San Francisco State where she achieved Gator of the Week Jan 10-16, CCAA Winter Academic Honor Roll, and 2021-22 CCAA All-Academic Award honoree. Hart was one of three Gators to play all 25 games, starting in all but one. She led the Gators in Blocks (17), was second in points (237) and assists (44).

Hart's collegiate career began at Las Positas, where she was named First Team All-Conference after leading the Hawks with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists a game, in the 2018-19 season. Hart was also named First Team All-League her senior season at Millennium Charter School.

"She is the heart and soul to this program. I couldn't be more excited to have her on board to show the next generation of student athletes what it means to be a Hawk." — Caleb Theodore says of Hart.