News Scrapbook 1986-1988

San Diego, CA (San Diego C~-) San Diego union (Cir. D. 217,089) (Cir. S. 341 ,840)

San Diego, CA (San Diego C~-) San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,089) (Cir. S. 341 ,840)

1987

MAR 9 1987

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Jl/lm'• L< r. 1888 ~llfil} gets its answer today Toreros want NCAA but would be 'delighted'.with NIT By T.J. Simers./? 1 qr;,S Starr Writer r- '/ SAN FRANCISCO - NCAA or NIT? P. C. B

J lllen'• P. c. s

1,, 1888

Wayne Lockwood

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sit at home (during the NCAA Tournament). He specifically said, 'Like the University of San Diego, with a 24-5 record.' "For once, I agreed with Dick Vitale." Fortunately for USO, so did the NCAA.

well. "I saw Dick Vitale, who is not one of my favorite announcers, being interviewed on TV," Cahill said. "He said he wasn't against (conference) tournaments but that something's wrong when a lot of regular-season champions have to

Continued from D-1 little h t tn the level of our perfo m ce and we still have a chani:e to wm a ball game against a team that i re Hy jacked (up) for us. I think we're a pretty good team." Also a pretty cla y team. Although bitterly dtsappointed by their loss the previous night, Egan and his players showed up for the champ10nsh1p game between Santa Clara and Pepperdine "It was hard, but out of respect to the other teams and other coaches, I thought we should be there," Egan said. "(Santa Clara coach) Carroll Williams came up in the stands right before the game and said he really appreciated us being there. We just thought it was the right thmg to do.'' Sometimes, although not often enough teams that do right also do

Toreros in trying to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA awards 29 berths to postsea- son tournament and conference winners and then presents at-large bids to another 35 teams. Teams such as DePaul, Notre I Dame, Iowa, TCU, Duke, Clemson, I Pittsburgh and UTEP are expected l to be among those 35 at-large teams. 1 , The NCAA said it makes its determi- nations without respect to geographi- cal allocations, while the NIT does 1 so. I The NCAA will have the winner of the PCAA, WAC, WCAC, Big Sky and Pac-10 tournaments in its field and may include another team from the Pac-10, two teams from the WAC, and if fortunate, an additional team from the WCAC. If the NCAA overlooks USD, and the NIT selects it, then the NIT will look to send USD on the road in the West to a school with a large arena. USD may be in line to play at BYU, at New Mexico, at California or at Washington (if it loses the Pac-10 title game). The NIT also probably will include Boise State and Montana State in its field, but since USD has already split a pair of games with Boise State this season and has lost at Montana State, the NIT doesn't figure to schedule a rematch. "I'm going to say Mass and then stay by the phone," said Cahill. "All we can do now is hope for the best." I I I

' ... If before the season you had guaranteed us a bid to the NTT, we would have been delighted.' -Hank Egan can't believe there are 64 teams in the country better than San Diego," said Loyola Marymount athletic di- rector Brian Quinn. "But I don't think there is any question they will get an NIT bid if they don't get picked for the NCAA.'' Last year LMU defeated Califor- nia in its NIT opener and then lost at -Wyomlng. Tn the process, LMU col- lected a two-game payoff of "ap- proximately $12,000 to $14,000," said Quinn. By contrast, if the Toreros are se- lected to play in the NCAA Tourna- ment, they will earn 40 percent of an estimated $200,000 payoff for a first- round game, with the WCAC collect- ing the other 60 percent. After the first round, a team earns 90 percent for each additional $200,000 payoff, while the conference receives 10 per- cent. "The money is great, but we will be happy to go anywhere m a post- season tournament," said the Rev. Patrick Cahill, USD's athletic direc- tor. ''Realistically, I think we're a long shot to the NCAA, but a very good possibility for the NIT.'' A rash of upsets in the postseason tournaments may_work against the

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ike any to rut, Ian Egan visit d r· h rman's Wharf and oth r pomts of interest

