Sports enthusiasts: Being nice has its rewards

Being kind and thoughtful has its advantages.

Just take the relationship between San Diego State University and the University of San Diego, for example.

Thanks to the generosity of USD, an SDSU sports enthusiast will now be able to watch the Aztecs play a “home” game in the second round of the NIT on Friday night at USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Two years ago, USD was in a similar bind. The Toreros were hosting a four-team regional in the NCAA Baseball Tournament but couldn’t play at home because they do not have lights.

USD thus turned to SDSU, which allowed the Toreros to play their “home” games at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Lesson learned: Never expect a favor to be returned when you do a favor.

However, if you do someone a favor, you have a much greater chance of them returning the niceness.

What would Grier's departure mean to USD basketball?

If University of San Diego basketball coach Bill Grier does indeed take the Oregon State job, what does it mean for the Toreros?

First and foremost, it means USD is darned if it does – and darned if it doesn’t – when it comes to winning.

If/when Grier leaves, he will be living proof that the Toreros probably aren’t going to keep a coach who is highly successful (baseball coach Rich Hill being an exception.)

All Grier did in his first year at USD is enable the Toreros to become the first San Diego team ever to win an NCAA Tournament game, that coming in a stunning upset of Connecticut.

Just a year ago, highly-successful USD football coach Jim Harbaugh left to become the head coach at Stanford.

Based on these two cases, it appears USD is becoming a testing ground for coaches to make their way into the Pac-10.

So what happens when a coach doesn’t reach the top with the Toreros?

Just ask Brad Holland, who was fired after posting a 187-181 career record at USD.

What’s next for the Toreros without Grier?

Look for the job to go to top assistant coach Bill Carr, the former head coach at UC San Diego.

The Toreros will look for another Grier to lead their basketball program … with the hopes an impact coach will stick around for awhile.

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 has outside shot vs. UConn

All eight favored teams won in the opening session of the NCAA Tournament.

Does that bode poorly for the University of San Diego?

Let’s hope not.

The Toreros will be among the eight teams expected to lose during the second day’s early session of the tournament Friday.

Not only is the University of Connecticut an 11 to 12-point favorite over USD; the Huskies are a No. 4 seed playing the 13th seeded Toreros.

Not good!

USD really has one chance to win: the 3-point shooting of guard Brandon Johnson.

If he’s on, the Toreros have an outside chance (pardon the pun.) If not, hopefully the Toreros will come closer than San Diego State did in its 24-point loss to Florida in the opening round of the NIT Tournament.

USD will certainly be dominated inside by 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.

So Johnson, maybe with a little help from Rob Jones, will definitely need to keep shooting and succeeding!

Prediction: UConn 73, USD 64

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!

USD is the real deal in San Diego college sports

Has the University of San Diego surpassed San Diego State in athletics, or what?

Now we have both the men’s and women’s basketball teams from USD as automatic qualifiers for their respective NCAA Tournaments.

Put that on top of the fact that USD hosted an NCAA Regional last year in baseball – at Tony Gwynn Stadium, no less, on the SDSU campus – and it tells you who has the real college sports program in San Diego.

Sure, the Toreros may have benefited from playing on their home court at Jenny Craig Pavilion in the West Coast Conference Tournament for both men and women.

So what? USD beat Gonzaga in each final … and the Toreros’ men and women are both in the NCAAs.

Try that for size, SDSU.

So what do the Aztecs have in basketball?

They have a men’s team ranked No. 4 and women’s squad ranked No. 6 going into this week’s Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.

The men have little chance of winning and advancing to the NCAAs … the women even have less of a chance than that.

And to think that people have considered USD the other school in local college sports for so long!

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.

USD: Fits right in with San Diego

Can you believe the University of San Diego’s baseball team was swept in the NCAA Regionals over the weekend?

I sure can.

Why?

It’s simple. USD is located in San Diego.

This is the same town called home by the Padres, who have lost in the first round of the National League playoffs each of the past two seasons.

