Photos by Sharon Falk-Carlsen – Carson Costa, center, at his letter signing ceremony on Thursday.

By Ray Hamill — A pair of Humboldt Sports Player of the Year finalists have committed their future to College of the Redwoods men’s basketball, as head coach Justin Claus navigates a busy offseason for the program.

With seven sophomores from this past year’s team moving on, Claus and his staff have been busy hitting the recruiting trail, and they’re not done yet.

But they have added nine new players to the roster, while also bringing back an old friend to the coaching staff.

McKinleyville’s Neil Moon, who played a key role on a history-making Panthers team this past winter, and St. Bernard’s Carson Costa, who enjoyed a very impressive senior campaign with the Little 4 champs, have both committed to play for the local community college, along with seven out-of-the-area players, all of whom Claus believes can have an impact on the college courts and will fit the team’s style well.

“We’ve had a good amount of commitments,” Claus said. “And we’re excited about it.”

The new faces will have some big shoes to fill.

The CR men have established themselves as a Golden Valley Conference powerhouse program in recent years, with a second-place finish in 2026 following four championships in the previous five seasons.

Moon, who also played high school ball at Hoopa before transferring to McKinleyville, was hugely influential for the Panthers on their way to claiming a first-ever outright Big 5 crown this year.

Costa, who signed his letter of intent at CR on Thursday afternoon, also made some history during his time at St. Bernard’s, helping the Crusaders to become the first-ever team from the H-DNL to win conference, North Coast Section and NorCal titles in the same season as a junior.

“We’re really excited to have both of them be a part of our program,” Claus said.

One of the biggest additions of the offseason is former Fortuna and CR standout Donald Willis, who joins the coaching staff.

Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com Carson Costa

Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Neil Moon

Willis was a part of the famous 2019 Fortuna High team that won 30 games, before he joined CR with three fellow Huskies — his twin brother Bradley Willis, Drew Gillette and Zac Claus, the latter of whom is Justin’s brother and is now an assistant coach with CR.

That class helped turn around the fortunes of a struggling program and the Redwoods men have not looked back since.

“Donald was a major part of helping reestablish the standards of College of the Redwoods basketball,” Justin Claus said. “That entire group came to CR and helped transform our program, winning back-to-back GVC championships while establishing a unique style of play that has continued to shape every team we’ve had since.”

Donald Willis played a key role in that.

“Donald helped pioneer the style, identity and competitiveness that our program is now known for throughout the California JUCO landscape,” Claus said. “Bringing him onto our staff reinforces our commitment to that philosophy and to continuing to evolve it moving forward.

“As a player, Donald brought tremendous leadership, toughness, competitiveness, confidence and poise every single day, and I’m confident those same qualities will make him an outstanding coach and make our program even better.”

Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Donald Willis during his playing days at CR.

Sharon Falk-Carlsen

Moon, meanwhile, led the Panthers in assists and steals this past winter, while averaging 11.4 points a game.

After raising the level of his game late in his junior year, Costa took off as a senior and was one of the key players for a team that went undefeated in the Little 4.

And Claus believes he will be a perfect fit for CR in more ways than one.

“What excites me most about Carson is that he embodies so many of the values that have become foundational to our program,” the CR coach said. “He plays with a genuine joy for the game, he has a creativity and feel that allows him to express himself on the court, and he’s the kind of high-character person that makes a team better every day.

“Our success has always been built on talented players who love basketball and love being around each other, and Carson represents that perfectly.

“Because of this, Carson won’t just fit in with our program but strengthen it on day one. Beyond that it’s special that our community gets to continue watching a local player they’ve enjoyed supporting for years.”

Also joining the team for next year are Scott Nardinelli out of Folsom High, Jayson Adams out of Lakes High in Washington, Mark Williams out of Nevada Union High, Elijah Casey out of Tualatin High in Oregon, Lucas Moreira out of Roosevelt High in Oregon, Jeramiah Chavez out of Horizon High in Colorado and Xavier Eddington from Australia.

Justin Claus has also been busy this offseason working with the newly formed Advantage Basketball Concepts.

The CR coach is partnering with longtime local basketball coach Gordie Hunt to bring a series of camps to the area this summer that “feature skill development, competition and high-energy basketball instruction to youth players throughout Humboldt County.”

The camps will run throughout the summer at various locations and are open to players aged 8-15.

Sharon Falk-Carlsen

Sharon Falk-Carlsen

Sharon Falk-Carlsen