History
Athletics at USF dates back to its founding in 1855, when founder
Anthony Maraschi, S.J. organized ball games as recreation for the first students. However, intercollegiate competition only dates back to 1907, when then-Saint Ignatius College began playing organized
baseball,
basketball, and
rugby against other local colleges and high schools. Rivalries with neighboring
Santa Clara University and
Saint Mary's College of California have their origins in this early period.
Teams were originally known as the "Grey Fog", and red and blue were Saint Ignatius College's colors. However, as the college began to develop an identity distinct from the high school--the college became the University of San Francisco in 1930--it adopted green and gold as its colors in 1927 and chose the
Don as its mascot in 1932. The old Saint Ignatius High School later became
Saint Ignatius College Preparatory and retained the red and blue colors.
USF competes in the
NCAA's
Division I and is a charter member of the
West Coast Conference.
Varsity Teams
The San Francisco Dons currently field 12
varsity teams. Basketball,
soccer,
golf, and
tennis have separate men's and women's teams;
baseball is men only and
volleyball is women only;
track and field and
cross-country running are coeducational.
Men's Basketball
USF is best known for its basketball program. The men's basketball team have won three national titles: the 1949
NIT under
Pete Newell, and the 1955 and 1956
NCAA championships. The latter two were under
Phil Woolpert, and led by player and
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Famer
Bill Russell.
USF retained its status as a basketball powerhouse into the 70's and early 80's, holding the distinction of being a "major" program in a "
mid-major" conference (the WCC having declined somewhat in stature since the 1960s). It held the number one spot in the polls on numerous occasions. In 1977, led by
All-American center
Bill Cartwright, the Dons went 29-0 and were regarded as the #1 team in the nation in both major polls before dropping their last two games.
Controversies
The Dons' prominence in the 1970s came at a price, however. The NCAA slapped the Dons with probation two times in the late 1970s. An in-house inquiry after the second resulted in the firing of head coach
Dan Belluomini. It was also well-known that basketball players got special treatment; many of them were marginal students at best, and at least one instance where a player threatened another student was swept under the rug by school officials.
[1] It was also common for "tutors" to take tests and write papers for players.
[2]
The situation finally came to a head in December 1981, when All-American guard
Quintin Dailey assaulted a female student. During the subsequent investigation, Dailey admitted taking a no-show job at a business owned by a prominent non-sports USF donor. The donor had also paid Dailey $5,000 since 1980. Combined with other revelations, school president Rev. John LoSchiavo announced on
July 26 that he was shutting down the basketball program--the first time a school had shut down a major sport under such circumstances. The move was widely appluaded by several members of the coaching fraternity
, as the Dailey matter revealed a program that was, in the words of
San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Glenn Dickey, "totally out of control."
LoSchiavo resurrected the program in 1985 under former star
Jim Brovelli, who quickly returned the program to respectability. He was not able to reach postseason play, however, and resigned in 1995. The program has only reached the postseason twice since its revival--an NCAA berth in 1998 under
Phil Mathews and a 2005 NIT berth under former coach
Jessie Evans.
The program regressed the next few years, and Jessie Evans was granted a request for a 'leave of absence' on
December 27,
2007. Legendary basketball coach
Eddie Sutton took over on an interim basis, needing 2 wins for a personal milestone of 800 career coaching victories. At the time,
Bob Knight was the only other
Division I Men's coach to have accomplished the feat. After months of speculation, Evans was finally officially fired by USF on
March 20,
2008. A national coaching search was launched which included a four-man committee of
Chuck Smith, vice chair of the USF Board of Trustees and former president and CEO of AT&T West, former player and coach Jim Brovelli;
Walt Gmelch, dean of the USF School of Education, and
Mario Prietto, rector of the USF Jesuit Community and a member of the USF Board of Trustees.
On
March 29,
2008, USF hired a executive search consultant company,
DHR International to help spearhead their efforts in hiring the next Dons' head coach. Among the possible candidates named, former
UCLA Bruins Head Coach
Steve Lavin, former USF
All-American and current
New Jersey Nets Assistant Coach
Bill Cartwright, former NBA player and current
Golden State Warriors Shooting Coach
Sidney Moncrief, current
Cal Bears Assistant Head Coach
Louis Reynaud, and former
Golden State Warriors and
Sacramento Kings Head Coach
Eric Musselman.
Rex Walters was named as the Dons' head coach on
April 14,
2008.
