What’s Ahead for UC San Diego Basketball, Reigning Big West Champs
Athletic director, coaches offer a sneak peek at the upcoming men’s and women’s seasons.
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Hot off the record-breaking basketball successes of last season and with Homecoming this weekend, Nov. 7-9, we have a sneak peek at what’s next for DI sports at UC San Diego — especially basketball.
“The most exciting part of our future is continuing the success of our past,” says Andy Fee, the director of athletics for UC San Diego. “Last year was an amazing year for the Tritons. Of our 24 Division I programs, 20 of those participated in the postseason, which is phenomenal.”
Who could forget the excitement around the Big West Championship wins that both the women’s and men’s teams brought home? To celebrate those successes — the first for an NCAA DI program in its first year of eligibility — championship banners will be unveiled as part of each team’s game this weekend, the women’s on Nov. 7 during their game against the University of Denver and the men’s on Nov. 8, as they play Houston Christian University. And if you’re curious about swag, the first 2,000 fans on Friday and first 4,000 fans on Saturday will receive a replica banner.
“Athletics is a unifying force,” Fee says. ”No matter what your academic background is at UC San Diego, athletics is a great opportunity to come together and then cheer on these amazing scholar athletes.
Women’s Basketball
When it comes to play, the women’s team returns with a solid core of experienced players, though it does look slightly different this year. “We added and we lost some key players,” says Heidi VanDerveer, head coach for women’s basketball. “But I'm excited about how we added to the core of experience that we already have with six newcomers, four first years and two transfers.” While the team is younger this year, the transition to DI has pushed the team to continue getting better. “We have continued to develop our competitive depth, which is imperative to our ability to compete for championships," VanDerveer says.
Defensively, VanDerveer’s goal is for the women’s team to play to their strengths with a total team strategy. How that plays out on the court will be with ball pressure and built-in help as players support one another. “We have to take pride in being great individual defenders, but player’s don't have to rely on being on an island,” she says.
Traditionally, the women’s team has run a non-patterned offense that prioritized individual strengths, according to VanDerveer. “But I think that our strengths have changed and evolved dramatically over the last two years,” she says. “Now we have great spacing and let people attack — we are much more open and free-flowing.” And that evolution, VanDerveer says, makes game play exciting for fans to watch.
Men’s Basketball
For men’s basketball, this season includes six returning players. With such a new team, “I think we'll need to find our own identity a little bit,” says men’s basketball head coach and UC San Diego alumnus Clint Allard. “But I've been really encouraged. We have a lot of people who are here for the right reasons and want to be part of a team-first basketball, they are a really unselfish group.” The men’s team is also fairly young in terms of college basketball these days — only two players on the roster are in their last year of eligibility for NCAA play.
In terms of approach, Allard plans to play to the strengths of his players. “We've been really guard-dominant recently and using a lot of ball screens. But I actually think the strength of our team this year is a couple of our bigger front-court guys, so learning how to play through them and maybe a little more off-ball action than on-ball action.”
For Allard, the competitive schedule that the men’s team is playing this season is a huge plus, especially the nationally televised tournament held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida that runs Thanksgiving week.
With broadcasts on ESPN and online via ESPN+, fans can follow both the men’s and women’s seasons from afar.
And for home games, VanDerveer has an invitation for fans: “Come, bring a friend, watch us compete, and I think you'll be hooked. Bring yourself and your best energy, and we will work really hard to put on a great show.”
For tickets, visit ucsdtritons.com/tickets.
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