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Return of the Knights

Out of the ashes of the former California Knights (23567), founded in Season 12, rise the Knights of Autumn in Season 50.

Long gone are the days of the Knights' initial homegrown talent, Howie Anderson (15148810), and homegrown National Team player, Thad Childress (35965602). Enter the South African trio of Shafilshuna Machemko (48727512), Gonasilan Sono (48754211) and Elphus Siamusiye (48754191), who hope to be cornerstone pieces for both the Knights and their nation's U21 and National teams, while breaking records along the way. Coming shortly behind them are the big man trio of National Team hopeful Salvatore Guajardo (50634605) and U21 hopeful César Augusto Almanza (49730884) who hope to fill out the rest of the Knights' roster.

This is just the beginning.


As we start to look forward with the Knights of Autumn, we take a moment to look back in recognition at the legends of the California Knights.

All-Time Greats

Howie Anderson (15148810), Season 13 (18 years old) to Season 45 (51 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 12/7/10/11/14/9 - 14/10/20/7 (114 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 2x MVP, 14x All-Star, 70 25+ rebound games (36 rebs career-high), 30 triple-doubles, 5 50+ point games (52 pts career-high) and 3 15+ assist games (17 asts career-high).
- Howie was an original member of the Knights roster from the very beginning and became the team's first homegrown talent. What're the odds of starting with an 18 year old, 7-footer with MVP potential? While management was still learning how to develop players early on, Howie's talent made up for anything they lacked as he became the cornerstone of the franchise. He showed his talents from the beginning as he became the league's MVP his rookie season and never looked back.

Thad Childress (35965602), Season 31 (19 years old) to 45 (34 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 13/13/9/9/13/11 - 17/16/19/16 (136 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 4x MVP, 16x All-Star, 54 USA National Team games played, 37 triple-doubles, 32 25+ rebound games (40 rebs career-high), 3 15+ assists games (18 asts career-high) and 10 blocks in a game.
- Thad was drafted in Season 30 at the age of 19 with the Knights first-round pick. The team had been waiting for a prospect who would take the mantle from Howie. Management had even higher sights for Thad as they saw the Hall of Fame potential he had to have a shot at playing on the USA National Team and management now had the knowledge to support him in getting there. The training staff developed a plan to maximize his potential and it was finally realized in Season 40, at the age of 28, Thad was called up to play for the USA National Team that season and represented our country in 54 games. He even holds the single-season record for rebounds on the USA National Team with 175 in Season 43. Thad was the greatest homegrown talent developed by the Knights.

Last edited by A Warrior at 10/30/2022 11:26:22 PM
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By: A Warrior
To: A Warrior 		495917.2 as reply to 495917.1
6/15/2020 4:55:48 PM
Hall of Famers

Emelito Esguera (30645549), Season 25 (18 years old) to Season 45 (39 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 9/5/18/14/12/14 - 12/11/6/6 (107 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 7x All-Star, 8 USA U21 games played, 9 triple-doubles and 7 15+ assists (19 asts career-high).
- Crashing out of their first D.II experience wasn't the desired result for the California Knights but the silver lining was that they came away with Emelito Esguera as their Season 24 first-round pick. He would go on to be a key cog for the Knights as a less heralded but extremely vital defensive presence for many seasons.

Ismael De la Barrera (31636871), Season 26 (18 years old) to Season 30 (21 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 8/8/17/14/13/15 - 11/10/3/1 (100 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 8x All-Star, 27 USA National Team games played, 21 USA U21 games played, 2 50+ pt games (66), a triple-double and 16 assists in a game.
- Ismael was the Knights first big prospect purchase as they saw his incredible skillset and desired to develop him to be a key member of the USA U21 team. He became one of the rare players to be an important contributor in both his 20 and 21 year old seasons for the USA U21 team. Many believe he was the best inside-oriented guard the USA U21 team had ever seen and he would go on to help lead them to back-to-back Worlds gold in Season 29. While his tenure with the Knights ended shortly after, the strong foundation he'd been given led him to even playing 27 games with the USA National Team, a rare feat for guards with MVP potential.

