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LOCATION: San Diego, CA
CONFERENCE: West Coast
LAST SEASON: 18-9 (.667)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 9-5 (t-2nd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 4/1
NICKNAME: Toreros
COLORS: Columbia Blue, Navy & White
HOMECOURT: USD Sports Center (2,500)
COACH: Brad Holland (UCLA '79)
record at school 74-64 (5 years)
career record 97-95 (7 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Kyle Smith (Hamilton '92)
Terry Boesel (Oregon State '86)
David Fisdale (USD '96)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 11-14-17-14-18
RPI (last 5 years) 185-140-146-163-126
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Hard hats are mandatory on the USD campus. Workmen are busy on the $17 million Jenny Craig Pavilion, the beautiful new home for Toreros basketball starting next year. Coach Brad Holland's latest team is also under construction. Holland the reigning WCC Coach of the Year lost four starters. There isn't a senior to be found on the roster and he is basically starting over. Thank goodness 6-foot junior point guard Dana White (9.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 102 assists, 37 steals, 40.8 percent 3 PT) is still hanging around. "It's going to be challenging," Holland said. "To say we're going to be young is understating the issue. We've got to find a way to overcome our youth." If the former sharpshooting UCLA guard finds it and San Diego finishes anywhere near the top of the WCC pile, then Holland should be coach of the year again by acclamation. First, the highlights. Holland's 1998-99 team was special for several reasons. It went 18-9, the best mark of Holland's five USD teams and the best winning percentage at the school since the 1986-87 team went 24-6 and lost to Auburn by one point in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C- BENCH/DEPTH D
FRONTCOURT D INTANGIBLES C-
It would be a tremendous accomplishment if coach Brad Holland can poke and prod the Toreros to another winning season. His job won't be easy. Nick Greene might have tipped the scales over .500, but he's likely out for the season. The Toreros will have to be content with lurking as a tournament darkhorse in March. If all else fails, they have the Jenny Craig Pavilion to look forward to. |
The Toreros finished second in conference play at 9-5, the school's best WCC record since 1987. The players and coaches bonded and there seemed to be a special chemistry afoot. Of course, when Saint Mary's got man-mountain center Brad Millard (7-3, 345) back just in time for the WCC Tournament, chemistry gave way to physics and the laws of probability. Millard was simply too big. And White had been limping all week with a strained knee ligament. Holland was crushed when Millard's Gaels rumbled past the Toreros in the first round of the conference tournament, but he didn't let it ruin the entire year. "One game doesn't wipe out our season," he said. "It was the finest team I've ever coached or been associated with," he said. Ryan Williams (15.7 ppg), Brock Jacobsen (10.7 ppg), and Lamont Smith (4.6 ppg) are gone. So is 7-foot senior center Jeff Knoll (3.1 ppg) and promising transfer forward Nick Greene (17.0 ppg at Mesa AZ JC). "Knoll would have been our only senior, but he decided not play," Holland said. "That set us back a bit." Jason Powell, a 6-9 redshirt freshman, also elected not to play. The situation became borderline desperate when the Toreros lost Greene, a 6-7 junior and one-time starter at Oregon State. He was projected as a front-line starter after ranking No. 2 in NJCAA rebounding (13.7 rpg). "He tore his ACL (in June) and I'm not sure when he'll be available," Holland said. Up front, Holland said, "We've taken a hit. We're obviously concerned about our inside play." USD is full of holes on paper, but the point-guard spot is solid. At 5-11 and 160 pounds, White doesn't remind anybody of Magic Johnson, but he is one of the most respected players in the league. "Great quickness, speed, and play-making ability," Holland said. A playmaker needs help, however, and the Toreros aren't sure where it will come from. The key returnees are 6-7 junior forward Cameron Rigby (7.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg), 6-6 sophomore forward Tom Lippold (6.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg), and 6-1 sophomore guard Andre Laws (5.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 28 steals). USD might get help from new recruit Kyle Russell, a 6-2 junior guard who played for an outstanding junior college team (Snow) in Utah, averaging 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds. "He's just a very good, all-around player," Holland said. Holland said Laws will concentrate on off-guard after backing up White at the point last season. Rigby, a load at 230 pounds, was the best sixth man in the league last year. He shot .880 from the foul line. "We need him to come in at the (power forward) spot and play well," Holland said. Kevin Hanson, a 6-10 sophomore, made five starts but averaged just 2.0 points. Steve Ross, 6-6 sophomore swingman, averaged 3.9 points in 21 games. "We've got some young players who helped us win last year," Holland said. "What we won't have is that senior leadership. It's going to be interesting to see how our ballclub can get together in a short amount of time and see what we can do as a team." In a preseason coaches' poll, USD was picked sixth, just ahead of Loyola Marymount and Portland. Holland knows the Toreros aren't contenders this season. Not on paper. It wouldn't be the end of the world if this team is a year away. In fact, the timing might be perfect. "The Jenny Craig Pavilion is going vertical now, and it's very exciting," Holland said. "We're one year away. . . and the neat thing is, we'll have at least five scholarships available. We'll bring in a bunch of new recruits next fall, and they're going to be able to actually see the building. That will help." Holland has tried to be diplomatic about the 36-year-old USD Sports Center, a building that probably should have been condemned years ago. It has offered a good home-court advantage. Nobody wants to play there. "Getting (non-league home games) is a very challenging, time-consuming project every year," Holland said. Texas wouldn't do it, but the Longhorns did sign a contract to play the Toreros in the San Diego Sports Arena. Bad move. It was Toreros 61, Texas 57 in a good old-fashioned western ambush. Now comes the payback. San Diego plays at Texas Dec. 11. "That's going to be a very challenging situation," Holland said. "They're going to be looking for blood."
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