Mandeville Leaves Notre Dame to Take Basketball Post at San Diego State

Many of the Notre Dame High baseball players knew something was up and suspected what was coming. Emotion got the better of several nonetheless.

When Coach Bob Mandeville called several players together after an American Legion baseball game Tuesday and informed them he had accepted a position as an assistant men’s basketball coach at San Diego State, some players were shocked.

“A few guys cried,” catcher David Supple said. “Mandy’s really, really close with us. He was more than a coach, he was like a friend. He’s a kid like us inside.”

Mandeville, 30, resigned after six seasons and hardly will leave the cupboard bare. Notre Dame next season will have six of its eight position players back as well as the core of its pitching staff.

Mandeville has recommended that longtime assistant Jody Breeden, who coaches the Van Nuys-Notre Dame Legion team, replace him.

Notre Dame finished 14-9-1 and third in the Mission League at 8-4. In six seasons, Mandeville’s teams were 103-51-4 and won or shared three league titles.

Mandeville has not coached varsity basketball at Notre Dame, but is friends with Jim Harrick Jr., a San Diego State assistant. Mandeville was a basketball standout at Notre Dame and at Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash.