Posted: Mar 25, 2026

Six Owls Honored Following Historic 30-Win Season for Citrus Men’s Basketball

Photos by Jordan Carroll, Cyara Vasquez and Chris Mora

After a historic 2025-26 season in which Citrus College men's basketball won 30 games, its most in 18 years, and made a second consecutive 3C2A State Championship Final Four appearance, six Owls earned postseason recognition for their achievements.

Citrus' starting lineup for most of the season earned All-Western State Conference South honors. Leo Ricketts was named Most Outstanding Player, Amiri Meadows earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and Rockwell Reynolds was selected to the All-Conference First Team. JJ Sanchez and Dev Hamilton received honorable mention recognition. Head coach Brett Lauer was named Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season.

Ricketts was also selected as the CCCMBCA All-State South Player of the Year, becoming Citrus' first recipient of the award since James Walker in 2012. Lauer earned CCCMBCA All-State South Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career.

A sophomore guard from De La Salle High School, Ricketts averaged 19.7 points per game (ninth in the state), along with 3.9 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals. He shot 48.8% from the field, 47.5% from 3-point range and 82.5% from the free-throw line, finishing with a team-high 115 3-pointers.

Meadows, a sophomore guard from St. John Bosco High School, led the conference in total steals and steals per game en route to Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors. He also averaged 12.6 points, 4.4 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.

Reynolds, a forward/center from Santa Margarita Catholic High School, earned All-Conference First Team honors after averaging 16.1 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game. He also led the Owls with 1.4 blocks per game (third in the conference) while shooting 55.1% from the field.

Sanchez, a freshman guard from Montgomery High School, averaged 12.2 points, 4.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game (eighth in the conference). He shot 50.9% from the field and 40.9% from beyond the arc, making 54 3-pointers.

Hamilton, also a freshman guard and Sanchez's high school teammate, averaged 13.5 points per game while leading the team with a 63.6% field goal percentage. He added 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

In his ninth season, Lauer guided the Owls to a 30-2 record, their best mark since the 2008 state championship team. Citrus led the state in scoring (102.5 points per game), assists (22.2 per game), field goal percentage (51.5%) and forced turnovers (22 per game), setting program records in assists, field goal percentage and forced turnovers.