San Diego Toreros men's basketball
American college basketball team in California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
(capacity: 5,100)
| San Diego Toreros men's basketball | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| |||||||
| University | University of San Diego | ||||||
| Head coach | JR Blount (1st season) | ||||||
| Location | San Diego, California | ||||||
| Arena | Jenny Craig Pavilion (capacity: 5,100) | ||||||
| Conference | West Coast Conference | ||||||
| Nickname | Toreros | ||||||
| Colors | Navy, white, and Toreros blue[1] | ||||||
| NCAA Division I tournament Elite Eight | |||||||
| 1978* | |||||||
| |||||||
| Conference tournament champions | |||||||
| 2003, 2008 | |||||||
| Conference regular-season champions | |||||||
| 1984, 1987 | |||||||
| Uniforms | |||||||
| |||||||
* at Division II level | |||||||
- 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
University of San Diego's biggest rival is cross town, out of conference, San Diego State University. USD trails 14-23 all-time with both programs at the Division I level. Since the 2001–02 season the Toreros have been 3–15 against the Aztecs, but led the series 10–9 prior to that.[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
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
NCAA Division I
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
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
The Toreros have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) once, in 2019.
CIT results
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
| 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 |
| Steve Lavin | 2022-present | 3 | 35 | 52 | .402 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 66 | 973 | 1000 | (.493) | |||||
¹ Invitations
Results by Season, Last 12 Years
2024–2025 (6-27) (2-16 Conference)
2023–2024 (18-15) (7-9 Conference)
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)
