Foothill College men’s basketball coach Mike Reynoso back in familiar territory

These two results parallel that past few years for Reynoso, who served his last head coaching post at Cañada College in 2017-18, a season the Colts — with their home gymnasium being remodeled — called College of San Mateo their home court. Then came the career roller coaster with Reynoso stepping down as Cañada’s head coach in hopes of landing the job with the upstart CSM men’s team. He didn’t get the job. It’s taken him some four years to return to the college ranks as the head coach at Foothill.

“You always remember that feeling,” Reynoso said. “It’s never going to sit well with me in that sense. But in terms of taking my attention and consuming me, I’m not going to let that happen.”

Friday night, Reynoso will walk back into the CSM gym for the first time since the odyssey of yesteryear. His Owls’ 4-12 overall record is a mirror image of the CSM Bulldogs, who are enjoying a 12-4 mark in the second season since the program’s return under head coach Mike Marcial in 2019-20; there was no California Community College season in 2020-21 due to the pandemic.

But there is not revenge storyline here. The always fiery Reynoso is in midseason form, focused on his team — his “guys,” as he consistently refers to them — and is more intent on doing what he did to put himself on CSM’s hiring radar to begin with back in the day. He is looking to build a winning basketball program.

“I definitely want to show [CSM] that was the wrong decision for you,” Reynoso said. “But at the end of the day it’s more about my guys than it is me. So, I just hope my guys go out and get the ‘W.’”

Reynoso’s guys are playing above their pay grade. Coming off the lost COVID season of 2020-21, Reynoso was hired at Foothill with little time to gain recruiting momentum. After turning Cañada into a competitive group consisting of a majority 20-somethings bounce backs from the school of life, Reynoso now has a relatively young squad on his hands.

The Owls snapped up a few San Mateo County players in sophomore guard Myles Nunez (Sequoia) and freshman guard Timmy Yee (Woodside), but Reynoso is already reaching into the outer reaches of the Bay Area basketball world.

Chris Bramah (San Leandro), a 23-year-old guard, paced Foothill with 19 points Wednesday night. Chase Durkee (Albany), a true freshman, went for a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while adding six assists, three blocked shots, and a highlight-reel breakaway off a first-half steal he punctuated with a monster dunk.

Starters Bramah, Durkee, Jalen Williams and Ausage Siamu are all averaging in double-digit scoring. That leaves Yee, who despite averaging 5.6 points per game is prone to explosive scoring as well. The freshman celebrated Christmas early when, on Dec. 17, he scored 25 points in a 90-71 victory over Napa Valley at the Kris Kringle Tournament in Santa Rosa.

“He’s one of those guys that doesn’t pass the eye test, but God dang he can play basketball,” Reynoso said.

Friday’s 7 p.m. tipoff will mark CSM’s home league opener.

CSM sophomore Sam Manu (Aragon) ranks fourth in the Coast Conference North, averaging 16 points per game. Bobby Arenas (Riordan) is averaging 14.6 ppg while leading the Bulldogs with 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

The matchup stands to be a showdown of stylistic differences — with Reynoso’s Foothill team a glimpse of what the direction of CSM hoops could have been.

“I just feel like I’m excited for the opportunity to go back,” Reynoso said. “I don’t think I have a feeling either way, other than just wanting to get a ‘W.’”