News Scrapbook 1984

~c janlltcgo Jllnton Tuesday, March 6, 1984 @

Miguel and Hoover at Sweetwater. The championship game will follow the Aztec-Uni- versity of Arizona contest (1 p.m.) about 4:30. A third- place game will begin about 7. OLYMPIC MASCOT TO APPEAR - Sam the Olympic Eagle, the official mascot of the 1984 Sum- mer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, is scheduled to make s~ial appearance Saturday at the Hall of Champions m Balboa Park. The mascot will be at the Ha~ ~rom 11 _a.m..to 2 _p.m_. and is part of a touring e_xhib1t featuring film highlights of Olympic competi- tion. Adm~sion is $1 for adults; 50 cents for children ages 6-17. Ch!ldren under six are admitted free. Sports Calendar In Person TO IGHT - GREYHOUNDS: Races at Agua Caliente, 7:45. JAi ALAt: Garnes at Tijuana Fronton. 8. PRO BASKETBALL: Indiana vs. C ppers at Sports Arena, 7:35.

TOMORROW - SOCCER: Golden Bay vs. Sockers at Sports Arena 7:30 p.m. COLLEGE BASKETBALL USD vs. St. Mary's at USO Sports Center, 7:30 p.m. GREYHOUNDS: Races at Agua Caliente. 7;45 p.m. On Television TONIGHT - PRO BASKETBALL: Atlanta vs. Detroit, 4:35, WTBS· Philadelphia vs. Los Angeles, 7:30, USA COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Michigan vs. Iowa, 5, ESPN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Fullerton State vs. UCLA, 8, Chi. 5. TOMORROW - BOXING: Juan Arroyo vs. Arthur Clarke 5 pm ESPN. COLLEGE BASKETBALL UCLA vs Arizona, 8 p.m', Chi. s: ESPN PRO BASKETBALL: Seattle vs. Washington, 5 p.m.• USA =-RO HOCKEY: Los Angeles vs Philadelphia, 10 p.m. delayed, Chi TONIGHT - PRO BASKETBALL: Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia, 7:20, KLAC-570; Clippers vs. Indiana, 7:35, KOGO-600. TOMORROW BASEBALL: Padres vs. Oakland, noon, KFMB-760; Dodgers vs. Texas, 10:30 a.m., KABC-790. SOCCER: Sockera vs. Golden Bay, 7:30 p.m., KOGO-600 AM. COLLEGE BASKETBALL· UCLA vs. Arizona, 8 p.m., KMPC-710 AM. PRO BASKETBALL· Lo~ Angeles vs. Dallas, 6:30 p.m., KLAC-570 AM On Radio