Louis Russell (35116043), Season 30 (18 years old) to Season 39 (28 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 14/12/9/10/9/7 - 16/13/11/11 (112 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 11x All-Star, 2x MVP (in NBBA!), 7 USA U21 games played, 9 25+ rebound games (30 rebs career-high), 2 50+ pt games (60 pts career-high) and a triple-double.
- Louis was another player with immense skills that the Knights purchased with sights on developing him into both a vital player for the USA U21 team and the Knights. He would go on to train alongside Thad, which was instrumental in both players' development. He loves to always rubs it in Thad's face that he played for the USA U21 and Thad didn't. While Louis teamed with Thad for many seasons, the Knights eventually had to part ways with him but were proud to see the success he had as a two-time MVP in the NBBA with the Irvine Anteaters.

Last edited by A Warrior at 4/7/2021 7:54:24 AM

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By: A Warrior
To: A Warrior 		495917.3 as reply to 495917.2
6/15/2020 4:58:44 PM
MVP

Richard Anwar (25469592), Season 21 (19 years old) to Season 29 (27 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 19/9/15/18/19/9 - 11/9/8/3 (120 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 11x All-Star, an MVP, 104 Barbados National Team games played, 33 Barbados U21 games, 54 50+ point games (81 pts career-high) and 10 steals in a game.
- The Barbados Baller, Richard Anwar, was one of the most exciting players to play for the Knights. The coach loved to run this scoring stud at PF or C and throw a Patient out there to pull off upsets. He was also the Knights first player that represented their National Team and gave management the bug of the bonus fun in seeing their players compete against the best players in the world. 

Superstar

Yiu Wei Chun (14991205), Season 13 (18 years old) to Season 21 (22 years old) and 24 (25 years old) to 27 (33 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 6/2/8/5/7/9 - 11/11/20/7 (86 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 12x All-Star, 43 25+ rebound games (38 rebs career-high), 23 triple-doubles and 16 assists in a game.
- Yiu Wei Chun was the other foundation of the Knights' first roster. The team ran an inside-oriented offense with the goal of dominating the boards, which legendary rebounders Howie and Yiu, were more than ready to do.

Giuseppe Picone (43935082), Season 40 (18 years old) to Season 45 (23 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 8/3/4/2/3/2 - 21/15/10/8 (76 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 2x All-Star, 13 USA U21 games played 2 25+ rebound games (32 rebs career-high)
- Does the 21 Inside Shot say enough about Giuseppe? Now picture him with that 21 IS at the age of 21, leading the USA U21 Squad to America’s Gold because that did happen in Season 44. That season he also led the USA U21 in points, of course, and rebounds. He was the sixth and final of a great tradition of USA U21 players for the Knights. He was also the third and final talent drafted by the Knights who represented the USA, along with Thad and Emelito.

Last edited by A Warrior at 12/1/2020 9:02:05 PM

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By: A Warrior
To: A Warrior 		495917.4 as reply to 495917.3
6/26/2020 10:11:42 PM
Allstars

Todor Perovic (23169184), Season 18 (19 years old) to Season 21 (23 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 14/8/12/12/14/6 - 10/5/5/1 (87 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 12x All-Star, 14 Crna Gora U21 games played, 8 50+ pts (78 pts career-high).
- Todor was the first U21 player on the Knights roster and opened up a new world to management.

Jamie Peoples (33457295), Season 28 (18 years old) to Season 32 (23 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 14/6/11/6/11/9 - 12/9/8/8 (94 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 3x All-Star, 4 USA U21 games played, 8 triple-doubles, 2 50+ point games (63 pts career-high) and 2 15+ assist games (16 asts career-high).
- Jamie played for the Knights developmental team and was trained with the goal of being a USA U21 Forward, which he accomplished.

Hank Hernandez (35112941), Season 30 (18 years old) to Season 33 (22 years old)
- Skills with the Knights: 16/11/13/9/10/7 - 5/4/5/2 (82 TSP)
- Career Highlights: 10x All-Star, 8 USA U21 games played, 13 50+ point games (72 pts career-high), 2 15+ assist games (16 asts career-high) and a triple-double.
- Hank also played for the Knights developmental team and was trained with the goal of being a USA U21 Shooting Guard, which he accomplished.

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