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1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

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1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
ConferencePacific Coast Athletic Association
Record8–17 (2–12 PCAA)
Head coach
  • Tim Taft (9th season)
Home arenaCrawford Hall
Seasons
1977–78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Fresno State 11 3   .786 21 6   .778
San Diego State 11 3   .786 19 9   .679
Cal State Fullerton 9 5   .643 23 9   .719
Pacific 9 5   .643 17 10   .630
Long Beach State 7 7   .500 16 13   .552
San Jose State 4 10   .286 8 19   .296
UC Santa Barbara 3 11   .214 8 19   .296
UC Irvine 2 12   .143 8 17   .320
1978 PCAA tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was the program's first season in Division I after spending the previous 12 season in Division II. The Anteaters were led by ninth year head coach Tim Taft and played their home games at Crawford Hall as members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished their inaugural season 8–17 and were 2–12 in PCAA play to finish 8th place. The anteaters did not receive an invitation to the 1978 PCAA tournament.

Previous season

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The 1976–77 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team finished their final season in NCAA Division II as an Independent with a record of 10–17.

In July 1977, the anteaters were formally accepted into the Pacific Coast Athletic Association and reclassified as an NCAA Division I program beginning with the 1977–78 season.[2]

Off-season

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Incoming transfer

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Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Steve McGuire F 6'5" N/A Jr. N/A Junior college transfer from Rio Hondo College[3]

1977 Recruiting Class

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US college sports recruiting information for 1977 recruits
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Quentin Brown
F
N/A Theodore Roosevelt High School (Fresno) (CA) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Willie Alexander
G
N/A Theodore Roosevelt High School (Fresno) (CA) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Bret Bell
C
N/A Sanger Union High School (CA) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Rick Jurk
G
N/A Mira Costa High School (CA) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Source[4]

Roster

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1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
C Bret Bell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Fr
C Phil Bolden 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Jr
F Quentin Brown 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Fr
G Ben Carson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
So
C Kirk Christ 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Sr
G Rick Jurk 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Fr
C Dave Knudsen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
So
F Steve McGuire 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Jr
F Steve Rodgers 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
So
G Jack Sapp 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
So
F Wayne Smith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
RS Sr
G Louis Stephens 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Sr
Head coach

Tim Taft (Pepperdine)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: July 10, 2017

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 27, 1977*
at Portland L 61–77  0–1
Howard Hall (945)
Portland, OR
November 29, 1977*
at Chico State W 62–56  1–1
 (352)
Chico, CA
December 3, 1977*
at UC San Diego L 64–76  1–2
 (250)
San Diego, CA
December 10, 1977*
Wisconsin–Parkside W 59–51  2–2
Crawford Hall (450)
Irvine, CA
December 16, 1977*
Boise State W 66–64  3–2
Crawford Hall (525)
Irvine, CA
December 17, 1977*
Aurora College W 70–48  4–2
Crawford Hall (450)
Irvine, CA
December 20, 1977*
Portland L 68–73  4–3
Crawford Hall (703)
Irvine, CA
December 22, 1977*
at Oregon L 62–77  4–4
McArthur Court (10,500)
Eugene, OR
December 30, 1977*
at California L 50–83  4–5
Harmon Gym (2,500)
Berkeley, CA
January 7, 1978*
at Northern Colorado W 60–58  5–5
Butler–Hancock Hall (650)
Greeley, CO
January 12, 1978
Fresno State L 40–45  5–6
(0–1)
Crawford Hall (1,025)
Irvine, CA
January 14, 1978
Cal State Fullerton L 59–88  5–7
(0–2)
Crawford Hall (1,382)
Irvine, CA
January 19, 1978
at San Diego State L 65–90  5–8
(0–3)
Peterson Gym (2,881)
San Diego, CA
January 21, 1978
at Long Beach State L 79–92  5–9
(0–4)
Long Beach Arena (3,036)
Long Beach, CA
January 24, 1978*
at Loyola Marymount W 72–69  6–9
Loyola Memorial Gymnasium (800)
Los Angeles, CA
January 26, 1978
Pacific L 58–70  6–10
(0–5)
Crawford Hall (575)
Irvine, CA
January 28, 1978
San Jose State W 73–58  7–10
(1–5)
Crawford Hall (682)
Irvine, CA
February 2, 1978
at UC Santa Barbara L 76–78  7–11
(1–6)
Robertson Gymnasium (1,482)
Santa Barbara, CA
February 4, 1978
UC Santa Barbara W 68–65  8–11
(2–6)
Crawford Hall (956)
Irvine, CA
February 9, 1978
at San Jose State L 67–70  8–12
(2–7)
Independence High School (1,440)
San Jose, CA
February 11, 1978
at Pacific L 73–58  8–13
(2–8)
Pacific Pavilion (2,350)
Stockton, CA
February 16, 1978
Long Beach State L 64–73  8–14
(2–9)
Crawford Hall (1,328)
Irvine, CA
February 18, 1978
San Diego State L 42–48  8–15
(2–10)
Crawford Hall (1,101)
Irvine, CA
February 23, 1978
at Cal State Fullerton L 75–83  8–16
(2–11)
Titan Gym (1,432)
Fullerton, CA
February 25, 1978
at Fresno State L 73–58  8–17
(2–12)
Selland Arena (6,493)
Fresno, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific Time.

Source[5] [6]

Awards and honors

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  • Wayne Smith
    • Second Team All-PCAA[7]

Team players drafted into the NBA

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Round Pick Player NBA Club
4 22 Wayne Smith Phoenix Suns

Source[8]

References

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  1. ^ "1978-78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Season Summary". Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  2. ^ GUSTKEY, E. (1976, Jul 15). "PCAA WILL ADMIT UC IRVINE IN '77". Los Angeles Times
  3. ^ GUSTKEY, E. (1977, Jan 14). "UCI cagers have youthful outlook." Los Angeles Times
  4. ^ (1977, Apr 28). UCI signs three basketball stars. Los Angeles Times
  5. ^ "UC Irvine Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. UC Irvine Athletics. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  6. ^ "Final 1978 Cumulative Basketball Statistics Report" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  7. ^ "Big West Conference men's basketball record book" (PDF). bigwest.org. Big West Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  8. ^ "Wayne Smith". realgm.com. Real GM. Retrieved July 10, 2017.