San Diego Toreros men's basketball

San Diego Toreros men's basketball
San Diego Toreros men's basketball
	2024–25 San Diego Toreros men's basketball team
University	University of San Diego
Head coach	Steve Lavin (4th season)
Conference	West Coast Conference
Location	San Diego, California
Arena	Jenny Craig Pavilion ; (capacity: 5,100)
Nickname	Toreros
Colors	Navy, white, and Toreros blue;
Uniforms
Home	Away
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	1978*
Sweet Sixteen	1978*
Other NCAA tournament results
Sweet Sixteen	1978*
Appearances	1966, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1979*, 1984, 1987, 2003, 2008
Conference tournament champions
	2003, 2008
Conference regular-season champions
	1984, 1987
	* at Division II level

Last updated August 18, 2025

For information on all University of San Diego sports, see San Diego Toreros

The San Diego Toreros men's basketball team is the men's college basketball program that represents the University of San Diego (USD). The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I as a member of the West Coast Conference (WCC). The team plays its home games at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Rivalries

University of San Diego's biggest rival is cross town, out of conference, San Diego State University. USD trails 14-23 all-time with both programs at the Division I level. Since the 2001–02 season the Toreros have been 3–15 against the Aztecs, but led the series 10–9 prior to that.^[3] As of the 2022–23 season, the last Toreros win came during the 2018–19 season at SDSU. They also won against them during a game at Petco Park during the 2015–16 season, at the time the fifth game since 2011 to be played outside; it was also the first time Petco Park hosted a basketball game.^[4] The Toreros won 53–48.^[5]

College admissions scandal

Lamont Smith, who coached the team from 2015 to 2018, was accused of accepting a bribe as part of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal while he was coach of the team, allegedly illegally helping a Beverly Hills real estate developer's children gain admission to the university.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

The Toreros have appeared in four NCAA Division I Tournaments. Their combined record is 1–4.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1984	12	Preliminary Round	(12) Princeton	L 56–65
1987	9	First Round	(8) Auburn	L 61–62
2003	13	First Round	(4) Stanford	L 69–77
2008	13	First Round Second Round	(4) Connecticut (12) Western Kentucky	W 70–69^OT L 63–72

NCAA Division II

The Toreros appeared in five NCAA Division II Tournaments. Their combined record was 4–6.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1966	Regional Semifinals Regional Third Place	Seattle Pacific Nevada	L 63–69 L 71–74
1973	Regional Semifinals Regional Third Place	Cal State Bakersfield Puget Sound	L 44–50 W 80–73
1974	Round of 44	Sonoma State	L 54–60
1978	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight	Puget Sound Cal State Northridge Florida Tech	W 91–85 W 70–67 L 71–77
1979	Regional Semifinals Regional Third Place	UC Riverside Cal State Northridge	L 48–62 W 74–69 (OT)

NIT results

The Toreros have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) once, in 2019.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2019	First Round	Memphis	L 60–74

CIT results

The Toreros have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) two times. Their combined record is 4–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2014	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Portland State Sam Houston State Pacific	W 87–65 W 77–72 L 60–75
2018	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Hartford Portland State Northern Colorado	W 88–72 W 67–64 L 75–86

Record by coach

Data at conclusion of 2021–22 WCC tournament
Coach	Years	Seasons	Won	Lost	Pct.	Conference Titles	NCAA¹	NIT¹	CIT¹
Fon Johnson	1955–1957	2	24	31	.436	0	0	0	0
Bob McCutcheon	1957–1958	1	14	11	.560	0	0	0	0
Les Harvey	1958–1960	2	15	36	.294	0	0	0	0
Ken Leslie	1960–1961	1	11	16	.407	0	0	0	0
Ed Baron	1961–1962	1	6	20	.231	0	0	0	0
Phil Woolpert	1962–1969	7	90	90	.500	0	0	0	0
Bernie Bickerstaff	1969–1973	4	55	49	.529	0	0	0	0
Jim Brovelli	1973–1984	11	160	131	.550	1	1	0	0
Hank Egan	1984–1994	10	156	126	.553	1	1	0	0
Brad Holland	1994–2007	13	200	176	.532	1	1	0	0
Bill Grier	2007–2015	8	117	144	.448	1	1	0	1
Lamont Smith	2015–2018	3	40	52	.435	0	0	0	0
Sam Scholl	2018–2022	4	50	66	.431	0	0	1	1
Steve Lavin	2022-present	3	35	52	.402	0	0	0	0
Totals		66	973	1000	(.493)

