San Diego Toreros men's basketball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
San Diego Toreros
2023–24 San Diego Toreros men's basketball team
UniversityUniversity of San Diego
Head coachSteve Lavin
ConferenceWest Coast Conference
LocationSan Diego, California
ArenaJenny Craig Pavilion
(Capacity: 5,100)
NicknameToreros
ColorsNavy, white, and Toreros blue[1]
     
Uniforms
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away


NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1978*
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1978*
NCAA tournament round of 32
2008
NCAA tournament appearances
1966*, 1973*, 1974*, 1978*, 1979*, 1984, 1987, 2003, 2008
*at Division II level
Conference tournament champions
2003, 2008
Conference regular season champions
1984, 1987
For information on all University of San Diego sports, see San Diego Toreros

The San Diego Toreros men's basketball team is the men's college basketball program that represents the University of San Diego. The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I as a member of the West Coast Conference (WCC). The team plays their home games at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

The Toreros won their first WCC title in 1983–84, when the conference was known as the West Coast Athletic Conference. Jim Brovelli was named the conference coach of the year.[2] The team played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2008.

Rivalries[edit]

University of San Diego's biggest rival is San Diego State University. Since the 2001–02 season the Toreros have been 3–15 against the Aztecs during the past 15 seasons, but led the series 10–9 prior to that (SDSU leads 23–14 all-time with both programs at the Division I level).[3] As of the 2022–23 season, the last Toreros win came during the 2018–19 season at SDSU. They also won against them during a game at Petco Park during the 2015–16 season, at the time the fifth game since 2011 to be played outside; it was also the first time the Petco Park hosted a basketball game.[4] The Toreros won 53–48.[5]

College admissions scandal[edit]

Lamont Smith, who coached the team from 2015 to 2018, was accused of accepting a bribe as part of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal while he was coach of the team, allegedly illegally helping a Beverly Hills real estate developer's children gain admission to the university.[6][7][8][9]

Postseason results[edit]

NCAA Division I[edit]

The Toreros have appeared in four NCAA Division I Tournaments. Their combined record is 1–4.

Year Seed Round Opponent Result
1984 12 Preliminary Round (12) Princeton L 56–65
1987 9 First Round (8) Auburn L 61–62
2003 13 First Round (4) Stanford L 69–77
2008 13 First Round
Second Round
(4) Connecticut
(12) Western Kentucky
W 70–69OT
L 63–72

NCAA Division II[edit]

The Toreros appeared in five NCAA Division II Tournaments. Their combined record was 4–6.

Year Round Opponent Result
1966 Regional Semifinals
Regional Third Place
Seattle Pacific
Nevada
L 63–69
L 71–74
1973 Regional Semifinals
Regional Third Place
Cal State Bakersfield
Puget Sound
L 44–50
W 80–73
1974 Round of 44 Sonoma State L 54–60
1978 Regional Semifinals
Regional Finals
Elite Eight
Puget Sound
Cal State Northridge
Florida Tech
W 91–85
W 70–67
L 71–77
1979 Regional Semifinals
Regional Third Place
UC Riverside
Cal State Northridge
L 48–62
W 74–69 (OT)

NIT results[edit]

The Toreros have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) once, in 2019.

Year Round Opponent Result
2019 First Round Memphis L 60–74

CIT results[edit]

The Toreros have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) two times. Their combined record is 4–2.

Year Round Opponent Result
2014 First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Portland State
Sam Houston State
Pacific
W 87–65
W 77–72
L 60–75
2018 First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Hartford
Portland State
Northern Colorado
W 88–72
W 67–64
L 75–86

Record by coach[edit]

Coach Years Seasons Won Lost Pct. Conference Titles NCAA¹ NIT¹ CIT¹
Data at conclusion of 2021–22 WCC tournament
Fon Johnson 1955–1957 2 24 31 .436 0 0 0 0
Bob McCutcheon 1957–1958 1 14 11 .560 0 0 0 0
Les Harvey 1958–1960 2 15 36 .294 0 0 0 0
Ken Leslie 1960–1961 1 11 16 .407 0 0 0 0
Ed Baron 1961–1962 1 6 20 .231 0 0 0 0
Phil Woolpert 1962–1969 7 90 90 .500 0 0 0 0
Bernie Bickerstaff 1969–1973 4 55 49 .529 0 0 0 0
Jim Brovelli 1973–1984 11 160 131 .550 1 1 0 0
Hank Egan 1984–1994 10 156 126 .553 1 1 0 0
Brad Holland 1994–2007 13 200 176 .532 1 1 0 0
Bill Grier 2007–2015 8 117 144 .448 1 1 0 1
Lamont Smith 2015–2018 3 40 52 .435 0 0 0 0
Sam Scholl 2018–2022 4 50 66 .431 0 0 1 1
Totals 63 938 948 (.497)

¹ Invitations

Results by Season, Last 10 Years[edit]

2022–2023 (11-20) (4–12 Conference)
2021–2022 (15-16) (7–9 Conference)
2020–2021 (3-11) (2-7 Conference)
2018–2019 (21–14) (7–9 Conference)
2017–2018 (20–14) (9–9 Conference)
2016–2017 (13–18) (6–12 Conference)
2015–2016 (9–21) (4–14 Conference)
2014–2015 (15–16) (8–10 Conference)
2013–2014 (18–17) (7–11 Conference)
2012–2013 (16–18) (7–9 Conference)

Toreros in the NBA[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Color Palette - USD Brand - University of San Diego". Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  2. ^ Canepa, Michael (December 3, 1984). "Year later, Whitmarsh looks forward and back". Evening Tribune. p. D-1.
  3. ^ "San Diego State Aztecs Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Aztecs Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  4. ^ "San Diego State to play San Diego at Petco Park". Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  5. ^ "San Diego State Aztecs Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Aztecs Home and Away". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  6. ^ "Texas Coach Resigns After Being Linked to College Admissions Scandal | PEOPLE.com".
  7. ^ "UTEP, former San Diego coach Lamont Smith implicated in college admissions scandal"
  8. ^ "UTEP assistant basketball coach resigns, implicated in college admissions scandal". KTSM. March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  9. ^ Ziegler, Mark; Davis, Kristina (March 21, 2019). "Lamont Smith identified as USD coach in bribery scheme; resigns as UTEP assistant". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

External links[edit]