Women's Basketball
Women's basketball also experienced recent successes, including appearances in the
NCAA women's tournament in 1995, 1996, and 1997 and a WNIT berth in 2002. The 1996 season represented their best ever, as the women's team made it into the tournament's
Sweet Sixteen. The team is presently coached by Tanya Haave.
San Francisco Dons basketball
|
Men's NCAA Championships
(2)
| 1955 • 1956
|
NIT Championships
(1)
| 1949
|
Men's Conference Titles
(17) * WCC Tournament title
| 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1963 • 1964 • 19651972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 19801981 • 1982 • 1998*
|
Men's NCAA TournamentAppearances
*Final Four appearance
| 1955* • 1956* • 1957* • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 19721973 • 1974 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1981 • 19821998
|
Women's Conference Titles
(3)
| 1995 • 1996 • 1997
|
Women's NCAA Tournamentappearances
(3) *Sweet Sixteen appearance
| 1995 • 1996* • 1997
|
1949 San Francisco Dons men's basketballNIT Champions
|
Record
| 25-5
|
Head coach
| Newell
|
Players
| Lofgran • Bennington • Kuzara • Herrerias • McNameeGiesen • Guidice • Sobek • Hanley • de Julio
|
1954-55 & 1955-56 San Francisco Dons men's basketballNCAA Champions
|
Record
| 28-1 (1954-55)29-0 (1955-56)
|
Head coach
| Woolpert
|
Players
| Russell • Brown • Boldt • Baxter • FarmerPerry • Jones • Mullen • Buchanan • Wiesbusch • Bush
|
Men's Soccer
Men's soccer is USF's most successful program, earning five
national titles, including a co-championship with
Penn State in 1949. The program's successes came under alumnus
Stephen Negoesco, who coached from 1962 to 2000 and led the team to 540 wins and four national championships (1966, 1975, 1976, 1980). Under Negoesco's successor, alumnus Erik Visser, the men's team earned the 2004, 2005 and 2008 WCC titles.
Alejandro Toledo, the former president of
Peru, played for USF on a partial scholarship.
San Francisco Dons soccer
|
Men's NCAA Championships
(4)
| 1966 • 1975 • 1976 • 1980
|
Men's Conference Titles
(32)
| 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 19541955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1963 • 1965 • 1966
1971 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1978 • 1980
1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1987 • 1988 • 1991 • 1993
1994 • 2004 • 2005 • 2008
|
Baseball
2005 was a banner year for the baseball program, as the Diamond Dons finished with a 38-18 record (the best in team history), placed eight players in the all-conference team and earned Nino Giarrantano coach of the year honors. This was followed in 2006 with a 38-21 record, the
WCC conference regular season championship, and a Top 25 ranking. However, USF lost in the WCC conference championship to Pepperdine but still was given an at large berth into their first ever postseason. USF did not advance in the tournament as they were beaten by the
University of Miami, and
Manhattan College.
Nino Giarrantano became head coach in 1998, previously serving as hitting coach at
Arizona State University. Giarrantano was named 3-time JC National Coach of the Year and 2005-2006
WCC Coach of the Year. Since arriving at USF, the team has had its best four-year stretch in its program's history, 104-69 overall since 2004.
San Francisco Dons baseball
|
Conference Titles
(1)
| 2006
|
NCAA postseasonappearances
(1)
| 2006
|
Benedetti Diamond
The Dons' home field is named after Dante Benedetti, USF's head coach from 1962 to 1980. Benedetti attended then-Saint Ignatius College from 1937 to 1940, during which he lettered in Baseball, Football, and Boxing. During his tenure as head coach, he accumulated 373 career wins, and has been inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame.
Dante Benedetti Classic
Since 2006, USF matches up against
University of California, Berkeley at the
San Francisco Giants' Stadium,
AT&T Park. A portion of the games proceeds go toward USF's baseball program.
