USD Men's Basketball 1991-1992

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

wee CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY The West Coast Conference turns 40 in 1991-92 with hopes that the number of its returning athletes among the eight WCC basketball teams will make th is anniversary season one to remember for a long, long time. Thirty-three of the 40 players who started the majority of the games last year are back for another go-around in 1992. The eight-team conference, with members spanning the West Coast from Canada to Mexico, is made up of 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. All eight are private institutions with exceptional academic reputations and have made up the WCC for the past dozen years. Like any 40-year-old, the league has undergone a few changes with a total of 15 different schools owning membership at some point. (Former members include charter members San Jose State and Pacific, along with UNLV, Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara, Nevada-Reno and Seattle.) Formed as the California Basketball Association in 1952, the league changed its name to the West Coast Athletic Conference in 1956 and shortened that to the current name in 1990. The WCC sponsors ten championships for men and women in: baseball , men's and women's basketball , men's and women's cross country, men's golf, men's soccer, men's and women's tennis and women's volleyball. San Francisco has won 16 men's hoops titles followed by Pepperdine (8), Santa Clara (6), Loyola Marymount (4), Saint Mary's (3) and San Diego (2). TRADITION The WCC has deep roots in the glory days of basketball and the league has owned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament since its first year. Eight different members have won the title at least once with San Francisco leading the way with 15 league banners and a pair of back-to-back national championships in 1955 and 1956. Legendary names from the WCC 's past include Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, Phil Smith , Dennis Johnson, Darwin Cook, Tom Meschery, Kurt Rambis, Bill Cartwright and John Stockton. Former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle once served as sports information director at USF. San Francisco 36 years 15 titles Loyola Marymount 36 years 3 titles Pepperdine 36 years 8 titles San Diego 11 years 1 title Santa Clara 39 years 7 titles Portland 15 years O titles St. Mary's 39 years 3 titles Gonzaga 11 years O titles PITCHES, DIAMONDS, COURTS AND COURSES While basketball gets most of the attention , it's not the only WCC sport. In fact , the conference is gaining recognition as one of the top soccer leagues in the country. Santa Clara tied for the national championship in 1989 and has been ranked among the nation's best the past two years. Portland has been in three straight NCAA tournaments while San Diego made it to the Sweet Sixteen in 1990. USF has won the soccer national championship four times. Baseball is also another sport with a successful past. Pepperdine has won seven of the past eight titles. Countless players have gone on to professional baseball careers after playing collegiately in the WCC. The University of San Diego men's tennis team captured the WCC crowns in 1989 and 1990, with Pepperdine winning in 1991 . This is the seventh season of WCC women's sports, and the fifth with conference membership mirroring the men's league. Gonzaga, Portland and St. Mary's upgraded their programs to the Division I level just four 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 . Portland has captured the cross-country crown in each of the last four 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 Current WCC members have won 13 NCAA team championships, most recently the shared 1989 soccer crown by Santa Clara. USF has seven titles (four in soccer, two in basketball, one in tennis) followed by Pepperdine with three (all in volleyball) 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. St. Mary's also won the NAIA soccer championship that year. volleyball-is improving annually. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

1990-91 WEST COAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS 1991 WCC Results

1990-91 All Games

w 13

w 22 16 17 13 16 14 12

Last 10

Sirk

Neut

Away

L

Home

PCT .710 .516 .586 .433 .522 .500 .414 .179

Home

L

GB

PCT .929 .643 .571 .500 .500 .357 .286 .214

Away

1 5 6 7 7 9

9-1 8-2 4-6 6-4 4-6 3-7 2-8 1-9

L1 L2 L1 L1 L3 L1 L1 L1

4-2 2-4 2-1 2-4 2-1 1-2 2-2 0-1

9

8-3 7-7 6-7 3-8 4-7 2-8

Pepperdine

10-4

6-1 4-3 4-3 5-2 4-3 4-3 4-3 2-5

7-0 5-2 4-3 2-5 3-4 1-6 0-7 1-6

15 12 17 13 14 17 23

9 8 7 7 5 4 3

Loyola Marymount

7-4 9-4 8-5

4 5 6 6 8 9

San Diego Saint Mary's Santa Clara

10-5 11-4 10-5

Gonzaga

10 11

San Francisco

0-10 1-13

5

Portland

4-9

10

1991 ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM Jarrod Davis (Gonzaga), Terrell Lowery & Richard Petruska (LMU), Doug Christie & Geoff Lear (Pepperdine), Eric Bamberger (St. Mary's), Kelvin Woods (San Diego), Tim Owens (USF), Ron Reis & Rhea Taylor (Santa Clara). 1991 HONORABLE MENTION Dana Jones (Pepperdine), David Roth (Portland), Allen Caveness & Thurman Watson (St. Mary's), Michael Brown & Pat Holbert & Anthony Thomas & Wayman Strickland (San Diego), Melvin Chinn (Santa Clara).

COACH OF THE YEAR: Tom Asbury (Pepperdine) PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Doug Christie (Pepperdine) FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Dana Jones (Pepperdine)