KEY HIGHLIGHTS
• The highly successful amateur basketball organization that participates in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) will add a Central Coast Region squad to its growing list of franchises throughout California.
• Soldiers organization bringing annual tournament to Santa Barbara on April 18, 2026, expecting to attract more than 6,000 to the area, including players, families and fans.
• Three local business owners and a Santa Barbara High legend are among the Central Coast Soldiers coaching staff that have extensive connections to both the amateur and professional basketball landscape across the world.
• Established in 1990, the Soldiers organization has helped produce nearly 70 NBA players, such as LeBron James, Aaron Gordon, Chauncey Billups and Kendrick Perkins. The organization has also supported the development of hundreds of international professional players and Division 1 student-athletes, including a number of former UCSB men’s basketball players.
SANTA BARBARA, California — In a momentous moment for the Central Coast, and the promise of bringing thousands of tourists to the Santa Barbara over the next nine months, preeminent grassroots basketball program, the Oakland Soldiers, officially announced the addition of the Central Coast Soldiers to its impressive franchise that competes in the exclusive NIke EYBL on October 19, 2025, in a private community event at the Montecito Covenant Church.
With new lifestyle branding on full display, as well as a palpable buzz from the room, more than 100 athletes and their families attended the ceremony, which also featured a number of coaches from the Oakland Soldiers, as well as an impressive lineup of Santa Barbara-based coaches that will officially take the torch moving forward.
“We are excited to welcome the Central Coast Soldiers amateur basketball team to Santa Barbara,” said Randy Rowse, the mayor of Santa Barbara.
“Our community has a rich history of supporting sports, and the arrival of the Soldiers Amateur Athletic Union Program to our area presents a wonderful opportunity to showcase local talent while fostering a spirit of camaraderie and athleticism in Santa Barbara. We look forward to the excitement, energy, and pride they will bring to our city.”
The afternoon also featured an appearance by Santa Barbara City Councilwoman and California Coastal Commission leader Meagan Harmon, who had two of her children in tow to witness the event.
And they got a front-row seat for a trip down memory lane, courtesy of Mark Olivier, the president and executive director of the Oakland Soldiers franchise.
“For 35 years, the Oakland Soldiers AAU Program has been elevating basketball participation and development in communities throughout California. Basketball on the Central Coast has been underserved for many years now but we know the talent, resources and the local support is very much here,” said Olivier. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring the Soldiers Basketball program to Santa Barbara and the entire Central Coast and look forward to making further announcements of just how involved we plan to be in this community for many years to come.”
The event even attracted one of the most sought-after high school prospects in the United States, as Malachi Jordan joined the Soldiers on stage to greet the crowd. Jordan is the fifth-ranked small forward in the country for the Class of 2027.
Athletes such as Jordan will play a critical role in a series of clinics that the Soldiers will bring to the Santa Barbara area in 2026 as part of Olivier’s goal of always giving back to the communities throughout California. In this case, the clinics will be free to all children at the Downtown Club.
“Many think that we are all about basketball, but we are focused on how we give back to our communities,” said Olivier. ”When you can combine those two worlds, you have something special. And that’s our mission, to be the best at both.”
Olivier also made it official that the organization’s annual “Soldier Day” — which is being referred to as a “Boot Camp” — will be held at UCSB’s Thunderdome on April 18, 2026. This will bring nearly 100 teams of teams of up to 10 athletes throughout the Soldiers system to the Central Coast. The overall event is expected to bring at least 6,000 people from outside the area — from Sacramento to San Diego — to Santa Barbara, providing a significant boost to tourism in April.
“Santa Barbara is right in the middle, which makes it perfect for us to host a big event like this right here,” Olivier said, telling the crowd that “I love this town.”
The new spotlight on Santa Barbara is one of the many reasons why Darnell Campbell — the director of the Central Coast Soldiers (and its local-circuit counterpart, Pro/spects), founder of LevelUp, and the newly minted boys basketball coach at Laguna Blanca School — is so excited for this overdue investment in the Central Coast community.
“(The Soldiers) resume speaks for itself with some of the alumni that they have played professionally and in college,” Campbell said. “This program has really changed lives for families and communities. Now, we will get the maximum exposure for our guys and girls through platforms like the Nike EYBL — now they can showcase themselves.”
The coaching backbone of the Central Coast Soldiers is in part why the area was chosen for the expansion, with Campbell (Laguna Blanca, LevelUp, Pro/spects), Cassandra Gordon (Santa Barbara High legend, star at Georgetown and Loyola Marymount universities, and European professional basketball player), Eric Lee(coach and co-owner of The Void on State Street and in Ventura) and Taylor Adnan (coach and CEO of Rad Sourcing, a U.S.-based boutique manufacturing firm) all providing both elite coaching, as well as support for players and families off the court.
For Gordon, she remembers well being that elite-level athlete trying to balance her aspirations of competing at the highest of levels with the grueling commitment it took to do so.
“Being a kid playing basketball, growing up in Santa Barbara and the 805 in general, has always had talented athletes, but we’ve never had a platform like this, or like an EYBL-level club team here in the city that can give kids exposure in the competition that they deserve,” Gordon explained. “Especially if they have aspirations of playing at the next level, this is huge. (Before) if kids wanted to play at the next level or play on a circuit like this, they would have to travel outside of Santa Barbara to join a program.
”Firsthand, I know growing up, I had to travel to deep L.A., specifically Lynwood, three or four times a week. It took three to four hours to get down to practice, coming home at midnight, still trying to do my homework in the car on the way down, and waking up the next morning for early practices. This is amazing, what we’re doing now and putting together and just, you know, giving the kids a chance and an opportunity to play at this level, and not having to leave Santa Barbara.”