USD Men's Basketball 1990-1991

PAGE 30

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE

A YEAR TO REMEMBER, A YEAR TO FORGET The 1989-90 season was the best and absolute worst of times in the West Coast Conference.

The season as a whole was one of the rougher ones since the conference formed 39 years ago. After having a league-best four teams win 20 games and go on to postseason play in 1988-89, three teams lost 20 in '89-90 and only one continued play in the tournaments. But what a "one" it was. Loyola Marymount set a new NCAA scoring record with 122.4 points per game and roared to the championship game of the NCAA West Regionals. The Lions' roar through the NCAA field, while euphoric, came on the heels of the utmost tragedy in league and school history. On March 4, 1989, Hank Gathers, the team star and the all-time leading scorer in conference history, died of heart failure during the WCC tournament. The Lions gained the league's automatic bid based on their 13-1 record in WCC games and LMU found out its NCAA tournament first-round assignment while enroute to Philadelphia for the funeral. Using their all-out style and the support of an entire nation, the Lions dispatched New Mexico State (111-92), defending NCAA champ Michigan (149-115) and Alabama (62-60) before falling to eventual national champ UNLV. THE MEMBERS-PRESENT AND PAST The WCC is made up of eight private institutions spanning the three Pacific states from the borders of Canada to Mexico. The membership-Gonzaga University, Loyola Marymount University, Pepperdine University, the University of Portland, St. Mary's College, the University of San Diego, the University of San Francisco and Santa Clara University- has changed over the years, but the current alignment has remained intact for the longest stretch since its inception in 1952. The league started up in '52 as the "California Basketball Association," an alliance of San Francisco Bay Area schools. Charter members St. Mary's, San Francisco and Santa Clara remain in the alignment, with original members Pacific and San Jose State having departed in the early 1970s. The conference expanded from five to eight schools in 1956 with the addition of current members Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine, along with Fresno State, which left the league in 1958. It was during that initial expansion that the conference was named the "West Coast Athletic Conference." The league shortened that to the current "WCC" in 1989. Several other schools have owned membership in the wee, including UC Santa Barbara (1965-69), Nevada-Las Vegas (1969-75), Nevada-Reno (1969-79), and Seattle (1971-80). Portland joined the conference in 1977, followed by San Diego and Gonzaga in 1980. All together, 15 different schools have com– peted in the wee at some point. 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, John Stockton, and most recently, Bo Kimble and the late Hank Gathers. Former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle once served as sports information director at USF. San Francisco 35 years 15 titles Pepperdine 35 years 7 titles Santa Clara 38 years 7 titles St. Mary's 38 years 3 titles PITCHES, DIAMONDS, COURTS AND COURSES Loyola Marymount San Diego Portland Gonzaga 35 years 10 years 14 years 10 years 3 titles 1 title 0 titles O titles 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 started the 1990 season as the nation's top ranked team . Portland has been to two straight NCAA tournaments and has won or tied for both of the league's round-robin championships. Four different WCC members-Santa Clara, Portland, San Francisco and San Diego-appeared in last season's Top 20. USF has won the soccer national championship four times. Baseball is also another power sport in the WCC and multiple entries into the NCAA tournament are becoming the rule. Pepperdine had won six straight league titles before Loyola Marymount ended the string last season. Countless players have gone on to professional baseball careers after playing collegiately in the WCC. The University of San Diego men's tennis team has captured the WCC crown the past two seasons after a long dominant run by Pepperdine. This is the sixth season of WCC women's sports, and the fourth with conference membership mirroring the men's league. Gonzaga, Portland and St. Mary's upgraded their programs to the Division One level just three years ago. The Bulldogs won the women's basketball title in their first Division One season, St. Mary's won it in 1989 in their second, and repeated the feat in 1990. Portland has captured the cross-country crown in each of the last three years. Pepperdine is a perennial champion in volleyball and tennis, though the competition and quality of play in all four women's sports– basketball, cross country, tennis and volleyball-is improving annually. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 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. The conference sponsors championships in cross country (men and women), baseball, basketball (men and women), golf (men), soccer (men), tennis (men and women) and volleyball (women).

1989-90 WEST COAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS

1990 wee Results

1989-90 All Games

w 26 17 16 11

w 13 10

Sirk

PCT .813 .607 .571 .393 .321 .286 .259 .286

Last 10

L

Home

Away

Neut

Away

Home

GB

PCT .929 .714 .643 .500 .429 .286 .286 .214

L

6

9-1 8-2 8-2 6-4 4-6 2-8 1-9 2-8

L1

4-1 3-2 1-1 1-3 0-1 0-3 0-4 1-1

11-1 10-2 10-5

11-4

1 4 5 7 8

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

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

Loyola Marymount

11 12 17 19 20 20 20

W4 W2 W2

4-7 5-6 3-8

3 4 6 7 9 9

Pepperdine San Diego

9 7 6 4 4 3

7-6 7-8 6-8 5-6 5-8

Portland

9 8 7 8

L4 L3 L2

2-10

Santa Clara

2-9 3-9

10 10 11

San Francisco

St. Mary's Gonzaga

L1

2-11

10