College of Alameda announces surprising end to athletics programs
The College of Alamda | Courtesy of Peralta Community College District
OAKLAND, Calif. - The College of Alameda announced on Wednesday that its athletics program would be discontinued at the end of the Spring 2026 season.
"Title IX requires equal access to sports for women and men. Over the past few years, we’ve been unable to maintain a women’s sports team at COA," Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for hte Peralta Community College District said in a press release. "Without women’s sports, we cannot continue to offer men’s sports. Opportunities for student-athletes remain available at our sister colleges in Oakland: Laney College and Merritt College."
What we know:
As of Wednesday morning, the school’s athletics landing page lists only two programs: men’s basketball and women’s volleyball. Those programs are also the only two listed in the official directory of the California Community College Athletic Association, also known as 3C2A.
ESPN’s Marc J. Spears first broke the news on March 16, and reported that men’s basketball coach and NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton will lead the team through its final season.
The Cougars ended their most recent season on a seven-game losing streak, for an 11-15 season.
According to 3C2A records, the women’s volleyball program hasn’t competed since the 2023–2024 season.
Dig deeper:
The women’s program, having not competed for two years, was the catalyst for the College of Alameda to shutter its athletics programs.
Payton, a nine-time All-Star, became the College of Alameda’s men’s basketball coach in Sept. 2024. Payton had previously coached men’s basketball for Lincoln University but departed the program after publicly criticizing its lack of funding.