The San Diego Toreros men's basketball team is the men's college basketball program that represents the University of San Diego (USD). The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I as a member of the West Coast Conference (WCC). The team plays its home games at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
| San Diego Toreros | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| University | University of San Diego | ||
| Head coach | Steve Lavin (3rd season) | ||
| Conference | West Coast Conference | ||
| Location | San Diego, California | ||
| Arena | Jenny Craig Pavilion (capacity: 5,100) | ||
| Nickname | Toreros | ||
| Colors | Navy, white, and Toreros blue[1] | ||
| Uniforms | |||
| |||
| 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 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
editUniversity 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 Petco Park hosted a basketball game.[4] The Toreros won 53–48.[5]
College admissions scandal
editLamont 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
editNCAA Division I
editThe 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
editThe 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
editThe 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
editThe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
edit2022–2023 (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
editReferences
edit- ^ "Color Palette - USD Brand - University of San Diego". Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Canepa, Michael (December 3, 1984). "Year later, Whitmarsh looks forward and back". Evening Tribune. p. D-1.
- ^ "San Diego State Aztecs Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Aztecs Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
- ^ "San Diego State to play San Diego at Petco Park". Retrieved 2016-08-02.
- ^ "San Diego State Aztecs Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Aztecs Home and Away". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
- ^ "Texas Coach Resigns After Being Linked to College Admissions Scandal | PEOPLE.com".
- ^ "UTEP, former San Diego coach Lamont Smith implicated in college admissions scandal"
- ^ "UTEP assistant basketball coach resigns, implicated in college admissions scandal". KTSM. March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ 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.