The answer is expected to come sometime today for the USD basket- ball team when the NCAA Selection Committee announces its 64-team field and the NIT picks its 32 en- trants. "It has been a helluva season, in- cluding 14 straight wins," said USD coach Hank Egan. "We would like to go to the NCAA Tournament, but if before the .season you had guaran- teed us a bid to the NIT, we would hav d Ji hted." ost I oppor unity o a- vance automatically into the NCAA Tournament when it was upset. 64-63, by seventh-seeded Pepperdine in Fri- day night's West Coast Athletic Con- ference tournament semifinals at USF. The Toreros, however, finished the season with a 24-5 record (.827), giving them tbe second-best winning percentage in the West behind UNLV (.970). "I would put USD overall in the top eight teams in the West," said NIT adminstrative assistant Paul Clarke yesterday. "For our consider- ation, we have them in the top four in the West. They would be a good choice for us in our tournament." Ayear ago the NIT bypassed USD with its 19-9 record and selected 19· 11 Loyola Marymount. "My personal feeling is that USD belongs in the NCAA Tournament; I

in San Fr nclsco on Saturday It was a waste of time. He might well have been m Dubuque. "I don't remember any of it," admitted the UtUversity .of San Diego basketball coach. Ind of ood I was in. I felt miserable. I was Just petrified that we weren't going to be there. I bad a hole mmy stomach." ''There" is the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament, an event the Toreros feared thev would no longer be privileged to a tend after losing to Pepperdine, 64-63, in the semifinal round of the West Coast Athletic Conference tournament. Never mmd USD's 24-5 record, regular-season conference championship and ju t-ended H- game winning str .ak. 'l hey bad blown the WCAC' one sure bid to th" big show, and the NCAA has xh.ibited no great eageme to 1:l'l1te two teams from any conference in the West. The Rev. Patrick Cahill, USD' athletic director, was not what you would call optimistic, either. "Frankly, I was to the point of thmking it would be nice to get the consolation prize (an NIT bid)," Cahill said. "I really was d pressed. I had already sat down and worked out per diem and costs for the NIT." A day later, both men sat by the telephone waiting to have their fears confirmed. Although announcement of the 64-team NCAA field would be televised n tionally, the programming was pre-empted locally by telethon. They could not even confronl thetr a e ea -on. "I asked several people {In other parts of the country) to call me," Egan said. "It's 2:30 (~lart of the tcleca t), and nobody calls. Now it's 2:40. I said, 'This Is a bad sign. Nobody wants to call and give us the bad news.' "Finally, I went upstairs to change and the phone rang. (Assistant coach) Mike Legarza's dad saw it in Reno. He called Mike. Mike called me.'' By such roundabout word of mouth did Egan learn that not only had his team been selected, but that it was seeded ninth in the 16-team Midwest Regional (ahead of, among others, LSU, a Final Four club last spring).. The Auburn team USO will face was seeded eighth. There was never any doubt, in .,, other words. The Toreros were in, no matter what they did in the WCAC tournament. "I wish I had known that," Egan said. "It would have saved me 48 miserable hours." No matter. It was worth it. "I shouted to my wife, 'Judy, we made it!' " Egan said. "The only other time I felt like this was when I got my first head- coaching job, and this is even better than that." "It's recognition," said Cahill. "It's justification, as we said three years ago (when USD reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time), that you can hold your academic standards and still do well. It justifies what we've been preaching, I guess. "It's interesting that Santa Clara (which won the WCAC tournament) IS likewise academically oriented. We don't give any special admissions, and Santa Clara doesn't, either. That these schools are the schools from the conference going to the NCAA is a real tribute to both." Although USD officials feared an NCAA bid might not be forthcoming, they believe they deserve it. "I think we've earned it, I really do," Egan said. "I think we've shown we belong in the top 64. But you never know what other people are thinking. ' "I told the kids (after the Pepperdine loss) that the encouraging thing is we shoot worse than we've been shooting, w shoot free throws worse, we come See WAYNE LOCKWOOD D-5

San Diego, CA {San Diego C~-) San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,089) (Cir. S. 341 ,840)

MAR 1 0 1987

Jllle"'• P. c. B US ~uburn game - will be~ro d st Radio s D (AM- 1000) will broa cast the first- round NCAA Tournament game between USD and Au- burn Thursday. Ronnie Wald will handle the play-by-play. The pregame show begins at 4 p.m. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:07 at Indianapolis.

