USD Men's Basketball 1992-1993

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

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THE WEST COASTCONFERENCE----------- The basketball courts of theWest Coast Conference run from the eastern pine forests of the Pacifie Northwest to the crowded beaches of Southern California. Gonzaga University, Loyola Marymount University, Pepperdine University, the University of Portland, Saint Mary's College, the University of San Diego, the University of San Francisco and Santa Clara University make up the NCAA I league. All are private institutions with exceptional academic and athletic traditions, and have made up the WCC for the past dozen years. The current alignment has remained unchanged since 1980. San Francisco has won 16 men's hoops titles followed by Pepperdine (9), Santa Clara (6), Loyola Marymount (4), Saint Mary's (3) and San Diego (2). Basketball is what got the West Coast Conference its start as the California Basketball Association back in 1952. No one suspected at the time the number oflegendary players who would battle on the courts of the league in the subsequent 41 years. FormerWCC players sport NBA championship rings (Bill Cartwright, San Francisco), Olympic Gold Medals (John Stockton, Gonzaga), and statues in the National Basketball Hall of Fame (Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, and Phil Woolpert, USF) , Phil Smith, Dennis Johnson, Rick Adelman, Darwin Cook, Kurt Rambis , TomMeschery, Bo Kimble, the late Hank Gathers, and most recently, Doug Christie spent their formative years pounding the hardwoods of the Conference. The WCC is no longer merely a basketball league, as it offers a total of 11 championships for men (baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, tennis and soccer) and women (basketball, cross country, tennis, soccer, and volleyball). The league owns NCAA automatic bids in men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer and volleyball. Last year, the WCC advanced a representative from each of its sports to the NCAA championships. PITCHES, DIAMONDS, COURTS AND COURSES While basketball gets most of the attention, it's not the only WCC sport. In fact , the conference has gained national recognition as having one of the top baseball and soccer leagues in the country. Santa Clara tied for the national soccer crown in 1989. Portland has been in four straight NCAA soccer tournaments while San Diego advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1990. USF has won the soccer national championship four times. In baseball, Pepperdine won the 1992 national baseball title, and has won eight of the last nine WCC crowns. Countless players have gone on to professional baseball careers after playing collegiately in the WCC. In tennis, the University of San Diego captured the WCC crowns in 1989 and 1990, while Pepperdine has won the past two. USO senior Jose Luis Noriega became the school's first ever four-time NCAA All-American, and participated in the NCAA Tournament each year (1989-92) . This is the eighth season ofWCC women's sports, and the six th with conference membership mirroring the men's league. Gonzaga, Portland and St. Mary 's upgraded their programs to the Division I level just five years ago. Gonzaga won the women's title in their first Division I season, St. Mary's won it in 1989 and 1990, and Santa Clara took the title in 1991. Santa Clara, Portland and San Francisco ended in a three-way tie in 1992. Portland has captured the cross-country crown in each of the last five years. Pepperdine is a perennial champion in volleyball and tennis, though the competition and quality of play in all four sports - basketball, cross country, tennis and volleyball - is improving annually. The San Diego women 's tennis team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament the past four years. In 1990-1991, the USO doubles team of Julie McKeon and Laura Richards advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships and both garnered All-America status. 1992 was the initial season for women's soccer as a WCC sport. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Current WCC members have won 14 NCAA team championships, most recently the 1992 baseball crown by Pepperdine. USF has seven titles (four in soccer, two in basketball, one in tennis) followed by Pepperdine with four (three in volleyball and one in baseball), and Santa Clara (soccer) and Gonzaga (boxing) with one apiece. Pepperdine has three individual tennis champions and Gonzaga has a trio of boxing winners. San Francisco has won individual championships in tennis and fencing while Loyola Marymount won an individual track title. San Diego picked up a pair of Division II team tennis crowns and Pepperdine won two track awards prior to joining the WCC. Portland captured its first national title in 1986, in NAIA cross country. Saint Mary's also won the NAIA soccer championship that year. 1991-92 WEST COAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS 1992 wee Results 1991-92 All Games Team w L PCT GB Home Away w L PCT Home Away Neut Strk Last 10 Pepperdine 14 0 1.000 7-0 7-0 24 7 .774 11-2 10-3 3-2 LI 9-1 Santa Clara 9 5 .643 5 4-3 5-2 14 15 .483 7-7 5-6 2-2 LI 6-4 Loyola Marymount 8 6 .571 6 4-3 3-4 15 13 .536 10-5 5-7 0-1 LI 6-4 Gonzaga 8 6 .571 6 5-2 3-4 20 10 .667 12-2 5-6 3-2 LI 5-5 San Diego 6 8 .429 8 4-3 2-5 14 14 .500 9-4 4-9 1-1 LI 3-7 San Francisco 4 10 .286 10 2-5 2-5 13 16 .448 8-5 3-9 2-2 LI 4-6 Saint Mary's 4 10 .286 10 4-3 0-7 13 17 .433 10-4 2-10 1-3 L4 2-8 Portland 3 11 .214 11 3-4 0-7 10 18 .357 7-8 2-10 1-0 L7 2-8