USD Basketball: Powerhouse in the Making?

The University of San Diego didn’t quite make the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, but the Toreros definitely did make an impression.

Not only are they the first San Diego team ever to win an NCAA Tournament game with Friday’s overtime victory over heavily-favored Connecticut, but look what the future holds in store.

These Toreros, believe it or not, are a team of entirely underclassmen ... meaning everybody on the roster can come back next season.

Center Gyno Pomare and guard Brandon Johnson, the team’s mainstays, still have one year of eligibility remaining.

For starters, they will likely be joined in the line up next season by the likes of De’Jon Jackson, Rob Jones and Trumaine Johnson.

And to think that Jones and Trumaine Johnson have three years remaining ... and Jackson, the hero of the 70-69 overtime win vs. UConn, has two years to go.

The Toreros won’t get a shot at UCLA in the Sweet 16 after losing Sunday to Western Kentucky, but this team has a great future ahead under coach Bill Grier (assuming a bigger school doesn’t swoop him away one day with a better financial offer.)

Loyola Marymount dominated the West Coast Conference for awhile in the 1980s; then Pepperdine had a decade of dominance; followed by Gonzaga.

Who will have the next decade of dominance in the WCC?

Don’t be surprised if it’s the USD Toreros.

USD capable of pulling off NCAA upset

You know what?

The University of San Diego may have an upset in the making coming in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday vs. the University of Connecticut in Tampa, Fla.

Why?

These Toreros don’t seem to be intimidated on the big stage.

They went on the road in December and won at Kentucky, arguably one of the top four all-time national programs.

They won back-to-back games … albeit at home … against Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament.

UConn will be a tall task in more ways than one. The Huskies feature All-Big East Defensive Player of the Year Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 sophomore center who averaged 4.5 blocked shots a game this season.

Albeit the Huskies (24-8) have won 13 of their last 16 games, they’ve also lost three of six since a 10-game winning streak. And they were defeated by West Virginia, 78-72, in last week’s first round of the Big East Tournament.

USD (21-13) must try to offset Thabeet inside with 6-8 center Gyno Pomare, who has averaged 13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds.

As one might expect, the Toreros are a virtual unknown to UConn. Huskies coach Jim Calhoun mainly knows a little about Pomare.

“He's had some very good games. It's going to be an interesting battle, because we have a big guy, too,” Calhoun told the Connecticut media.

San Diego State? The Aztecs travel to Florida on Wednesday to play the two-time defending NCAA Champions in the NIT Tournament.

Say goodbye to the Aztecs!

Toreros have something to build on

Coach Bill Grier was hired before this men’s basketball season to get the University of San Diego into the upper-quartile of the West Coast Conference.

Getting to be among the top two of eight teams in the conference is probably going to happen quicker than expected for the Toreros.

Already, USD has earned the No. 3 seed in Grier’s first season for the WCC Tournament this weekend at Jenny Craig Pavilion on the USD campus.

It would be a stunner if USD overcomes Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s to reach the NCAA Tournament, but don’t be surprised if it happens next year when the Toreros again host the WCC finals.

USD had two holdover players from the regime under former coach Brad Holland make the all-conference team this season: junior center Gyno Pomare and junior guard Brandon Johnson.

But the freshman class is something to really get excited about. Shooting guard Rob Jones was named to the all-freshman WCC first team and fellow freshman Trumaine Johnson is also going to be a solid player.

This year’s Toreros finished 11-3 in the WCC, their best conference record in 20 years.

And it’s only going to get better in years to come with the current freshman class led by Jones and Trumaine Johnson.

Local college basketball worth watching

College basketball isn’t going to be so bad in San Diego this season.

San Diego State has its most balanced team in years. The University of San Diego is only going to get better under the great coaching of first-year mentor Bill Grier, a former assistant at West Coast Conference powerhouse Gonzaga.

Both San Diego teams are young, which is another remedy for future improvement. The Aztecs have only one senior; USD has none.

Lorrenzo Wade leads an SDSU team that is 5-0 and is 8-9 players deep in able contributors.

The Toreros (2-2) do not have any seniors. Junior center Gyno Pomare has two straight double-double games against Nevada Las Vegas and SDSU.

USD hosts the WCC postseason tournament each of the next two seasons. Don’t be surprised if the Toreros win that tournament by next year.

Coach Steve Fisher has brought the Aztecs from horrible to mediocre during his tenure on Montezuma Mesa. His team is likely looking at another NIT-type season, which is about as high as Fisher appears capable of taking this team.

But in the long run, at least local college basketball fans shouldn’t be too disappointed this season.