News Scrapbook 1989

San Diego , CA (S;,n Diego Co .) San Die~ Un,on \ Cir D Z17 ,089) c,r·. s 341 ,840)

San Diego CA (San Diego Co.) San D1e9..o Union (Cir. D. 217 ,089) (Cir. S. 341,840)

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Sunday, January Hi, 1989

CO LEGE BASKETBALL: THE WEST

Step by step, former USD coach Jim Brovelli is bringing back the program at the University of San Francisco. The fans, victories and support ... 'They're coming back' By Cb~is Jenkin/1~ 0 ...------------, prove a major boost to the st aff Writer USF'S COMEBACK program. The game was televised S AN FRANCISCO - As you walk into Memorial Gym at the University of San v,. w L Pel. wcAc live by Chicago's superstation, WGN, giving USF national exposure. Brovelli's longtime assistant, John Cosentino, had 85-86 7 21 250 8th (2·12) 86-87 16 12 .571 5th (6-8)

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Francisco. the most intimidating sight is not its array of banners overhead, symbolic of two NCAA, one IT and 15 conference titles. Nor is it the display of retired numbers of USF legends· Bill Russell (6), K.C. Jones (4) and Bill Cartwright (24). Nor, really, ts it any of USF's current players. Rather, what you tend to worry about is a sign on a wall near one of the exits: "Maximum capacity 1955 persons" The sign s outdated, yet It remains an especially disturbing read on nights when Memorial Gym is overflowing with 5,370 people, as was the ca e last Saturday night. Particularly annoyed by the sardine-like crowd conditions was Digger Phelps, head coach, Notre Dame. Phelp was understandably perturbed at having just Jost to the Dons, 79-75, Angry at the choice of official~ Phelps also was irate that the ame was playe in a campus facilitv ting just 5,300, mstead o one a rE!l!'s more spac1ou arenas. Taking recent USF history into account, Phelps couldn't have planned on playing in the midst of such bedlam, and his players certainly didn't look comfortable. After the final buzzer, Phelps refused to accept USF coach Jim Brovelli's handshake. ''This series is over," Phelps yelled at Brovelli. "You screwed us,, "Bleep." S<1id Brovelli. a man normally not given to such colorful phraseology. Later terming Phelps' tirade "sour grapes," Brovelli said, ''Let him cancel the series. That just-me:ins we don't have to go into South Bend." ' Now think about this for a moment Which is more remarkable? The thought that Notre Dame, which always is playmg in hoops-crazed arena as the much despised visitors, can't handle a little crowd noise? Or the fa1.:t that such a feverish crowd was at USF? •·1 know," Brovelli said. "They're coming back. They're all coming back " ''They;· ir.ea ,mg all those who once supporced the Dons but disappeared with tt.e entire program in 1982. After a string of embarrassments ranging from NCAA infractions to criminal charges against USF player

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reminded his Midwest recrmts to tune in. No doubt, eyes across the country grew wide when reading of USF's upset. "We needed something to convince people," LoSchiavo said. "A defeat of Notre Dame tells those people who felt we weren't serious that we want to win, that USF does care about championships. We do want to win ... but within the rules." Brovelli smiled at the mention of Loschiavo. "Father Lo just loves basketball," Brovelli said. "It broke his heart to drop this program. Ours was the first national program to drop basketball like that, so ours was the first to bring it back. He believes if you've got a scoreboard up there, you've got to be competitive. Why bring a program back if you're not going to compete?" ictories like those o er Cal and Notre Dame, of course, come higher demands. Bigger crowds bring greater expectations. Brovelli nodded his acknowledgement. Yes, he said, you can feel the pressure building. "I knew it'd be a tough job, but it's been a Jot tougher than I thought, for a lot of different reasons," he said. "'We came back the first year and people say, why not 20 wi ns? They're nuts. In the past. you just threw the ball out at USF and got 20. But look around. You don't see Bill Russell. You don't see Bill Cartwright. Those are once-in-a-lifetime players." LoSchiavo looks out there and, in some respects, sees many of the same characteristics of the players who teamed with Russell and K.C. Jones in the glory years. "These are more like the kids who were here in the '50s and '60s," said LoSchiavo. "Those kids went on to law school. They're judges now, principals." And the USF players of the '70s and early '80s? The most celebrated of them wound up in front of a judge. "We got carried away," Loschiavo said. "We went after the blue-chip players. We lost sight of things." For the first time this year, Brovelli said, USF is playing with his type of player. That is, the player who reports for the day's With

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Quintin Dailey, the program was shut down by the school president, the Rev. John L0Sch1avo. Taken off the shelf i 1985, USF basketball now has been been back longer than it was gon1•. Four years after leaving a successful, comfortable position at the University of San Diego, Brovelli has restored some lost dignity to his alma mater. And he has rekindled the fire of interest in basketball on Golden Gate Avenue. "Electrifying," he said of that night with Notre Dame. "It was absolutely electrifying." In the week since, however, USF has been severely jolted in its first two West Coast Athletic Conference games by Loyola Marymount (113-95) and Pepperdine (71-53). The Dons (8-7) return to Memorial Gym for Friday's conference home opener ag· nst USD. By no-w-1, t"-h-e ...,se-,;n-:rrt,mental value of Brovelli coaching against USD bas diminished considerably. All the Toreros' current players were recruited by Brovelli's successor, Hank Egan. Brovelli is working on his second contract at USF, this one good for the next five years. His big rivalries are with Northern California schools - Santa Clara and St. Mary's in conference, Cal locally - and Notre Dame. Therein, Brovelli has met four of his first five goals for USF. Initially, Brovelli just just wanted the Dons to be competitive, not easily embarrassed. and that was accomplished with a 16-12 record in his second season. Two, he wanted rivalries with all the Bay-area schools, and USF's victory over Cal last month has that one stoked up again. Three, he wanted USF to again host its traditional Christmas tournament, and the Dons won that as well this season. Four was to reinstitute USF's major interseclional rivalries, specifically with Notre Dame. Yo, Digger. "When we scheduled this game two years ago, I think he figured we were just an upstart program," Brovelli said "Digger thought he could just come in and get a win." RP::1tinn Nnf...... n-- • • ·

