U Magazine, Spring 1987

ALCALA PARK SPORTS

Toreros reach new heights

By Die Doumanian E xpec tat ions were running high at Alcala Park las t fa ll when the 1986-87 basketba ll season got underway. People were predi cting. and expect ing. big things out of this year·s men ·s baske tball team - a nd the Toreros did no t disa ppoint. With a tough 62-61 loss to Auburn Uni– vers ity in the first round or the NCAA Tour– n ament , USO completed its most success– ru t season ever . The Toreros fin ished the season with a 24-6 record , the best mark in school his– tory. Along the way , USO won 14 consecu– tive games . won the regu la r-season West Coast Ath le tic Conrerence titie and earn ed a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years . ""All teams in the ruture will now be com– pa red with th is team because or how ha rd it worked a nd because or what it accom– plished ." says Coach Hank Ega n on his team·s success. "It was a n a bs olute pleasure to coach these people because they came closer to reaching the ir poten– tia l than a ny g roup J"ve ever had. "Th ey understood their strengths a nd weaknesses and they understood they had to work h a rd , that it wouldn"t come easy.., h e expla ins . "They a lso understood they had to work together. Whe n it came to games. they were a bsolutely unselfis h. The leam·s performance was the most impor– tant th ing to them. " And perform well they d id . Senior center Scott Thompson led USO in scoring a nd rebound ing and was n a med the WCAC"s Playe r or th e Year. All four senior s ta rters averaged in double fi gures in sc01-ing fo1- th e season. Thompson fin is h ed at 15.9 points per game. Forwards Nils Madden and Ma rk Ma nor were n ext. ave raging 11.1 and 10.5 . respectively. Gu a rd Paul Leona rd averaged 10.2 a nd led the team in ass ists. h a nding out a n average of 4.5 per game. Sophomore Da nny Means was the firth member or the starting unil whi ch began a ll 30 or the Toreros· games this season. But the five starters were by no means the only contributors to USD's success. Senior Steve Krallman was the team ·s sixth man, coming in to spell the front line. Fellow senior Eric Musselman, a guard , played in 28 contests, as did junior Marty Munn. Asa team, USO led the nation formostof the season in field goal percentage defense , limiting opponents to 40. 1 percent shoot– ing. Individually, Maddenjoined

Thompson on the All-Conference team , while Leonard and Manor earned honor– able mention . Thompson, a three-timeAll– WCAC selection , finished his career third among the a ll-time lead ing scorers at USO. The players were not the only ones receiving individua l honors as Egan was named Coach or the Year in the WCAC for the second con secutive year. In his three seasons at USD, Egan has compiled a 59-26 record. With a ll the success of th is year's team , what does th e future hold for the Toreros ? "Next year can best be described as a rebu ilding year," Ega n feels . ·'We're go ing to have to h ave some good recruiting years, especially th is year . "Hopefully the younger kids who were a part of the team this year but didn·t play much , saw what it took and will help estab– lish a tradition of doing those things.·· But let's not rush things. While the coaches may h ave to start looking ahead to next season, the rest of us can reflect on how the Toreros met a nd exceeded some truly h igh expec ta tions. •

Seven-foot center Scott Thompson was the biggest reason the Toreros eryoyed unparalleled success in 1986-87.

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