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San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.} San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,089) (Cir. S. 341 ,840) 8

198

Jll/en '• P. C. B

1888

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IN PERSPECTIVE Egaif is balancing the pain and joy By T.J. Simers never goes with the territory. Staff Writer "I walked around in a daze. I had SAN FRANCISCO - He is a man never been fired from anything, and applauded by his peers for his integ- it rocked me right down to my rity, knowledge and ability as a bas- shoes. I thought for sure I'd be out ketball coach, but yet disappoint- of the business after that. I talked ment continues to mug Hank Egan. to some people about working in a "I feel sorry for our kids losing to bank in commercial real estate." Pepperdine," said Rev. Patrick A few months later, the phone Cahill, USD~ director, "but rang in Cahill's office at USD. "It I feel really sorry for Hank Egan. was Bob Knight from Indiana," He has been through a lot of wars, Cahill said, "and he said I couldn't and I think this was a big moment go wrong in hiring Hank Egan to in his life." replace Jim Brovelli (who had bunch of calls from. people who past, but then Pepperdine scored were so positive about Hank. After one more point than USD in the my interview with him, I knew he semifinals of the West Coast Athlet- was the man I wanted. But Hank ic tournament on Friday night. And seemed reluctant; it was a big deci- so although Egan has guided his, sion in his life. I don't think he Toreros to a 24-5 record, he must wanted to get burned again." wait and wonder if one last loss will . Egan, very much a competitor, keep him and his team from partic- admittedly still was devastated by ipating in the NCAA Tournament. his dismissal from Air Force. Most The pairings will be announced observers contended he never had a today. chance to win there, given the 6- "Sure, it's disappointing, and it foot-5 limitation for cadets, and in- hurts; I'm still dealing with it emo- siders suggested he was the victim tionally," said Egan, 49. "But you of a personality conflict with Clune, can avoid something like this hap- his superior. But to Egan, all that pening to you: Just don't compete.'' mattered was that he had been Three years ago, after being fired fired. by the Air Force Academy, Egan "My first thought was, 'Thank almost made that choice. He had God my dad wasn't alive to find out spent 18 years there - in 13 years I had been fired.' It was no fun at as the Falcons' coach he went 148- all," Egan said. "We had dug in 185 - but then one day in 1984 he deep in Colorado Springs, and since was called into Col. John Clune's the age of 18 I had been around the office and was fired. military. I wasn't sure I wanted to "He was the athletic director, and leave the military cocoon and go in so many words he told me that if out into the real world. I showed up at the end of the sea- "Wiser heads prevailed, though," son, there would be no place for me Egan said. "It was my wife, Judy, to work," Egan said. "At the time, who stepped in and told me to come people told me that getting fired to San Diego and get after it again. went with the territory of being a She knew me, and she knew what I head coach. But let me tell you, it should be doing." It was a moment that was to take the edge off all the miseries of the taken the USF job). I got a whole

has led USD to the top of the WCAC si'nce being fired as coach at Air Force.

Hank Egan, standing with his team for the national anthem at a game this season,

first meeting with both players an_d media because of bis direct, honest approach, believes his team should be in the NCAA Tournament. But if it's not, and if it's also ignored by the NIT, Egan still will have his reward for a job well done. It h'appened a couple of weeks ago: His team had just defeated Gonzaga to clinch the WCAC regu- lar-season title. The players began to climb on each other's shoulders to cut down the nets in celebration, while Egan adjourned to the locker room for interviews. "It was the kids' moment; I didn't want to intrude," Egan said. "But you know what, they came in and got me. They were thoughtful enough to include me in their cele- bration, and I can't tell you how good that made me feel. Maybe that'r, what college basketball is all about."

what went wrong at Air Force, but at USD he has marched forward with enthusiasm. And as a result, he has assembled not only a good bas- ketball team, but a group of first- class people. "We got a telegram from the president of the university just be· fore we played Pepperdine," Cahill said. "He congratulated the team for their successful season and wished them well, and then he said he appreciated the way 'you repre- sent us as a university.' That's very important, and Hank deserves a lot of credit for that." Maybe this season, the best in USD's history, will not end as splen- didly as Egan and his players had hoped. But Egan offers perspective: "Everything in life doesn't have to have a payoff. As a team we accom- plished something we set out to do, and there is pride in that." Egan, often misunderstood on

Given another chance at USO to do what he does best, Egan went 59- 25 over the past three seasons. In the last two years, he has been named the coach of the year in the WCAC, and now he may have a chance to earn some recognition in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT. "I don't think what you do today vindicates anythi!lg that has hap- pened in the past," said Egan. "It only affects what happens today and tomorrow; the past is done and over with. I don't like to dwell on the past, but I admit it has taken me time to get over being fired. If you win, you don't have to think about that guy calling you in the office and telling you you're fired. No matter what, it affects your thinking.'' There is, however, nothing bitter about Egan's recollections. He may fight private emotional battles with

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