THE YEAR IN REVIEW : A Look Ahead, Behind : Many Struggled Through ‘88, but Near Year Offers Hope : SAN DIEGO STATE

With apologies to David Letterman, we offer lists detailing what happened in 1988 and, in some cases, how 1988 will impact 1989 .

A half-dozen reasons why, despite the football team losing its coach, 8 of 11 games and a total of 25,472 home fans from the year before, there were reasons to cheer the athletic program at San Diego State:

1. The revival of the men’s basketball program under Coach Jim Brandenburg.

After enduring the worst season in school history in 1986-87 (5 victories in 30 games), the Aztecs won 11 in Brandenburg’s first season. Early indications are that this season could be even better. The Aztecs opened by winning their first three games for the first time since 1984-85 and just last week gave No. 19 Tennessee a scare before losing, 77-75, in the final of the McDonald’s tournament. Results are showing at the gate, too. Attendance for the tournament (4,578 per game) was the best since 1984. In a competitive loss to No. 7 North Carolina Thursday, the Aztecs drew a home record 13,106.

2. The reemergence of women’s basketball as a Top 20 program under Coach Earnest Riggins and its All-American candidate, Chana Perry.

The Aztecs are 8-0, ranked 15th in the country and off their best start since the 1983-84 team won its first 15 games. Perry, the last player cut from the 1988 U.S. Olympic team, leads the Aztecs in scoring (27.4 points per game), rebounding (15.5 average), blocked shots (20) and steals (23). She needs 63 points to reach a 1,000 in an SDSU career that is only 39 games old. The Aztecs have done this without forward Jessica Haynes, who was declared academically ineligible after averaging 18.2 points last season. As for the future, Terri Mann, who led Point Loma High School to four state championships, has transferred from Western Kentucky and is scheduled to become eligible next December.

3. The continued prominence of the soccer program under Coach Chuck Clegg.

Another season like 1987, when the Aztecs made a Cinderella trip to the NCAA championship game, proved to be too much to ask. But the Aztecs (15-3-4) did rise as high as third in the national regular-season rankings, reward Clegg with his 100th career victory and reach the NCAA playoffs, losing at UCLA in the first round. Kyle Whittemore closed his SDSU career with school records for goals (68) and points (160).

4. The surprising showing by the women’s volleyball team under Coach Rudy Suwara.

Picked by the Big West Conference coaches to finish seventh in the 10-team league, the Aztecs (26-12) shocked the experts by placing fourth and reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament. At one point, the Aztecs went a month without a loss, winning 12 consecutive matches from Sept. 21 until an Oct. 21 defeat at the hands of Pacific.

5. The baseball team’s bitter-sweet season under Coach Jim Dietz.

The controversy over the Aztecs’ absence from the NCAA tournament could not wipe away the shine from their Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship. Their 47-18-1 record was their best since 1984, and they rose as high as 17th in the national regular-season rankings. But that is where their season ended. After losing to Brigham Young in the finals of the WAC tournament, they missed out on the conference’s automatic NCAA berth and were not selected as an at-large team. 6. The building blocks are falling into place.

Athletic Director Fred Miller’s plans to overhaul the university’s athletic facilities took three important steps with the opening of a new football operations center in August, student approval for building a new on-campus arena in March and a resurfacing of the school’s all-weather track in the spring. The football complex, known as the Aztec Athletic Center, contains facilities for football and sports medicine. It was built almost entirely through private donations. The arena, to be built on the site of Aztec Bowl and paid for through an increase in student fees, is part of plans that also include improved softball, soccer and tennis facilities.