Toreros Look to Keep Improving : USD: With loss of just two seniors after 16-12 finish, there is cautious optimism that team might contend for WCC title.

For a preseason booster dinner for the University of San Diego basketball team, Craig Cottrell and John Jerome were asked to represent the Toreros as their only seniors and co-captains.

They did, but don’t ask them what happened. Both had upcoming exams and spent most of the evening focused on textbooks and notes. It was a peculiar sight but showed the type of athlete that plays for USD. Sports are an extracurricular activity, a learning experience to help better one’s character.

Four months later, on March 4, the Toreros received a lesson about death, and about priorities in life. Shortly after Hank Gathers died in a West Coast Conference tournament semifinal, the WCC canceled the remainder of the event.

For USD, it meant the season had ended. For Cottrell and Jerome, it meant college careers had ended.

“It was tough for us to swallow,” Cottrell said. “But we understood.”

Added Jerome: “It’s sad my and Craig’s season had to end like that, but that’s the way life is sometimes.”

Jerome, an All-WCC selection, finished his one and only USD season with 540 points, a 19.3 average. Both are single-season Torero records.

Cottrell, a four-year performer, finished with a record .5803 career field goal percentage, just better than the .5802 of Anthony Reuss from 1981-85.

Cottrell, a business major, and Jerome, psychology, will graduate in May and perhaps play overseas for a season or two before getting on with their lives.

The other players and Coach Hank Egan will look to next season. And if 1989-90 is an indication, it could be a good one.

USD was 16-12 when its WCC semifinal with Pepperdine was canceled. It finished eight games better than the 1988-89 team, which set a school record with 20 losses and finished tied for last in the WCC at 2-12.

This year, the Toreros finished third in the conference at 9-5. And with champion Loyola Marymount and runner-up Pepperdine each losing a number of key people, USD could be an early favorite in next season’s conference race.

“I think we could be in the hunt if we improve in some areas,” Egan said, “but that’s a big if.”

USD began this season with a victory over Cal Lutheran but then lost seven of nine. The 3-7 start was the Toreros’ worst in 10 years of Division I play.

Egan said the team was far better than that and displayed his disgust on occasion. During one game, Egan flung his jacket onto the court after the second of two disputed intentional foul calls.

A season filled with optimism was slipping away, the low point being consecutive losses to Eastern Washington and Nevada Reno in late December.

But then came Christmas night, and Egan gave his team a “present.” Persuaded by long-time friend Jack Avina (a former University of Portland coach who might end up on the USD staff next season), Egan told his players he was going to stop being so authoritarian. Rather than force issues, he told them he would let them develop and allow things to happen as they happened.

“We had some skepticism at first,” Cottrell said, “but then he proved it to us. From that point on, he was a different coach, and we were a different team.”

USD won its next three games and seven in a row during one stretch, finishing with 13 victories in its last 18 games.

“There were two very distinct seasons,” Egan said. “It started out very, very bad, and ended up very, very good.”

In two previous years with extremely young teams, USD had won just two WCC road games. This season, the Toreros were 4-3 in WCC road games, 5-2 at home.

With less design, players’ roles suddenly became more defined, and productivity increased.

There were outstanding individual performances some nights, but the team’s strength was playing as one. As many as 10 players were contributing; with the exception of blocked shots, USD improved in every statistical category from the previous season.

Jerome maintained his 20 or so points per game, but his rebounding went up considerably. He had 10 or more in eight of his last 10 games.

Pat Holbert, an All-WCC honorable mention, found his touch in the second half and finished second in team scoring at 12.3 points per game. Kelvin Woods (9.4), Cottrell (9.2), Gylan Dottin (8.6) and Wayman Strickland (8.3) gave USD six players averaging more than eight.

Anthony Thomas (6.9) and Dondi Bell (5.0) also came on in the second half. Randy Thompson and Keith Colvin provided some key minutes as reserves.

In addition to scoring, Strickland developed into a fine point guard. His 169 assists were 100 more than his team-leading total from the previous season and just two away from tying Stan Washington’s school record set in 1972-73.

Next season, USD loses Jerome and Cottrell but returns 13 others, including six seniors.

Egan will likely add another recruit to go with Reed Watson, who signed in November. Watson is from Egan’s favorite recruiting spot, Mesa Community College in Arizona.

Mesa, by the way, is the No. 1-ranked community college in the nation (California excluded) this season, with a 31-1 record heading into this week’s national tournament.

KEY TOREROS FOR 1990-91 TOP RETURNING PLAYERS

(Year is class for next season)

Pos. Name Ht. Yr. Comment G Pat Holbert 6-3 Sr. Filled role, and basket, nicely in second half. F Kelvin Woods 6-5 Jr. Steadily improving all areas; nice baby hook. G Gylan Dottin 6-5 Jr. Second leading scorer before broken nose. G Wayman Strickland 6-2 Jr. Assists way up; turnovers down. F Anthony Thomas 6-3 Sr. Great spark player in first year at USD. C Dondi Bell 6-9 Sr. Came on strong in second half.

NEWCOMERS

Pos. Name Ht. Yr. Comment F Reed Watson 6-8 Jr. Exciting athlete for No. 1 Mesa (Ariz.) CC.