Wayne Lockwood T he Great American Work Ethic, often reported missing in action, has been discovered alive and well in Alcala Park. Just when it seemed that honest labor, teamwork and unselfishness no longer existed outside a Horatio Alger book, along came the University of n Diego basketball team to reassure us that such homely virtues still count for something on our planet. The Toreros, for those who have been ozing, have won themselves no worse than a tie for the West Coast Athletic Conference championship, a laudable accomplishment. Even more laudable is the way USD has gone about its business. In an age when prize recruits drive Trans- Ams and NCAA regulations are honored about as often as the 55 mph speed limit, the Toreros earned their title the hard way. They worked for it. The little school on the hill bas been playing Division I basketball only five years, remember. Its academic entrance requirements are among the stiffest on the West Coast, and there has been no concession to basketball in this area. The Toreros' talent, except for forward Mike Whitmarsh, is not extraordinary. The team's on- campus followmg until the last three home games, has been unremarkable. There is no radio or television package. All these seem valid reasons to limp along at a win- a-few, lose-a-few pace and few would blame the Toreros if they did. INSTEAD, COACH JIM BROVELLl'S team has caught fire. USO has won five games in a row - three of them on the road - and 10 of its last 13 to assume the WCAC lead. By defeating St. Mary's here Thursday night, the Toreros can wrap up the championship of an historically tough conference and claim an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. "There' no question that this is my most satisfying year in coaching," said Brovelli, who has been at it since 1967 and owns an overall record of 259-175. "This team has all those intangibles that you always talk about but don't always see. These kids play together, they play hard and they have a great chemistry. Not only does each player know his role, but they all seem to enjoy those roles and take pride in them." Particularly satisfying to the coach has been the grit of his group. "They're battlers," he said. "They just keep fighting. They won't give in." It's a good thing, because none of this has come easily for the Toreros. No USO game in conference play has been decided by more than eight points, and the margin in eight games has been four points or less. The Toreros have been behind in the second half. of seven of their last eight appearances and still won six of them. It is obvious that this team, like its low-key coach, does not pamc easily. Alesser man, or team, might have packed it in even before conference play began. The Toreros had every reason to question themselves after absorbing a thorough 61-47 drubbing by crosstown rival San Diego State on Jan. 5, a defeat that dropped the losers' record to 7-6. EAGER TO ENGAGE ITS more highly publicized neighbors on that evening, USO came out overly emotional and played poorly. "That was a disappointing game for us," Brovelli conceded. "Not because we lost - we might have played well and still lost because we've never been able to contain Michael Cage - but because we simply didn't perform. We didn't do the things we are capable of." Dead ahead lay a game the coach now believes may have been the most important of the season, a meeting with Southern Illinois. "We only had one day to put the San Diego State game ~hind us and get on with our season," says Brovelll. "We had to play a good team (Southern Illinois, a Missouri Valley Conference member, is 15· 12). It was a big test. Could we get beyond a bad game and beat a good team, or couldn't we?" The Toreros could. They won 71-62 and Brovclli began t? suspect he might have something special here. HIS team has lost only three games since, those by an aggregate of 13 points. In the meantime, another significant event transpired at USD. Grades were issued. The Toreros, who last year had seven players named WCAC "scholar athletes," this time listed eight players with grade-point averages of 3.0 (B) or better. This, remember, is not a school that offers courses in the fundamentals of basketball or remedial folk da_ncing. Three Torero players major in computer science, three are business majors, two (including Whitmarsh) are political science majors and there are others majoring in English and accounting. "I CAN'T TAKE ANY CREDIT for that" said Brovelli of his team's scholastic performa~ce. "That's a credit to the kids, fo how hard they've worked in the classroom. "But I have ~!ways believed there's a carryover. If you work hard 10 the classroom, you're going to work bard on the court. And if you cut corners in class you're likely to be looking for the easy way out o~ the court, too. "I don't ~hink it's a coincidence that the intensity level on this team has been high right from the first day of practice, Oct. 15. Usually, over the course of the season, you have some highs and lows, but this team has worked hard every day." Maybe it's because Brovelli keeps assuring his players that the next game they play will be the most important of the season. The coach has done this with some regularity since the Southern Illinois contest not beca.1™: he enjoys crying wolf but because the Tor~ros' contmumg success has added mounting importance to each game. "T~ey're laughing at me now," Brovelli says. "They say, Hey _coach, when are you going to tell us this is the most important game of the season?' " The Toreros will not need to hear that before playing St. Mary's Thursday. But they probably will anyway. "B " B Y now, says rovelli, "it's a tradition." Suddenly, so is winning at the little school on the hill.

PREP B EBALL - Madison High and Mutual of ew York are combining for an eight-team high school baseball tourna'!1ent that will get under way Saturday and wrnd up wtth the championship and third-place game at State's Smith Field March 17.

Madison, Escondido, Mar Vista and Point Loma will pl~y in the tourney's Blue Division, and Vista, Mount ~~~___.~____:___ __:_______~-::.::Mi::,g,_u:.:::el, Hoover and Sweetwater will clash in the Gray

THE TRIBUNE MAR 6 1984

Now, USD is making the grade in basketball, too "You mean keeping our grades up while we're traveling?" Ewing guesses. Th CAA tournament? USO's coaching

can rebound and score, not because they can speak with authority on the democratic pri- maries. The possibilities are mind-bending. USD, as champions of the West Coast Athletic Confer- ence, probably would get shipped out to an- other tournament region, maybe the East. If the NCAA's computer wizards manage to present USO with a first-round bye, we all could be watching a matchup that makes Ar- gentina vs. Great Britain seem like a fair fight. How does USD vs. Georgetown sound? You can just imagine John Thompson call• ing Patrick Ewing into his office sometime next week. "Looks like we might run into some trouble in the tournament," Thompson says.

