When Rapp Made the Grade, So Did UCSD Basketball Team
To fully understand why the UC San Diego men’s basketball team was so bad last season, and why it is so good this season, turn back the clock for a moment and eavesdrop on Tim Rapp, who has been studying feverishly all semester and is about to tackle his final exam in Econ 100A.
The test is distributed. Rapp grabs his and takes a look.
Oooooooooooh no.
Nightmare.
Sayonara.
Thinking back, he says: “I could have not studied at all and guessed around with some numbers and done about the same. I just got in over my head. I put more time into that class than you could ever imagine, more than I’ve ever done in any other class.”
Rapp flunked the test. And because he flunked the test, he flunked the class. And because he flunked the class, UCSD flunked the season.
Rapp, a 6-4 guard and the team’s leading scorer, was declared academically ineligible after the first six games last season. UCSD finished 9-17, its worst since Tom Marshall became coach in 1983. There were other misfortunes: A couple players were injured, and a couple quit. But losing Rapp was the backbreaker.
“It was a real tough experience,” Rapp says. “I learned a lot from it.”
This season, Rapp is back. He bagged economics and switched his major to political science, finishing winter quarter with a 3.7 grade-point average. He’s back on top in the scoring chart with a 23.1 average, and off-season pickup games and weight training have made him more versatile. Consequently, UCSD is back on top of its game with a 19-5 record, which puts the Tritons in reach of their first NCAA Division III tournament berth.
This wasn’t fully expected, even with Rapp’s return. The team has no seniors. Marshall figured before the season that there were about 15 victories ahead.
But the makeup of this group is unique. There is an enthusiasm that runs from Rapp all the way down to the last guy off the bench. Players hang out together, eat together, study together. They even get their heads shaved together.
A bunch of them decided before the season that a chop would help boost team spirit. Next thing Marshall knew, he had a gym full of Kojaks.
“I’ve never had a team that quite got into the whole thing like this before,” says Marshall, who has a 101-81 record at UCSD. “Right from the very first they kind of said ‘We’re going to show that we’re not going to have a year like last year.’ ”
The first indication was Dec. 1, when UCSD took Menlo College to double overtime in the semifinals of the Redlands Tournament before losing, 86-85, on a shot at the buzzer. Menlo is considered the class of California’s Division III teams.
Marshall says: “I think all the players to a man were saying ‘Hey, we’re as good as anybody out here in the West, and now what we need to do is prove it to all the people who don’t know.’ ”
They have done that. During one four-game swing on the road, the Tritons went 3-1, defeating Lewis and Clark College, Catholic University and St. John Fisher. Their only loss was to Division I Idaho.
The string of victories proved there is more to this team than just a good Rapp.
The rest of the cast:
--Rick Batt, a 6-7 sophomore forward, is averaging 15.2 points and has a .679 shooting percentage, second in the nation for Division III. His game is played in the key. Says Marshall: “I don’t know if he’s scored outside of eight feet.”
--Gordon McNeill, a 6-8 junior forward with good quickness, was UCSD’s leading scorer a year ago and is third this season with a 13.1 average.
--Darvin Jackson. Sophomore point guard. Stands only 5-8. He does two things; makes great passes and makes Marshall’s job easier. “He’s such a smart player he makes decisions out there on the floor that I don’t have to make,” Marshall says. “He makes me look good.”
--Tom Shawcroft, a 6-1 junior guard, does the dirty work. “He’s kind of the glue that makes them all work,” Marshall says. “People kind of overlook Tommy because he doesn’t have the stats everybody else does. But Tommy does all the gutsy little things that make the other guys look good.”
There you have it. UCSD, team on the rise.
Tonight, the Tritons close out their Division III schedule by playing host to Cal State San Bernardino, a team they have defeated twice this season. Their regular season ends Feb. 24 when they play U.S. International at Golden Hall. A victory over San Bernardino would put them a step closer to the tournament, though nobody affiliated with the program is counting on anything.
“I don’t think anybody on our staff who has watched the way the NCAA works would be shocked if we didn’t get in,” said Bill Gannon, UCSD’s sports information director. “Stranger things have happened.”
The latest NCAA Division III poll has UCSD ranked 20th. According to Marshall, UCSD’s schedule is more difficult than most other top 20 teams, but the NCAA doesn’t take that into account when making tournament selections. So things are subjective.
There are three automatic berths given to Western conference champions. Traditionally, the NCAA has taken five teams from the West. Because UCSD is an independent, it is competing for two spots with other top independent schools, including Menlo, Cal State San Bernardino and Nebraska Wesleyan.
So after the playing is finished, the waiting begins. And sure, these guys want to get a crack at postseason. But Marshall lends a little perspective to all of this. Basketball isn’t the be-all and end-all for these guys.
“You know, they come here to be doctors and lawyers,” Marshall says. “They don’t come to be NBA players.”
Sometimes they wonder what they’re doing when they’re falling asleep in the library at midnight.
“Sometimes I’ve got to remember I’ve got to sleep,” Batt says. “Sometimes it’s hard because we’re saying to ourselves, ‘This isn’t our whole life.’
“You get stressed. If you’re studying a lot and playing basketball, your body gets worn down. It’s real easy to catch a cold, and it’s real hard to get rid of it. And that takes you out of your game.”
What basketball gives back is nothing more than the satisfaction that comes with accomplishment. And a few high fives from students on campus.
“You’re not getting paid to play,” Rapp says. “You’re playing because you want to play. There’s no one here that’s going to play in the NBA.
“I would rather be here than be at a Division I program sitting on the bench. I just want to play basketball.”