1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
Conference	Pacific Coast Athletic Association
Record	8–17 (2–12 PCAA)
Head coach	Tim Taft (9th season);
Home arena	Crawford Hall
	Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The 1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was the program's first season in Division I after spending the previous 12 season in Division II. The Anteaters were led by ninth year head coach Tim Taft and played their home games at Crawford Hall as members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished their inaugural season 8–17 and were 2–12 in PCAA play to finish 8th place. The anteaters did not receive an invitation to the 1978 PCAA tournament.

1977–78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Fresno State	11	–	3	.786	21	–	6	.778
San Diego State	11	–	3	.786	19	–	9	.679
Cal State Fullerton †	9	–	5	.643	23	–	9	.719
Pacific	9	–	5	.643	17	–	10	.630
Long Beach State	7	–	7	.500	16	–	13	.552
San Jose State	4	–	10	.286	8	–	19	.296
UC Santa Barbara	3	–	11	.214	8	–	19	.296
UC Irvine	2	–	12	.143	8	–	17	.320

† 1978 PCAA tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Previous season

The 1976–77 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team finished their final season in NCAA Division II as an Independent with a record of 10–17.

In July 1977, the anteaters were formally accepted into the Pacific Coast Athletic Association and reclassified as an NCAA Division I program beginning with the 1977–78 season.^[2]

Off-season

Incoming transfer

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Steve McGuire	F	6'5"	N/A	Jr.	N/A	Junior college transfer from Rio Hondo College^[3]

1977 Recruiting Class

US college sports recruiting information for 1977 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Quentin Brown F	N/A	Theodore Roosevelt High School (Fresno) (CA)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	N/A
Quentin Brown F	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Willie Alexander G	N/A	Theodore Roosevelt High School (Fresno) (CA)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
Willie Alexander G	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Bret Bell C	N/A	Sanger Union High School (CA)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	N/A
Bret Bell C	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Rick Jurk G	N/A	Mira Costa High School (CA)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	N/A
Rick Jurk G	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Source^[4]

Roster

1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Year
C	Bret Bell	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Fr
C	Phil Bolden	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr
F	Quentin Brown	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Fr
G	Ben Carson	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	So
C	Kirk Christ	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Sr
G	Rick Jurk	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Fr
C	Dave Knudsen	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So
F	Steve McGuire	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Jr
F	Steve Rodgers	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So
G	Jack Sapp	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	So
F	Wayne Smith	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	RS Sr
G	Louis Stephens	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Sr

Head coach

Tim Taft (Pepperdine)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: July 10, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 27, 1977*	at Portland	L 61–77	0–1	Howard Hall (945) Portland, OR
November 29, 1977*	at Chico State	W 62–56	1–1	– (352) Chico, CA
December 3, 1977*	at UC San Diego	L 64–76	1–2	– (250) San Diego, CA
December 10, 1977*	Wisconsin–Parkside	W 59–51	2–2	Crawford Hall (450) Irvine, CA
December 16, 1977*	Boise State	W 66–64	3–2	Crawford Hall (525) Irvine, CA
December 17, 1977*	Aurora College	W 70–48	4–2	Crawford Hall (450) Irvine, CA
December 20, 1977*	Portland	L 68–73	4–3	Crawford Hall (703) Irvine, CA
December 22, 1977*	at Oregon	L 62–77	4–4	McArthur Court (10,500) Eugene, OR
December 30, 1977*	at California	L 50–83	4–5	Harmon Gym (2,500) Berkeley, CA
January 7, 1978*	at Northern Colorado	W 60–58	5–5	Butler–Hancock Hall (650) Greeley, CO
January 12, 1978	Fresno State	L 40–45	5–6 (0–1)	Crawford Hall (1,025) Irvine, CA
January 14, 1978	Cal State Fullerton	L 59–88	5–7 (0–2)	Crawford Hall (1,382) Irvine, CA
January 19, 1978	at San Diego State	L 65–90	5–8 (0–3)	Peterson Gym (2,881) San Diego, CA
January 21, 1978	at Long Beach State	L 79–92	5–9 (0–4)	Long Beach Arena (3,036) Long Beach, CA
January 24, 1978*	at Loyola Marymount	W 72–69	6–9	Loyola Memorial Gymnasium (800) Los Angeles, CA
January 26, 1978	Pacific	L 58–70	6–10 (0–5)	Crawford Hall (575) Irvine, CA
January 28, 1978	San Jose State	W 73–58	7–10 (1–5)	Crawford Hall (682) Irvine, CA
February 2, 1978	at UC Santa Barbara	L 76–78	7–11 (1–6)	Robertson Gymnasium (1,482) Santa Barbara, CA
February 4, 1978	UC Santa Barbara	W 68–65	8–11 (2–6)	Crawford Hall (956) Irvine, CA
February 9, 1978	at San Jose State	L 67–70	8–12 (2–7)	Independence High School (1,440) San Jose, CA
February 11, 1978	at Pacific	L 73–58	8–13 (2–8)	Pacific Pavilion (2,350) Stockton, CA
February 16, 1978	Long Beach State	L 64–73	8–14 (2–9)	Crawford Hall (1,328) Irvine, CA
February 18, 1978	San Diego State	L 42–48	8–15 (2–10)	Crawford Hall (1,101) Irvine, CA
February 23, 1978	at Cal State Fullerton	L 75–83	8–16 (2–11)	Titan Gym (1,432) Fullerton, CA
February 25, 1978	at Fresno State	L 73–58	8–17 (2–12)	Selland Arena (6,493) Fresno, CA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source^[5] ^[6]

Awards and honors

Wayne Smith
- Second Team All-PCAA^[7]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
4	22	Wayne Smith	Phoenix Suns

Source^[8]

References

^ "1978-78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Season Summary". Retrieved July 10, 2017.
^ GUSTKEY, E. (1976, Jul 15). "PCAA WILL ADMIT UC IRVINE IN '77". Los Angeles Times
^ GUSTKEY, E. (1977, Jan 14). "UCI cagers have youthful outlook." Los Angeles Times
^ (1977, Apr 28). UCI signs three basketball stars. Los Angeles Times
^ "UC Irvine Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. UC Irvine Athletics. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
^ "Final 1978 Cumulative Basketball Statistics Report" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
^ "Big West Conference men's basketball record book" (PDF). bigwest.org. Big West Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
^ "Wayne Smith". realgm.com. Real GM. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

[1] "1978-78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Season Summary". Retrieved July 10, 2017.

[2] GUSTKEY, E. (1976, Jul 15). "PCAA WILL ADMIT UC IRVINE IN '77". Los Angeles Times

[3] GUSTKEY, E. (1977, Jan 14). "UCI cagers have youthful outlook." Los Angeles Times

[4] (1977, Apr 28). UCI signs three basketball stars. Los Angeles Times

[5] "UC Irvine Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. UC Irvine Athletics. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

[6] "Final 1978 Cumulative Basketball Statistics Report" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved July 20, 2017.

[7] "Big West Conference men's basketball record book" (PDF). bigwest.org. Big West Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

[8] "Wayne Smith". realgm.com. Real GM. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

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