Gauchos Hope Lightning Strikes

The Thunderdome had become more of a Mumbledome, the echoes of UC Santa Barbara victories long ago replaced by murmuring fans who watched with arms crossed and brows severely knit as the Gaucho program went awry.

If the 1990 victory over top-ranked UNLV was considered the zenith of the program, the following years marked a gradual downwind sail toward mediocrity that finally plowed into a sand bar during an inglorious 7-19 effort in 1997-98.

Bob Williams was hired to tie a life preserver around the program in March 1998, a few days after leading UC Davis to the NCAA Division II national championship. One of his first goals was to plunge into the recruiting pool of talent in and around Los Angeles.

An assistant at Pepperdine from 1988-90 before he went to UC Davis, Williams was familiar with the region and comfortable in recruits’ living rooms, at ease with the knowledge that coaches from Long Beach State, UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount had been sitting on the same sofas and making similar pitches to parents and players.

Williams has been winning his share of recruiting roundups and, not coincidentally, the Gauchos are expected to win a fair share of their games this season in the Big West Conference.

With nine players returning, including four starters from Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, the Gauchos may be on their way back to the tortilla-flinging days of the ‘90s, when students jubilantly pelted the court after the first Gaucho basket of each game.

“I’ve sensed there is a definite enthusiasm about our team this year,” Williams said. “The expectations around campus are higher and the excitement level in the community is higher. We need that atmosphere back to be a legitimate team and have a chance to win a league championship.”

The Gauchos have reason for optimism. They were 13-15 last season and 9-7 (fourth place) in the Big West despite the bad news delivered by X-ray technicians three days before their season began. Adama Ndiaye, the team’s top rebounder and defender, fractured a finger on his left hand during practice and was out for the season.

The Gauchos pushed forward and found other dependable outlets.

Jacoby Atako, a sophomore guard who played at Santa Monica High, had 83 assists last season and became the first freshman to lead the Gauchos in that category since 1980-81.

Mark Hull, a junior forward who played at Glendale Hoover, was eighth in the Big West in scoring last season with 13.9 points a game and 10th in three-point accuracy, making 35.4% of his attempts.

Mike Vukovich, a senior forward who played at Santa Ana Mater Dei, averaged 11.1 points last season and shot 57.4%, the fourth-highest field-goal percentage in school history.

Branduinn Fullove, a sophomore swingman from Simi Valley, finished 11th in the conference in scoring with 12.2 points a game.

Guards Nick Jones and B.J. Ward, who were teammates at Oxnard Santa Clara, averaged 9.8 points and 4.5 points, respectively.

“I like the kids we’ve got out of Southern California,” Williams said. “It’s obviously a hotbed of basketball and I like recruiting kids out of L.A. that can help our program.”

Ndiaye will return this season, giving the Gauchos another chance at their first Big West title in 31

It could be the ascent from mediocrity Hull envisioned when he chose Santa Barbara over UC Irvine, Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.

“We wanted to build something special here,” Hull said. “We’re hoping to get the Thunderdome back to where it was. That’s definitely our goal, to have the support we had here back in the 1990s.”