1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

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 817 and were 212 in PCAA play to finish 8th place. The anteaters did not receive an invitation to the 1978 PCAA Tournament.

1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
ConferencePacific Coast Athletic Association
1977–78 record8–17 (2–12 PCAA)
Head coach
  • Tim Taft (9th season)
Home arenaCrawford Hall
1977–78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Fresno State113 .786  216  .778
San Diego State113 .786  199  .679
Cal State Fullerton95 .643  239  .719
Pacific95 .643  1710  .630
Long Beach State77 .500  1613  .552
San Jose State410 .286  819  .296
UC Santa Barbara311 .214  819  .296
UC Irvine212 .143  817  .320
1978 PCAA Tournament winner
As of March 18, 1978[1]; Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

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 1017.

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 197778 season.[2]

Off-season

Incoming transfer

NamePos.HeightWeightYearHometownNotes
Steve McGuireF6'5"N/AJr.N/AJunior college transfer from Rio Hondo College[3]

1977 Recruiting Class

Source[4]

Roster

1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
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

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 27, 1977*
at Portland L 6177  01
Howard Hall (945)
Portland, OR
November 29, 1977*
at Chico State W 6256  11
 (352)
Chico, CA
December 3, 1977*
at UC San Diego L 6476  12
 (250)
San Diego, CA
December 10, 1977*
WisconsinParkside W 5951  22
Crawford Hall (450)
Irvine, CA
December 16, 1977*
Boise State W 6664  32
Crawford Hall (525)
Irvine, CA
December 17, 1977*
Aurora College W 7048  42
Crawford Hall (450)
Irvine, CA
December 20, 1977*
Portland L 6873  43
Crawford Hall (703)
Irvine, CA
December 22, 1977*
at Oregon L 6277  44
McArthur Court (10,500)
Eugene, OR
December 30, 1977*
at California L 5083  45
Harmon Gym (2,500)
Berkeley, CA
January 7, 1978*
at Northern Colorado W 6058  55
ButlerHancock Hall (650)
Greeley, CO
January 12, 1978
Fresno State L 4045  56
(01)
Crawford Hall (1,025)
Irvine, CA
January 14, 1978
Cal State Fullerton L 5988  57
(02)
Crawford Hall (1,382)
Irvine, CA
January 19, 1978
at San Diego State L 6590  58
(03)
Peterson Gym (2,881)
San Diego, CA
January 21, 1978
at Long Beach State L 7992  59
(04)
Long Beach Arena (3,036)
Long Beach, CA
January 24, 1978*
at Loyola Marymount W 7269  69
Loyola Memorial Gymnasium (800)
Los Angeles, CA
January 26, 1978
Pacific L 5870  610
(05)
Crawford Hall (575)
Irvine, CA
January 28, 1978
San Jose State W 7358  710
(15)
Crawford Hall (682)
Irvine, CA
February 2, 1978
at UC Santa Barbara L 7678  711
(16)
Robertson Gymnasium (1,482)
Santa Barbara, CA
February 4, 1978
UC Santa Barbara W 6865  811
(26)
Crawford Hall (956)
Irvine, CA
February 9, 1978
at San Jose State L 6770  812
(27)
Independence High School (1,440)
San Jose, CA
February 11, 1978
at Pacific L 7358  813
(28)
Pacific Pavilion (2,350)
Stockton, CA
February 16, 1978
Long Beach State L 6473  814
(29)
Crawford Hall (1,328)
Irvine, CA
February 18, 1978
San Diego State L 4248  815
(210)
Crawford Hall (1,101)
Irvine, CA
February 23, 1978
at Cal State Fullerton L 7583  816
(211)
Titan Gym (1,432)
Fullerton, CA
February 25, 1978
at Fresno State L 7358  817
(212)
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

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

Team players drafted into the NBA

RoundPickPlayerNBA Club
422Wayne SmithPhoenix Suns

Source[8]

References

  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. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  8. "Wayne Smith". realgm.com. Real GM. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
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