"No, I'm talking about colliding with the Toreros," Thompson explains. "I thought Ford stopped making those years ago," Patrick says. Which is just the way Jim Brovelli would want it. USO opened its season as nobody's favorite to capture the WCAC. If Brovelli was going to win a conference championship, it figured he'd have to wait until the University of San Francisco job was available. Now, the Toreros are 17-9 and getting no- ticed. They have won five straight games, three of those on the road. They don't even remember the night long ago when the Aztecs

staff could never u e the tournament as a recnuting pitch. Th best news for a kid was that if h cam to USD he'd be able to watch the tournam nt on television. But only if it didn't m n missmg a night class or study hall Times change These Toreros have been known to oot only m monze the law of gravi- ty but to t tit now and then. Al McGuire, the bard of tr et ba ketball, might not fmd the Torero msplrtng, and no one has annointed USD a th Phi Slamma Jamma of the West Coast But teams outside of the hallowed Ivy Leagu don't m e 1t to the doorstep of the NCAA tournament on grade point average alone nd that's exactly where USO finds

itself these days.

Charming, is what it IS. These Toreros not only understand the physics of the spin dribble, they can perform one under pressure. If USD handles St. Mary's Thursday night at the Sports Center, the NCAA tournament is theirs. It will happen because Anthony Reuss and Mike Whitmarsh

Please see SHAW. C-2 •Shaw-------~/__________

USO this past summer. No, Brovelli did not make tum into a guard. He just brought Thompson along slowly enough that when the kid got his chance he no longer looked like a freshman. And now, here they are basking in what passes for the spotlight at a small Catholic college in a town unmatched in basketball apathy. When the Toreros returned from their most recent trip, they were greeted by posters and banners at the airport. Guard dogs, of course, were not needed to quiet the hysteria. But it was a start. "A crowd of about 20 or 30 people was waiting," said guard John Prunty. "The whole school is buzzing right now. I was hoping this day would come and that I would be here for it. People who don't even know you come up and congratulate you on campus. It's been great." The Toreros even received a steak dinner at the school cafeteria upon their return. OK, at some schools, a team knocking on the door of the NCAA tournament might've received its own Lear Jet, compliments of an ever-grate- ful alumni.

Coatinued From Page C-1 humbled them in the Sports Arena.

"We were a much better team than we showed against San Diego State and that's what hurt the most," Brovelli remembered. "That's not to take anything away from the job Smokey (Gaines) did. The kids were upset after that one because they've gotten caught up in the rivalry. It was important that we got back on our horses by playing a game right after that one. I can honestly say that we probably had two bad games and a half of another all 'The whole school is buzzing right now. I was hoping this day would come and that I would be here for it' - USD's John Prunty

season long." But basketball always has been a little different at USO would later crawl out of a 13-point hole in the USO. The Toreros never have taken a big step into the second half to beat Loyola Marymount. The Toreros big-time, certainly not the sort of vault that awaits them trailed Santa Clara by five at the half and managed to Thursday evening. win on a court where the Broncos had a 13-1 record. "When you get to an NCAA tournament," Brovelli says, Gonzaga was a piece of cake. USD only needed two over- "it doesn't matter one bit who you play. It's an experience times there. you'll always remember." All this has happened with four new starters surround- Past history matters less. The Toreros now have a ing Mike Whitmarsh. It fell into place in strange fashion. chance to write a little USD history into the NCAA scrap- Chris Carr bad never played point guard, so Brovelh books. They are not a team of slow set-shooters being made him a point guard. Mark Bostic was born a forward, coached by Einstein, even if it still sometimes seems that so he promptly assumed the off-guard spot. Scott Thomp- way. son was a 6-11, 240-pound recruit when he showed up at Stereotypes die hard. --------------------

