University of San Diego Magazine - Fall 2025

TORERO ATHLETICS

Women’s Basketball Gets Underway with New Coach Blanche Alverson was named the fourth head coach in the history of the University of San Diego Women’s Basketball program in March. Alverson joined the Toreros after six seasons at Georgia Tech, where she most recently served as associate head coach. Alverson began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech and has held assistant coaching roles at New Mexico State, USC and Georgia Tech. Professional and personal highlights: • Four postseason appearances, including three NCAA tournaments • Three 20+ win seasons • One of just four players in Auburn history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals and 50 blocks • A two-time SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year • Bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences (Auburn) and master’s degree in sports management (Texas Tech) • Andalusia, Alabama, native

TORERO KIDS CLUB IS DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF TORERO FANS

USD’S COACHING CLINIC REPRESENTED NEARLY A CENTURY OF COMBINED SIDELINE EXPERIENCE.

University of San Diego Athletics has launched the Torero Kids Club, offering young fans a full season of access to USD sporting events for $25. The club is open to children entering eighth grade or younger for the 2025-26 school year and includes free admission to all regular-season home games for football, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball, plus five pre-selected men’s basketball games. Kids Club members will receive a kit featuring an official badge and lanyard, a USD-branded lunch bag and spirit gear — including stickers, wristbands, necklaces and pom-poms. Kids will also receive invitations to exclusive club events and special in-game experiences throughout the year. For more information or to sign up, email marketingathletics@sandiego.edu.

NBA and College Coaching Legends Gather for Sold-Out

USD Set to Launch Women’s Beach Volleyball Program COMPETITION PLANNED FOR SPRING 2027

Clinic at USD A star-studded lineup of NBA and college basketball coaches descended on USD’s campus this summer for a coaching clinic that drew a crowd to the university’s new Basketball Performance Center. New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown ’93 (BBA) headlined the event alongside fellow Torero alumni and NBA leaders James Borrego ’00 (BA), David Fizdale ’97 (BA) and Chris Grant ’94 (BA), ’96 (MEd). The clinic also featured women’s basketball coaching veterans Lindsay Gottlieb and Beth Burns from USC. “It was special to be back at USD for the inaugural coaches clinic,” said Brown, who played two seasons for the Toreros. “The energy from the players, Coach Blanche Alverson and Coach Steve Lavin was great.” Brown has helped capture four NBA Larry O’Brien Championship Trophies during his career. The gathering represented nearly a century of combined sideline experience, including eight NBA championships, 30 NCAA Tournament appearances, 11 Coach

of the Year awards and more than 1,500 head coaching wins. USD currently has five alumni who have served as full-time NBA head coaches. The Basketball Performance Center provided an ideal backdrop for the first of-its-kind clinic, featuring a full-length court with a viewing terrace, a dedicated shooting court, sport-specific strength and conditioning facilities, and advanced sports medicine and hydrotherapy spaces. “Having our women’s and men’s programs unite — along with alum Chris Grant — to plan and launch this inaugural event fostered a shared communal spirit,” Lavin said. “It further enhanced a terrific setting for learning, exchanging ideas and celebrating our love of USD Basketball.” Brown’s Torero pride was evident as he closed the six-hour clinic. “USD played such a big role in my life, so it’s always an honor to return and be part of something like this,” Brown said. “I’m excited about what’s ahead for USD Basketball.”

The University of San Diego is the first NCAA Division I university in the San Diego region to sponsor a beach volleyball program, which received its launch funding through a lead gift from the Jansen family. Women’s Beach Volleyball will be USD’s 18th varsity sport and 10th women’s program. “This is an exciting and monumental moment for the Toreros,” said Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics Kimya Massey. “We’re incredibly grateful to the Jansen family who stepped forward with a significant gift to help us bring beach volleyball to USD — a natural fit for our institution and for the San Diego community.” Derek Olson, who transformed beach volleyball at the University of Washington into a nationally ranked program and guided the Huskies to their first NCAA Championship appearance in 2024, has been named the program’s inaugural head coach. “The opportunity to build a program from the ground up in a place like San Diego — with its volleyball tradition, community support and world-class student-athlete experience — is special,” Olson said. The Toreros will compete in the West Coast Conference (WCC), becoming the eighth WCC institution to sponsor beach volleyball. The program will compete at an on-campus facility designed to host tournaments and NCAA matches. “With 17 miles of coastline and an average of 266 days of sunshine each year, San Diego is a mecca for beach volleyball,” said USD President James T. Harris III, DEd. “Our women’s volleyball team recently advanced to the Final Four for the first time ever and there’s absolutely no better place to play volleyball — either on the court or on the beach — than at USD.” The sport became an NCAA championship offering in 2016. The team will welcome its first recruiting class in Fall 2026.

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