NVC's Jayden Russotti named as Freshman of the Year in Bay Valley Conference
Photo: Napa Valley College's Jayden Russotti
Courtesy photo
By MARTY JAMES
Jayden Russotti, a 6-foot-4 guard for Napa Valley College, was named as the Freshman of the Year on the All-Bay Valley Conference men's basketball team.
Napa Valley, which advanced to the 2026 California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regionals after placing sixth in the Bay Valley, has four players on the All-Conference team, as announced by the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association, at www.cccmbca.org, on Feb. 22.
Russotti was named to the 2025-2026 All-Bay Valley team. He also is on the All-Freshmen team.
In addition, the Storm's E'Jay Rogers, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, was named to the All-Defensive team; AJ Loustau, a 6-foot-8 forward, was named to the All-Freshman team and honorable mention; and Jayden Robinson, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard/forward, was named honorable mention.
Napa Valley (12-17 overall, 8-8 Bay Valley) won its last two games of the conference season, beating College of Alameda and Contra Costa College-San Pablo. Installed as the No. 24 seed for the postseason, the Storm lost to host Columbia College-Sonora, 81-68, in the first round. Columbia, the No. 9 seed, tied for the Central Valley Conference title.
Napa Valley finished in sixth place in the Bay Valley.
Russotti had a big year, averaging 17.3 points per game on 39.2 percent shooting from the field, 33.2 percent shooting from 3-point range, and 71.1 percent from the free-throw line, in 23 games. He averaged 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
"He was just a pleasure to coach," said Storm coach Steve Ball. "I wish he would have been healthy for the long haul. I feel like he finally got his legs back the last month and a half of the season, and guys finally got comfortable playing together once we were almost all healthy.
"He's an elite athlete, a prolific shooter and a fierce competitor. He fits the mold of (assistant) coach Rae Hubbard and myself, in that the competitive fire is definitively there."
Russotti scored 398 total points and knocked down 63 3-pointers on the season.
He scored in double figures in 17 games and had a season-high 35-point game against College of Alameda on Jan. 16.
He scored 28 points in games against College of Marin-Kentfield and Alameda.
Russotti averaged 29.0 minutes per game. He had 92 total rebounds and 30 total steals.
"He's very strong and exceptionally athletic," said Ball. "We try to get him as many shots from the 3-point line and as many gaps to penetrate as we can, because he can catch and shoot, he can shoot off the bounce, and he can go in. And when he plays aggressively downhill, he's very hard to stay in front of.
"An underrated aspect of Jayden's game is his ability to guard the basketball as well."
E'Jay Rogers averaged 5.9 points per game on 35.6 percent shooting from the field, 28.7 percent shooting from 3-point distance, and 65.5 percent at the free-throw line, in 29 games. He averaged 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
"E'Jay Rogers was one of the top off the ball defenders that I've ever coached," said Ball. "He really did a great job all season long. He allowed me to be creative with our defensive scheming. There were a lot of games that I felt like we won because Coach (Rae) Hubbard and I worked together to come up with a game plan defensively, to exploit other team's weaknesses and take away their strengths.
"E'Jay could guard a 4-man and he could guard a point guard, and anywhere in between. He did a great job with that."
Rogers scored a season-high 18 points in games against Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell College-Salinas.
He hit 27 3-pointers on the season. He averaged 34.7 minutes per game. He had 90 total rebounds, 17 total blocks and 21 total steals.
He scored 172 total points.
AJ Loustau played in 25 games, averaging 12.6 points per game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field, 24.0 percent from 3-point distance, and 66.3 percent from the free-throw line. He also averaged 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
"We had high hopes for him coming in, and he lived up to them," said Ball. "He handled the post players often for us defensively, and he handled the point guard responsibilities offensively as well. So, a very versatile player."
Loustau scored a season-high 23 points against Contra Costa College and attained double-figure scoring in 17 games.
He scored 315 points overall and also had 177 total rebounds and 63 total assists. He averaged 25.4 minutes per game.
Jayden Robinson had a very productive season, playing in 29 games, averaging 27.2 minutes per game.
He averaged 8.6 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting from the field, 31.0 percent shooting from 3-point range, and 82.9 percent from the free-throw line. He also averaged 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
"He's a culture changer. Just the mentality that he came with was amazing. He was a just the epitome of grit and toughness in a way that people don't realize anymore what toughness really means. No matter what you did to him, you're not going to break him," said Ball.
"He didn't complain about guarding people four to six inches taller than him, or guys that were a lot quicker than him. No matter what happened, if there was a collision on the court, you knew you didn't have to worry about Jayden, because he was going to be just fine. And no matter if the other team went on a run, he was still going to be mentally tough enough to do the next thing that mattered."
Robinson scored a season-high 21 points against Santa Rosa Junior College.
He hit 26 3-pointers and had 184 total rebounds, 59 total assists and 35 total steals.
He had 248 total points on the season.
Kanyon Rice, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from Yuba College-Marysville, was named as the Bay Valley Conference's Most Valuable Player.
Doug Cornelius of Yuba College was named as the Bay Valley Conference's Coach of the Year.
Cooper Cornelius, a 6-0 sophomore from Yuba, and Julius Wade, a 6-foot-6 freshman from Contra Costa, were named as co-Defensive Players of the Year.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.