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Cal State Fullerton

Landon Seaman

FEATURE: Titans rebound, and sixth man delivers a big assist

| By: Bill Sheehan
Landon Seaman is the Titans' third leading scorer and leads the team in field-goal percentage.

The retooled men’s basketball team is battling for a Big West playoff spot. Graduate transfer Landon Seaman has played a vital role in the program’s turnaround.

FULLERTON, Calif. – For years, Cal State Fullerton had been on Landon Seaman's radar. 

As a high schooler, he attended a summer basketball camp in Titan Gym. Seaman hoped Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor would take notice and recruit him. No scholarship offer materialized.

Two years later, while competing for Menlo College, Seaman found himself looking across Nutwood Avenue one day before a game at Hope University. "Landon gazed over at Cal State Fullerton and told me, 'I still really want to play there,' " said his father, Daniel.

Seaman Menlo College
At Menlo College, Landon Seaman averaged 20 points and eight rebounds per game as a senior. He was named First Team All-PacWest. 

Seaman finally got his wish this season, and he's making the most of it. Playing as the team's sixth man, the 6-foot-8 forward-center is third in scoring (13.2 points per game) and leads the team in field-goal percentage (.556). He is also fourth in rebounds (3.6) and fifth in minutes played (463).
 
But perhaps the graduate transfer's greatest contribution has been off the court.
 
A year ago, the team floundered, finishing 6-26 overall and winning just one Big West game. Taylor, who is in his 13th year as Fullerton's head coach, was determined to remake the team and bring in student-athletes who strongly believed in unselfish play and teamwork. Only one player, Kendrick De Luna, returned.
 
Seaman signed with Fullerton last spring a week after entering the transfer portal. He received an extra year of eligibility because of the NCAA's pandemic rules.
 
He and Davis White, a fellow recruit from College of the Sequoias, created a text chain that allowed De Luna and his new teammates to get to know each other.
 
Seaman also helped organize beach outings, barbecues and sports watch parties. And he successfully recruited guard Jaden Henderson, a graduate transfer from Concordia University who Seaman had played against in the PacWest Conference.
 
"Landon asked if he could contact them in a text group. He had a caring concern for his new teammates as well as the program," said Taylor. "The team was able to jell and come together. A lot of our [comeback] started with Landon."
 
The Titans, 10-12 overall and 5-5 in Big West play, have won four of their last six games and are tied for fourth in the conference. If the season ended today, they would be among the eight teams qualifying for the Big West Championship, a single-elimination tournament that will be held in Henderson, Nev., in March.
 
Fullerton will visit UC Santa Barbara (14-7, 7-3) on Saturday for a 6 p.m. game. The Titans will return home Thursday for a 7 p.m. game against UC Riverside.
 
Seaman, who hails from Vacaville, pointed to an 81-72 loss at UC Riverside this month as a turning point for the team. "That loss lit a spark under us. The next day, we had a two-to-three-hour meeting and watched film. Our coaches challenged us to give more. When we are challenged, we respond," he said.
 
Taylor is keenly aware that Fullerton is a dream come true for Seaman, "He doesn't let a minute go past reminding us that we passed over him when he was younger. He has used that as a driving force to get where he is today. He's trying to prove that people who believed in him were right."
 
Landon Seaman
Landon Seaman celebrating a win over Big West rival, Long Beach State, in his dream Titans uniform. 

"One of his biggest attributes is that he is a three-level scorer. He stretches defenses with his ability to score inside, from mid-range and beyond. And he is a willing passer who allows our offense to flow at a different level", said Taylor.
 
De Luna, a 6-foot-10 starting center-forward, praised Seaman's energy, shooting and defense. "He is an energy piece guy who provides a spark off the bench. In fact, he often plays more minutes than some starters."
 
"The group chat spread a lot of good vibes last summer. We started to hang out a lot as brothers off the court. Landon was a big part of that," said De Luna, who is a junior from San Antonio, Texas. "He likes to laugh and joke, lets us know if he has something planned on the off days and makes sure that we are all having a good time too."
 
Seaman, 23, is proud to be playing a role in the team's turnaround. "After the down year, the coaches not only recruited for talent but also for personality. They said explicitly that they didn't want any selfish guys who were all about themselves. They wanted unselfish guys who would build a good culture," he said.
 
"We have a motto: 'Sometimes you, sometimes me, always us.' It doesn't matter if you score 25 points one night and zero the next night. We want to win. That's the most important goal."
 
"Coach Taylor is one of the reasons I wanted to come here. He cares about our bodies and how we are feeling. And he isn't afraid to call us out on BS," said Seaman. "If he needs more from you, he is going to tell you. He keeps it 100, as we say. He keeps it real."
 