Associated Press Jim Brovelli: 'l knew it'd be a tough Job, but it's been a lot tougher than I thought, for a lot of different reasons.'

first practice at 6 a.m., then another one at 2:30 p.m., then sticks around for extra shooting. The kind of kids vou don't have to worry about staying eligible, because they're just as motivated m the classroom. Kids like he had at USD. Brovelli's top player, however, couldn't be described as an overachiever. Mark McCathrion, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound senior forward, was a highly sought All-American at Bishop O'Dowd High in Oakland. Iowa and Virginia were after him, big-time. AII-WCAC as a sophomore, McCathrion Jet his numbers slip last year, but this season he's already been named most valuable player of the Fresno State and USF tournaments. It was McCathrion who held Cal's Leonard Taylor to nine points and outscored Notre Dame's celebrated freshman, LaPhonso Ellis, 26-20. "A lot of unfair things got put on this kid's back," Brovelli said of McCathrion. "He was the 'savior' when he came here. He didn't need that. He was on a team of walk- ons. He's played out of position for four years. "But he's from the East Bay, so he grew up with us. Mark remembered the good teams here, plus he wanted to stay local. And it's important to us to keep the local kids at USF." What else does Brovelli want? Well, that brings us to goal No. 5. That's to become a contender in the conference, which he said is

"way, way tougher than the first four obJe live Right now it seems a monstrou goal." Yet hP , grown accustomed to takmg mons r teps When Brovelli took over at USD in 1973, the school was Divi ion 11. Brovelli wanted the Toreros to be competitive all right • in Division I. "They thought I was nuts, a dumb Italian coach giving administrative suggestions," Brovelli said. "Tom Burke (USD's president then) said, 'Go back and win Division II before you start talking Division I. And he was right, dead right." As it happened. the Toreros were in the NCAA Division II tournament when an opening appeared in the WCAC, the domain of USF. It was the perfect place for USD, composed as it was of similar-sized universities that drew heavily from Catholic high schools. Plus, they all had high academic standards Put on even ground with everyone else, Brovelli knew he could compete. Before he left Alcala Park, Brovelli had coached in the NCAA Division I tournament. He arrived at USF, which had all those banners and no team. "At USO, I had players in hand," Brovelli said. "Here, I had nothing. There was apathy, paranoia. We had so many problems here it was ridiculous. If I didn't have the kind of experience I gained at USO, I couldn't have done it here. I've gotten kicked and seen how to grow from it."

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Oceanside, CA) (San Diego Co. North County Blade Tribune (Cir. D. 29 ,089) (Cir. S. 30,498) FEB 1 989

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SAN DIEGO SPORTS SCENE

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ilM I Toreros must now get ready for an onslaught iiii ; ~&(HOU,T Staff Writer SAN DIEGO - Hank Egan is about to lead hi~ young lamb of a University of San Diego basketball team mto the Lions' den. ---------- . . Egan coaches a Torero ::; uad that starts Just 01_1e semor along with two freshmen an two sophomo!'es. Their season of seasoning, as it were, stands at 6-12, 1-5 m th~ West Coast Athletic Conference. On Friday, USO ventures mto the land of Loyola Marymount, where the Lions roar_ - and score (nation-leading 109.8 points per game) - like no other. Loyola blasted USIU 181-150 Tuesday night_. . "Loyola Marymount, with their style, 1s diverse from everybody," Egan said. . . , LMU coach Paul Westhead cracks the whip ?n the Lions highly publicized shoot-first, never-ask-questions offense. Though not the power it was last year, when Loyola ad- vanced to the final 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the Los Angeles school is 12-7 and 5-1 in th~ WCAC. LMU has starters averaging 33, 23 and 20 pomts per gam~. and scored 94 points by halftime against U~IU. USO scores 66 points an outing and has no one averagmg more t~an 13. Egan is anxious, to say the l~ast, over how his green team will react to Loyola's frenzied attack. "The real key is to get on top early, so you don't feel t_he panic," Egan said. "The emotional asp_ect of a game with them is almost as important as the physica1. ~ou have to be strong enough in your play, in your convictions to not go along with that system." . . . . . Egan said it is Loyola's ability to play with high emotion that impresses him more than inflated score&. "Everybody talks about ~e fastbreak 1:1nd Paul Westhead's system, but l give him_ a l~t of credi~ 1>4;~ause he gets them to play so hard for him, Egan said. ~~ey press all over the court, they run... They sacnflce themselves for the team." After braving a confrontation with Loyola, the Toreros have to take on Pepperdine (13-8, 5-1) in a road game the o o in ay. \f; t•'

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