Remer, Hyde And Verkamp Lead Kingsmen Basketball Into Upcoming Season

October 28, 2025

Originally Published in The Echo HERE

The start of the 2025-26 season for California Lutheran University’s Kingsmen basketball team is just around the corner. After losing nine graduating seniors who helped take the team to the NCAA tournament three years in a row, Cal Lutheran basketball will look to 12 returning members, including three newly appointed captains, as well as seven new team members, to continue its legacy of success.

The 2025-26 team captains, chosen by the coaching staff, are senior point guard Ze’ev Remer and junior guards Camden Hyde and Matthew Verkamp, who, according to Head Coach Russell White, are “pointing us in the right direction.”

Remer said he believes being a leader involves more than running plays, but creating an environment for success.

“My job as a captain and a senior is just to try and continue that culture and continue doing the positive things that they [the graduating seniors] did,” Remer said.

Hyde said it was a “dramatic shift” to lose so many key players, but that the team’s veteran leadership and strong chemistry will guide the Kingsmen forward.

“As a captain this year, one of my main goals is not even necessarily the basketball side of things, but how can we keep the chemistry going in a way that allows our talent to just flow nicely together,” Hyde said. “We have some amazing talent on our team, … and it’s really a matter of just how you can put that together … as a team.”

According to Hyde, White emphasizes the importance of team bonding activities, like team retreats, to build team chemistry off the court that can translate on the court. Hyde also said White encourages the team to focus on the little things, or “extras,” as White calls them.

Hyde said some “extras” include “weights, film sessions, even keeping the locker room clean, … all the things that don’t necessarily affect the basketball side, but by doing, you’re creating good habits and you’re building a better culture.”

White said being efficient and organized in practice is essential for season success.

“We’re spending a very, very significant amount of time on each practice plan, putting the right people with the right people,” White said. “It’s all thought out.”

Remer said the team has been working on trying to get the new players to step into the mindset of a veteran player.

“We’ve been going super hard on the court every day, trying to get rid of those young mistakes that a young team might have,” Remer said.

Hyde said he has confidence in this year’s young team, and that their performances are sure to be entertaining.

“We’re a really deep team,” Hyde said. “We’re going to have a really fast-paced, fun-flowing offense that’s going to be fun to watch.”

“My job as a captain and a senior is just to try and continue that culture and continue doing the positive things that [the graduated seniors] did,” said senior captain Ze’ev Remer. (Kyle Otting)

Remer said the Kingsmen have their eye on returning to the NCAA tournament at the end of the season.

“The goal is always to get back to the NCAA tournament. So, however we can do that, whether it’s winning the [Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference] tournament, or just being really good and getting an at-large bid, that’s always the goal,” Remer said.

The Kingsmen’s first official game of the season will take place when they travel to Ohio to face the Oberlin College Yeomen on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Their first home game of the season will be played against the Whitman College Blues in Gilbert Arena on Friday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.

“There’s an expression: ‘Everybody likes to win, not everybody likes to do what it takes to win,’” White said.