USD Men's Basketball 1997-1998

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

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and the USO women's tennis team advanced for the seventh time since 1989. The University of San Di– ego owns a total of six WCC championships -- men's basketball (1984, 1987), men's tennis (1989, 1990), and men's soccer (1992, 1995). The league was chartered by five Bay Area institutions (San Francisco, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, San Jose State and Pacific) as the California Basket– ball Association, playing its first game on January 2, 1953. After two seasons of play under that name, the conference expanded to include Loyola Marymou nt and

When the West Coast Conference first got its start back in 1952, the founders really had only one goal in mind ... to create a·convenient way for five Bay Area schools to play basketbal I. What has grown from that original vision some 44 years ago is a mar– velously cohesive athletics league which is competi– tive at the national level in 13 sports. The eight current members of the WCC span the western coast of the United States from Canada to Mexico. Through the institutions range from the

pine forests of eastern Washington state to the sun drenched beaches of south– ern California, the com– bined excellence in athlet– ics and academics sets the conference apart on the na– tiona l scene and draws the indi vidual institutions to– gether in a common mis– sion. The WCC sponsors championships in baseball, men' s and women's basket– ba ll, men's and women's

Pepperdine in 1955, and became the "West Coast Athletic Conference" in 1956. The name was short– ened to "West Coast Con– ference" in 1989. The current alignment of Gonzaga, L M U , Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara has remained unchanged

since 1979, making the WCC the third most stable conference in the nation. Only the Ivy League and Pacific-10 Conference have been together longer. All-time membership includes the following schools -- Saint Mary's (44 years), Santa Clara (44), San Francisco (44), Loyola Marymount (41 ), Pepperdine (41 ), Portland (20), Pacific (19), SAN DIEGO (17), Gonzaga (17), San Jose State (17), Ne– vada (10), Seattle (9), UN LV (6), UC Santa Barbara (5) and Fresno State (2). 1996-97All-Conference Team Brian Bruso San Diego C Marlon Garnett Santa Clara G Bakari Hendrix Gonzaga F Bryan Hill Pepperdine F Greg Klosterman Portland C Brad Millard Saint Mary's C M.J. Nodilo San Francisco G Lorenzo Rollins Gonzaga G David Sivulich Saint Mary's G Hakeem Ward San Francisco F Jim Williamson Loyola Marymount G Dick Davey (Santa Clara), 'Coach of the Year' Marlon Garnett (Santa Clara), 'WCC Player of the Year' Brian Jones (SCU) & Matt Santangelo (Gonzaga), 'WCC Co-Freshmen of the Year'

cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, women's rowing, and women's volleyball. Women's rowing and golf were new championship sports for the 1996-97 season, with league members taking part in the NCAA Championships in twelve of the thir– teen sports last year. The USO women's soccer team advanced to the second round of the NCAA's for the fi rst time; the USO volleyball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years; 1996-97 Final Basketball Standings Schoo/ WCC All Saint Mary's# + Santa Clara# 10-4 10-4

23-8 16-11 16-13 17-11 15-12 9-18

9-5 8-6 8-6

San Francisco SAN DIEGO

Gonzaga Portland Pepperdine Loyola Marymount

4-10 4-10 3-11

6-21 7-21

It Co- WCC Regular Season Champions + Won WCC Tournament