¹ Invitations

Results by Season, Last 12 Years

2024–2025 (6-27) (2-16 Conference)
2023–2024 (18-15) (7-9 Conference)
2022–2023 (11-20) (4–12 Conference)
2021–2022 (15-16) (7–9 Conference)
2020–2021 (3-11) (2-7 Conference)
2018–2019 (21–14) (7–9 Conference)
2017–2018 (20–14) (9–9 Conference)
2016–2017 (13–18) (6–12 Conference)
2015–2016 (9–21) (4–14 Conference)
2014–2015 (15–16) (8–10 Conference)
2013–2014 (18–17) (7–11 Conference)
2012–2013 (16–18) (7–9 Conference)

Toreros in the NBA

References

↑ "Color Palette - USD Brand - University of San Diego" . Retrieved February 11, 2018.
↑ Canepa, Michael (December 3, 1984). "Year later, Whitmarsh looks forward and back". Evening Tribune. p. D-1.
↑ "San Diego State Aztecs Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Aztecs Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
↑ "San Diego State to play San Diego at Petco Park" . Retrieved 2016-08-02.
↑ "San Diego State Aztecs Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Aztecs Home and Away". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
↑ "Texas Coach Resigns After Being Linked to College Admissions Scandal | PEOPLE.com".
↑ "UTEP, former San Diego coach Lamont Smith implicated in college admissions scandal"
↑ "UTEP assistant basketball coach resigns, implicated in college admissions scandal". KTSM. March 21, 2019. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
↑ Ziegler, Mark; Davis, Kristina (March 21, 2019). "Lamont Smith identified as USD coach in bribery scheme; resigns as UTEP assistant". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

External links

Official website

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[1] "Color Palette - USD Brand - University of San Diego" . Retrieved February 11, 2018.

[canepaa_12031984-2] Canepa, Michael (December 3, 1984). "Year later, Whitmarsh looks forward and back". Evening Tribune. p. D-1.

[3] "San Diego State Aztecs Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Aztecs Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.

[4] "San Diego State to play San Diego at Petco Park" . Retrieved 2016-08-02.

[5] "San Diego State Aztecs Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Aztecs Home and Away". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.

[6] "Texas Coach Resigns After Being Linked to College Admissions Scandal | PEOPLE.com".

[7] "UTEP, former San Diego coach Lamont Smith implicated in college admissions scandal"

[8] "UTEP assistant basketball coach resigns, implicated in college admissions scandal". KTSM. March 21, 2019. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

[9] Ziegler, Mark; Davis, Kristina (March 21, 2019). "Lamont Smith identified as USD coach in bribery scheme; resigns as UTEP assistant". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

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v t e San Diego Toreros men's basketball
Venues	USD Sports Center (1963–2000) Jenny Craig Pavilion (2000–present)
Rivalries	San Diego State
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e University of San Diego
Located in: San Diego, California
Academics	San Diego College for Women Franciscan School of Theology University of San Diego School of Law
Research	Trans-Border Institute
Buildings	Torero Stadium Jenny Craig Pavilion Fowler Park
Athletics	San Diego Toreros Football Men's basketball Women's basketball Baseball Men's soccer West Coast Conference Pioneer Football League
Founded: 1949

v t e West Coast Conference men's basketball
Teams	Gonzaga Bulldogs (leaving in 2026) Loyola Marymount Lions Oregon State Beavers (leaving in 2026) Pacific Tigers Pepperdine Waves Portland Pilots Saint Mary's Gaels San Diego Toreros San Francisco Dons Santa Clara Broncos Seattle Redhawks Washington State Cougars (leaving in 2026)
Championships & awards	Tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25