Titan assistant coaches Ryan Hamm and Jayson Wells have helped him with his three-point shooting and footwork, Seaman said.

He began playing basketball in a recreation league as a 4-year-old. But when a 5-foot-10 Seaman tried out for his Northern California middle school's basketball team, he was cut. "I was super-upset."
 
His mother, Brandi, told him, "No one is going to be sad for you," and pushed Seaman to continue working hard.
 
"Landon responded with an 'I'll prove you wrong' attitude,' " said his father, Daniel. "He began playing on travel-ball and year-round teams. And as he kept growing and began playing center and forward, we were able to find good coaches and mentors. We paid 20 bucks a weekend to get him lessons on his footwork."
 
Just before Seaman started high school, his family moved from Rocklin to Vacaville after his father –then a CHP officer – received a promotion. He also started playing AAU ball around this time.
 
At Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, Seaman played on the JV team as a freshman and was a three-year starter with the varsity. As a senior, he led his team to a conference championship, earned First Team All-League honors and set a school single-season scoring record.
 
He credited Mark Wudel, Wood High's head coach, for helping develop his game. "I love him. He is a great coach, maybe somewhat old school. I came in kind of soft, and he really shaped me to be more of a man on the court."
 
As a senior at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, Landon Seaman led his team to a conference title and was First Team All-League.
As a senior at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, Landon Seaman led his team to a conference title and was First Team All-League. 
 
Despite having grown to 6-foot-8 and starring at Wood High, college recruiters were not beating down his door. In fact, while he was contacted by 30 schools during his time in the college transfer portal a year ago, he received only one offer from a four-year college coming out of high school.
 
Brendan Rooney, who was coaching at Vallejo-based Cal Maritime, now Cal Poly Maritime Academy, saw something special in Seaman.
 
"I had planned to accept his offer and attend Cal Maritime, but then coach Rooney took the job at Menlo College" in Atherton, said Seaman. "So, I followed him to Menlo."
 
The pandemic canceled collegiate sports during his first year. Seaman was a two-year starter there. As a senior, he was named First Team All-PacWest, averaging 20 points and eight rebounds per game. He left as the school's second-leading career scorer.
 
"Coach Rooney is like family. I love him like crazy. I'm very close with him, his wife and their daughter. We text all the time," he said.
 
Both of Seaman's parents were talented athletes. Daniel, who served as a Marine, was a semi-professional wrestler in his native New Jersey. His bouts aired on late-night local television. Seaman's mother, Brandi, was a high school soccer player in San Diego.

 Seaman Family
Landon Seaman likely gets his athletic ability from his parents. His mother, Brandi, was a standout prep soccer player. Daniel, his father, was a semi-professional wrestler. 
 
After Daniel retired from the CHP, he became interested in drones as a hobby and was soon offered a job as a drone pilot. He works remotely for a Florida company that handles crop dusting and pesticide spraying using robotic aircraft. Brandi, who had worked as a surgical technician, became a drone pilot for the company too.
 
Seaman has a 20-year-old sister, Eve. She is a student at Solano Community College in Fairfield.
 
At Menlo College, Seaman earned undergraduate degrees in sports management and marketing. He expects to leave Fullerton with a certificate in instructional design and technology.
 
He would like to play basketball overseas while also working on the team's social-media marketing. "I would like for an opportunity in which I could play as well as do marketing or instructional technology for a sports organization." Eventually, he envisions working in sports management for a U.S. sports franchise.

Seaman NIL
Landon Seaman has two Name, Image and Likeness deals. One is for promoting sports apparel through Opendorse. 
 
Seaman, who likes hanging out at the beach and going on hikes, might hold some kind of college record. In his junior year at Menlo, the school was a member of the National Association of Intercollege Athletics, or NAIA. Menlo moved up to Division 2 his senior year. And at Fullerton, he's playing at the Division 1 level. That's three different college divisions in three years.
 
"The guys in Division 1 are bigger, stronger and faster – they are obviously better. But I wouldn't say the skill level is that much different," said Seaman. "Every level has talent. Some guys just aren't looked at, like me. I have a lot of respect for the guys in the lower divisions who rise up. They really have to work hard."
 
In Seaman's case, it's been a grind with a great payoff – both for him and the Titans.

SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitansTickets.com. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan Baseball ticketing office and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday. 

FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), X (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans), YouTube (FullertonTitansAthletics) and TikTok (@FullertonTitans). IIn addition, the cross country team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonTFXC) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonTFXC).

WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
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