THE TRIBUNE - 198 •

USD's Jacas gets his licks in early, then gets ejected against UOP odre Jacas drove in four runs with a pair of two- run sin !es to spark USD to a 10-4 victory over visiting Univ rsity of Pacific in college basebal_l ac~on ~ester- day. Greg Bertrand got the pitching wm with six mn- 1ngs of s11-hit ball for the Torero:, (9-9-1). Jacas was eJected In a bench'-Clearing fracas in the third inning. In other games involvmg area college teams yest~r- day, San Diego State (20-3) defeated visiting UC-~me 7-1 and UCSD (10-10) dropped a road game to Occiden- tal 6-3 Terry Jones and Steve Hill had solo home run n tate's victory. Bob Natal homered in UCSD's loss. In community college baseball, MiraCosta (4-4) blistered Grossmont la--4 as Eddi Anselmo had a homer and a single. Deron John o 's two-run homer and Steve Fields' bases-loaded double highlighted a even-run sixth inning that propelled Palomar (5-3) past an Diego City 9-6. In another game, Southwest- ern (3-5) dropped a 5-4 deci ion to Saddleback despite four hits by the Apaches' Gary tacy. SAN DIEGO UNION MAR 6 1984 Rivals laud USD's coach, chemistry that sometimes plays four guards and had a rookie (6-11 freshman center Scott Thompson) in the middle. But Whitmarsh went from a qual- ity to an excellent player By Bill Center Staff Writer La t year, Pepperdine University went two overtimes before losing to eventual national champion North Carolina State in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. "Brovelli deserves all the credit in the world. I voted for him as WCAC and district coach of - Carroll Williams the year over (Nevada-Las Vegas' Jerry) Tarka- 'USD is the perfect example of how nice it can be when coaching and responsive players come together.'

nian." Gonzaga also split with USO, each team win- strong. He got my vote for WCAC player of the ning on the other's floor with a last-second shot. year. Eve~ne else plays very well off Whi~- "This was really a tight race," said Hillock. marsh. They ve ~otten ~reat efforts from their "It seemed like every game went down to the r?le players._ Their s~m~ guards (Mark) Bos- last possession. If you played it all over again, it he and (Chr!S) Carr did a JOb on us, then John ·might have shaken out a lot differently. But Pr.~nty _comes off the bench and shoots us down. USD this year always seemed to have the ball Their role players have respon~ed to the with the chance to win at the end." coaching. They have a good chemistry. Ao d Portland's Jack Avina whom Brovelli assist- USD has been _tenacious as hell. ~t's all the sign ed before getting the USD job, said he thinks of good coachmg. I saw them right before the "Brovelli has a lot to do with USD's success. His start of the league race, and they were bett~r club doesn't get frustrated. We had them down than I expected. I had them in my top four m and they fought out of the hole." the leagu~. They w,on every close game. That Goorjian's Loyola-Marymount team lost two was the difference.' . . games to USD after being ahead in each second 'You have to credit the patience of the USD half_ by 10 and 13 points respectively. administration of g?,ing_ with Brovelli and "I thought we had the:U beat both times," strength -~s a coach, said Loyola-Marymount s Goorjian said. "USO played it very smart, Ed Goo:Jtan. . though. They played with patience. They didn't Hamck: whose Waves won at P~pperd~,n_e to panic. They came back and won. They've got get split with the Toreros, said he liked that one super smart player in Whitmarsh. I USD s structure at the start of the se~son, but 1 can't think of a player in this conference in didn't think they had enough reboundmg to pull recent years who'd I rather have with the ball it off. . in his hands at the end of the game than Whit- "! thou~ht it would be difficult for a team marsh."

Pepperdine and Santa Clara were co-favored to win the West Coast Athletic Conference championship this year, but it is the University of San Diego - picked to finish sixth in a preseason survey of conference coaches - that can win the title outright and earn an NCAA playoff berth when it hosts St. Mary's Thursday. , "I imagine USD's success is a bit of a surprise to everyone in the WCAC, but I'd say not a shock," Pepperdine coach Jim Harrick said yes- terday. "The success of USD, I think, shows everyone just how important the factors of coaching and chemistry can be." "I am surprised but not startled by USD's success," said Gonzaga coach Jay Hillock. "USD has good size, good athletes and two players in Mike Whitmarsh and Al Moscatel who can shoot the lights out. And there's the coaching." "USD is the perfect example of how nice it can be when coaching and responsive players come together," said Santa Clara's Carroll Wil- liams, whose 20-9 team suffered two losses to USD this season but still has an outside shot at an NCAA or NIT bid "Outside of Whitmarsh, USD does not have a lot of great players. But Whitmarsh is very

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