Drafted Players
Over the years of USF's baseball tradition, a number of players have been drafted into professional baseball. Of these players, a few have had debuts in the Major Leagues:
Diamond Dons drafted by Major League Baseball
|
Player Drafted
| Years at USF
| MLB Debut
|
Joe Giannini
| 1908 - 1911
| 08-07-1911
|
Clarence Fieber
| 1932 - 1932
| 05-18-1932
|
Ernie Sulik
| 1929 - 1955
| 04-15-1936
|
Jake Caulfield
| 1937 - 1940
| 04-24-1946
|
Neill Sheridan
| 1940 - 1944
| 09-19-1948
|
Con Dempsey
| 1942 - 1944
| 04-28-1951
|
Paul Schramka
| 1947 - 1950
| 04-14-1953
|
Stan Johnson
| 1956 - 1960
| 08-18-1960
|
Aaron Pointer
| 1960 - 1961
| 09-22-1963
|
Mike Buskey
| 1968 - 1971
| 09-02-1977
|
Justin Speier
| 1992 - 1993
| 05-27-1998
|
Jermaine Clark
| 1995 - 1997
| 04-03-2001
|
Joe Nelson
| 1993 - 1996
| 06-13-2001
|
Jesse Foppert
| 1999 - 2001
| 04-14-2003
|
Jeff Harris
| 1995 - 1995
| 08-02-2005
|
This list fails to mention Aaron Poreda. Drafted in 2007, Poreda made his major league debut in 2009 with the Chicago White Sox.
Women's Volleyball
The women's
volleyball team has made two NCAA tournament appearances: in 2003, under former coach Jeff Nelson, and in 2008 under current coach Gilad Doron. The 2008 season saw the Dons finish with a Top 25 national ranking, a 22-8 record, and five all-WCC players.
San Francisco Dons volleyball
|
Women's NCAATournament appearances
(2)
| 2003 • 2008
|
Men's Tennis
The men's tennis team, led by Harry Likas, Harry Roche and
Arthur Larsen, won the 1949
NCAA Men's Tennis Championship. Likas also won the 1948 individual men's title.
San Francisco Dons tennis
|
Men's NCAA Team Titles
(1)
| 1949
|
Men's NCAA Individual Titles
(1)
| 1948 (Harry Likas)
|
Football
Compared to local rivals Santa Clara and Saint Mary's, USF's football teams were historically not as strong. However, the 1951 Dons entered college football lore by fielding a team that would go undefeated and produce three
NFL hall of famers (
Gino Marchetti,
Ollie Matson, and
Bob St. Clair). However, they did not receive any bowl invitations, as the team turned down any suggestions that they leave their two black teammates at home at the expense of a much-needed bowl bid. Due to the associated financial burden on the school that a bowl bid would have alleviated, USF's finest football team ever was to be its last in Division I. Though football made a brief comeback as a Division II sport during the 1960s and 1970s, USF has not fielded a varsity team since.
Kuharich was an indifferent recruiter who largely delegated that responsibility to his freshman coach, Brad Lynn. Lynn had little to offer prospective players in the way of scholarship inducements beyond tuition and room and board in an old ROTC barracks. However, Lynn would take recruits to the highest hill on campus, and would gesture out towards the sweeping panorama of San Francisco saying, "THIS is your campus." Only a handful of players from that 1951 team had been considered blue-ribbon prospects in high school. Two of the team's best players, Toler and guard Louis (Red) Stephens, had not even played high school football. Future Hall of Famer Marchetti was a high school dropout who had played only sparingly when he was in school.
The 1951 Dons were honored during the
2008 Fiesta Bowl.
1951 San Francisco Dons football
|
Record
| 9-0-0 (Final AP Poll ranking: 14)
|
Head coach
| Kuharich
|
Assistant coaches
| Brad Lynn, Ryan, Kerr, Daly, Zanazzi
|
Players
|
Arenivar • Arnoldy • Becker • Boggan • Brown • Bruna • Carley
Chess • Colombini • Conte • Cronan • Dando • Dawson • DeBernardi
Dwyer • Giorgi • Henneberry • Hillig • Holm • Huxley • Kearney
Madden • Marchetti • Matson • McLaughlin • McMahon • Mergen • Montero
Monti • Moriarity • Peacock • Retzloff • Roland • Sachs • Sakowski
Scudero • Schaeffer • Skalla • Slajchert • Springer • St. Clair • Stephens
Thiel • Thomas • Toler • Tringali • Weibel • Welsh • Whitney • Wilwerding
|
Sports information officer
| Rozelle
|
Club Teams
USF participates in the following club sports: golf,
fencing,
boxing,
rifle,
karate, and
lacrosse. Rugby, which was one of the first varsity sports in school history, is currently a club sport.
Football is played on the
intramural level.
References
- Boyle, Robert; and Roger Jackson.Bringing Down the Curtain. ''Sports Illustrated'', 1982-08-09.
- Dickey, Glenn. Winning the Right Way Delights USF Chancellor. ''San Francisco Chronicle'', 1998-03-11.