News Scrapbook 1982-1984

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DAILY CALIFORNIAN JAN l 9 Dl4

SENTINEL JAN 1 8 1984

Toreros open league action tomorrow night

USD hosts Gonzaga in conference opener The University of San Diego men's baske~ball team can hardly wait to start the West Coast Athlet1~ Conferen~ (WCAC) season. The 9-6 Toreros are commg off their finest pre-conference campaign since they entered NCAA Division I competition four years ago. The Toreros tip off the WCAC sea~n tonight at 7:35 by hosting Gonzaga University (10-5) m ~e USD Sports Complex That's the first of three straight conference home games for the Toreros, who'll en~rtain Portland Saturday and Santa Clara Jan. 28. USD 1s 8-1 at home. Former Monte Vista High and Grossmont College star Mike Whitmarsh is the Toreros' main ~ - The S-foot-7 .enior's 18.9 scormg averages. ranks thi~ m_ the ~n- ference. He's third in rebounding _(8.1), third m assists (5.8) and his 53 percent floor shooting (107 of 202) ranks sixth. Six-foot-7 Anthony Reuss is the WCAC'~ !-

team All•WCAC playe_r Mike Whitmarsh leads USD m s~or- ing, rebounding an~ assists. The junior forward 1s averag- tng 18 _9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. Anothony Reuss, another junior forward_. is s_econd on the slub in scoring, w1~h an 1~.6 average, and rebou!ldu~g._ with 5 9 per game. He 1s h1ttmg _a bli tering 68 percent of his hot . Guard Mark Bostic averages 11.7 points per game, while center Scott Thompson pull down an average of 5.1 boards per contest. . The Toreros are outsc?rmg their opponents 74.~-63.7 m an average game, whil~ conver- ting 52 percent of their shots. They have had some pro- blems on the boards, where they are averaging 34.6 re- bounds per game compared to 34.8 for their opponents. /

THE TRIBUNE JAN l 9 1984

f1rst•

Toreros take 'edge' into league playj The University of San Diego just concluded its most s~~cessful non-conference basketball schedule as a Di- V1S1on_ I team. Now, all Torero coach Jim Brovelli can hope IS that his squad can maintain a similar level through the rest of the season.

The Toreros, 9-6 on the year thus far open their W~t Coast Athletic Conference schedule tonight agaIDSt Gonzaga (10-5) at the USD Sports Center. Ti- poff IS set for 7:30.

Part III/Wednesday, January 18, 1984 J tJSD Con l • 11ecl from Pace 1 from the time exams start unw Jan. 25." But the fundamental problem is still that fans want to seeawmner. "People want to see you Win at home every time," Brovelli said. "We are getting close to doing that." Cahill: "It's the history of teams in San Diego. San Diegans Will support a Winner, but otherwise they would rather do something else." Jf USD completes its fifth Division l season with a Winning record, it may begin to reverse its losing image. But Cahill already has plans to increase attendance for the West Coast Athletic Conference opener Thursday against Gonzaga at the Sports Center. "We are offering free tickets at University High, Francis Parker and St. Augustine to students and their parents,'' he said. "We are trying the giveaways and later hope to get pa}'ing fans." Cahill seems most disappointed about the lack of student support during semesters. "Jf the students came to the games we would pack the gym for every game," he said. "We get a good student attendance at our football games, even though football is Division 3. J don't know why football has more appeal. That just seems to be the place to be on Saturday." The last time USD had a sellout at the Sports Center was Jan. 29, 1983 against Pepperdine, which is probably the biggest name team in the WCAC now that the University of San Francisco abandoned the sport. But there are other factors besides semester breaks, apathy and losing records that affect attendance. One is tradition. Since USD is young and only in its fifth year in Division l, there really isn't any heritage, particularly when compared to the established Eastern andMidwestern institutions. "We just don't have a lot of alumni and a Jong athletic tradition," Cahill said. Second, there are no big-time teams in the conference that are highly recognizable. "I think we were hurt With the demise of San Francisco," Cahill said. "They were the big-name team in the West Coast Athletic Conference. With their loss a lig name was lost. With all due respect to teams like St. Mary's and Gonzaga, they are not big names in San Di ~go and not big names in basketball." ','bird, USD has difficulty scheduling big-name teams. These schools won't come to play in the Sports Center and the Toreros are reluctant to rent the 14,000-seat San :Ulego Sports Arena just to attract them. The overhead cost of renting the Sports Arena is something USD prefers not to take on just yet. San Diego State, the big-name team in town, has a winning record and rents the Sports Arena for its home games." But the Aztecs' biggest crowd this year was 6,494

iloeAnoetee Stmee

BARBARA MARTIN Loo Angeles Times Getting a seat at midcourt is not a problem at University of San Diego games at the Sports Center. Coldest Ticket in Town It's Really F.asy to Find a Good Seat for a University of San Diego Game By TIM GILLMAN, Times Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO-The University of San Diego men's basketball team may have set a record for nonatten- dance on Jan. 9 when it hosted Mount Marty College, a DiV1S1on 2 team from Yankton, S.D. Only 133 fan showed up at the 2.000-seat Sports Center for that one. Mount Marty 1s hardly one of the biggest draws in sports, but the acute lack of interest was an example of what the Toreros have faced all season. Average attendance at mne home games has been only 401. Presumably, th price of admlssion-$3 for adults and $2 for students and free for USO students-is not keeping fans away. "Obviously, we would hke to play before a sellout," Toreros Coach Jtm Brovelli said "Everybody wants to play m front of a crowd."

Brovelli's teams have played before home sellouts many times before. When USD was a top Division 2 earn in the late 1970s, capacity crowds at the Sports Center were not unusual. But since USD moved up to Division l four years ago, sellouts have been rare. Fans want to see a winner and in their first four seasons in Division 1 the Toreros weren't. This season, Just when USD (9-6) was catching fire on its home court (the Toreros are 8-1 there with the lone defeat coming m overtime against Cal State Long Beach, 73-65), students went on a holiday break. That break lasts until Jan. 25. "Part of our problem is that the students start exams Dec. 10," Athletic Director Rev. Patrick Cahill said. "This 1s an academic university. So, we lose the students Pleue see USO, Pace 8

, BARBARA MARTIN / Loo Angelos Ttmea There's lots of room to stretch out at USO home games, where the average crowd is 401.

against Virginia in the final of the Cabrillo Classic. San Diego State, with an undergraduate enrollment of about 26,000, compared to USD's 3,200, has averaged only 3,800 .fans for eight home games this season. And that's even with advertising. This year, the Toreros' image was nnproving before they lost abysmally to San Diego State at the Sports Arena before 3,866 on Jan. 5. USD hasn't beaten the

Aztecs since moving up to Division 1. "I don't buy the idea that this IS not a basketball town," Brovelli said. Cahill: "When we were in Division 2 and winning, the place was packed against no-name teams. The analogy seems to be to win." At least for now, the Toreros seem to be in a no-win situation.