The Chargers have lost their first postseason game while making the NFL playoffs two of the past three seasons.

Then there is San Diego State, which has never won an NCAA Tournament basketball playoff game or a Division I football bowl game!

USD joined the crowd by becoming only the fifth team to lose its first two games as the No. 1 regional seed in the past nine years.

If the Toreros ever want to do anything in the postseason, they’ll have to do the impossible for a school called USD: Move from San Diego!

USD baseball hopes to roll an 'eight'

The University of San Diego baseball team can only hope things to continue to come up “eights” this weekend.

The Toreros, seeded No. 8 in the NCAA baseball tournament, are the host team at San Diego State.

According to ESPN, the No. 8 seed has advanced to the College World Series in each of the prior eight seasons since the NCAA Tournament was expanded to 64 teams.

How’s that for picking the right number in the lotto?

There are other numbers the Toreros must fight.

USD begins the tournament Friday at 8 p.m. against Fresno State, which defeated the Toreros twice in last year’s NCAA Regionals at Cal State Fullerton. The Bulldogs also defeated USD two out of three games this March at Fresno.

This time, the Toreros will be playing on their home field … so to speak.

Perhaps one of the rallying points for USD is second baseman Justin Snyder. Nine years ago, when known as “Boomer” Snyder, he led Santee Pioneer to the District 41 Little League championship.

The Toreros are hoping that things are booming for them again this weekend.

USD baseball has unlimited vision

While standing above Cunningham Stadium on the University of San Diego campus, it seems like you can see forever while looking west out over the water.

Luckily for the Toreros’ baseball team, coach Rich Hill appears to have unlimited vision concerning where his team is headed.

His Toreros are ranked fifth in the nation as they begin a best-of-three series with Gonzaga today to determine the West Coast Conference’s automatic representative in the NCAA Tournament.

No matter what happens this weekend, USD will be going to the NCAAs. If the Toreros beat Gonzaga, they are all but guaranteed to host an NCAA Regional at San Diego State.

That brings us to another point. SDSU was eliminated from the Mountain West Conference Tournament last night, finishing its season with a losing record at 29-30.

Isn’t it amazing how SDSU gets most of the publicity, but USD records a great majority of the victories?

Gwynn, Aztecs seek their day in the sun

Tony Gwynn had his day in the sun in Major League Baseball, easily being voted into the Hall of Fame this year.

Now, if only he could enjoy another day in the sun as San Diego State’s baseball coach.

Gwynn is in his fifth year at the helm of the Aztecs. He has yet to lead his team into the NCAA playoffs.

But that’s nothing new around SDSU. The Aztecs, despite being in an ideal city for baseball, have not made the NCAA playoffs since 1991 as they enter the Mountain West Conference Tournament today against the New Mexico Lobos.

Collegiate baseball teams can shine in San Diego. Just look at the University of San Diego Toreros, who are ranked fifth in the nation.

The Toreros will most certainly be in the NCAA Tournament the weekend of June 1 … most likely hosting games at SDSU of all places!

USD baseball looking beautiful

When it comes to college baseball, people often wonder why San Diego can’t have a Top 10 team nationally.

After all, the weather is perfect for year-round baseball, and the talent is certainly in the area.

It hasn’t happened with coach Tony Gwynn at San Diego State, but the honor is being celebrated across town.

Congratulations go out to the University of San Diego Toreros for being ranked No. 9 in the latest Baseball America top-25 poll, and at No. 10 in the latest Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll. This is the second time in history the Toreros have been ranked in the Top 10.

“We look at these things kind of like a beauty pageant,” USD coach Rich Hill said on CSTV.

To top off the honor, the Toreros completed a three-game sweep of Pepperdine for the first time in 22 years Monday with a 7-3 win.

Even with Gwynn (who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer) at SDSU; local high school baseball players continue to flock to USD, where Hill has built the best collegiate baseball team by far in a hotbed of baseball prospects.

The Toreros are setting a standard that can only be envied by SDSU, a school that has not even been invited to the NCAA playoffs in 16 years.