It's autumn, and the chorus of sneakers and basketballs has begun to reanimate Braun Gymnasium. For Coach Doc Eslinger, who embarks on his 18th season at the helm of Caltech men's basketball, there's a lot on his mind.
Harmony is one of them.
That seed was planted during the program's trip to Germany two years ago. Between games in three cities in seven days, the team made time to visit the Johannes Kepler Museum, a celebration of the work of the famous German astronomer located in his childhood home in Weil-der-Stadt.
"Kepler is famous for describing a sort of mathematical harmony in the solar system — but don't ask me… our players could describe it a lot better than I can," coach Eslinger said.
Indeed, most Caltech students could tell you that Kepler found that planets' orbital patterns approximated musical harmonies, a concept called "the harmony of the spheres."
"Our players are scientists and athletes, and I liked the way 'harmony of the spheres' tips its hat at both those worlds," Eslinger said. "Basketball, played well as a team, has a harmony to it."
And so the season of harmony begins. With more than a month of practices and two exhibition games in the rear view — a home contest against Stanton and a road game at Cal State Fullerton — the Beavers start their season at home vs. Occidental on Nov. 8 at 7:00 p.m . in an annual tradition known as the "110 Rivalry." In its two exhibition games, the team averaged 90 points per game.
The 2025-26 team returns eight players — three sophomores, four juniors, and one senior. Four first-year players bring new life to the squad.
The Beavers' backcourt will be led by senior Noah Hicks ('26), a Chemical Engineering major from Oxford, Ga., who averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds last season. He looks to build on his 1,022 career points this year.
The junior class includes Information and Data Science major Andrew Koclanes (Denver, Colo. / Colorado Academy), Computer Science major Pranit Gunjal (Newark, Del. / Newark Charter), Chemical Engineering major Dagemawi Getachew (Laurel, Md. / Roosevelt) Robert Jackson (Matteson, Ill. / Southland College Prep Charter), an Electrical Engineering major.
Caltech's sophomore class looks to build on strong rookie years from Chase Williamson (McDonough, Ga. / Union Grove), Josh Balami (Woodbury, Minn. / Math and Science Academy) and Stuart Florescu (Toronto, Ontario / Crescent School). Williamson (11.3 ppg), Balami (8.4 ppg) and Florescu (11.2 ppg) combined for the lion's share of the Beavers offensive output in 2024-25. Williamson and Balami major in Computer Science, and Florescu in Applied and Computational Mathematics.
The four first-years round out the 2025-26 roster. The coaching staff has big hopes for the freshman class, which brings size, skill and speed to the roster.
"We are very excited for this class," said Eslinger. "These four players as a collective bring so much versatility, tenacity and length."
Finnegan Fancher (Ventura, Calif. / Ventura High), a post player with the soft-touch and handles of a guard, earned First Team All-Channel League honors three consecutive years. Ido Geffen (Wayland, Mass. / Wayland High) is a highly skilled and athletic combo guard who was a consistent double-figure scorer and a four-year varsity player, senior captain and a Boston Globe and Herald Dual County League All-Star. Dorian Glogovac (Port Moody, B.C. / St. George's), one of the most prolific shot makers in Canada, possesses a wide array of scoring tools and has elite court sense. He averaged 38 points, 16 rebounds and three assists per game his senior year. And the fourth freshman, Ryan Rodrigue (Rancho Sante Fe, Calif. / Sante Fe Christian), is a standout athlete who will compete at Caltech as a dual athlete in track & field and basketball. Ryan graduated from high school as the San Diego Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
"We've been building this roster the last couple years and have a revamped system. These guys are ready to show what they can do," Coach Eslinger added.
Non-conference home games to put on the calendar include contests against UC Santa Cruz (Nov. 22), Whitman (Nov. 24), and Amherst (Dec. 30).
The team's trip to Atlanta in December is sure to be a highlight of the non-conference road schedule. The Beavers will face Oglethorpe University and Piedmont University on Dec. 17 and 19, respectively.
This year's alumni event will coincide with the Beavers' home game against Whittier on Jan. 24.
Senior Day will be held on Feb. 21, 2026 — the Beavers' last conference game of the season, against Chapman.
Eslinger is joined on the bench by Assistant Coach Seamus McKiernan, now in his third season, and Volunteer Assistants Gokul Srinivasaragavan and Evan Portnoi. Srinivasaragavan, who graduated from Caltech in 2021, and Portnoi, who graduated in 2025, were both four-year players for Coach Eslinger. They both majored in Astrophysics. The team's academic advisor is Mike Alvarez, a Caltech professor since 1992.
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