1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball
West Coast Athletic Conference champions
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	West Coast Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 12
Record	22–7 (12–2 WCAC)
Head coach	Dan Belluomini (1st season)
Home arena	War Memorial Gymnasium
Seasons← 1977–781979–80 →

1978–79 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 12 San Francisco	12	–	2	.857	22	–	7	.759
Pepperdine	10	–	4	.714	22	–	10	.688
Nevada	9	–	5	.643	21	–	7	.750
Seattle	8	–	6	.571	15	–	11	.577
Santa Clara	6	–	8	.429	13	–	14	.481
Portland	5	–	9	.357	18	–	10	.643
Saint Mary's	5	–	9	.357	13	–	15	.464
Loyola Marymount	1	–	13	.071	5	–	21	.192


Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco as a member of the West Coast Athletic Conference during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dons opened the season with a top 20 ranking, but fell out after a couple early season losses. San Francisco battled back to finish the season with a 22–7 record (12–2 WCAC) and a No. 12 ranking in the final AP poll. As champions of the West Coast Athletic Conference, San Francisco played in the NCAA Tournament as No. 4 seed in the West region. To date, this season marks the most recent time the Dons have reached the Sweet Sixteen.

Senior center Bill Cartwright was named conference Player of the Year for the third time and received consensus second-team All-American honors. He ended his career with the Dons as the top scorer and shot blocker (since surpassed) in school history and third on the career rebounding list.

Roster

1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F		Guy Williams	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Oakland, California
C	24	Bill Cartwright	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Elk Grove, California
C	34	Wallace Bryant	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Gary, Indiana

Head coach

Dan Belluomini (San Francisco)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1978*	No. 17	at UC Santa Barbara	W 91–68	1–0	Robertson Gymnasium Santa Barbara, California
Nov 28, 1978*	No. 15	Cal State-Chico	W 77–53	2–0	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Nov 30, 1978*	No. 15	at California	W 76–67	3–0	Harmon Gym Berkeley, California
Dec 2, 1978*	No. 15	at No. 18 Nevada-Las Vegas	L 82–117	3–1	Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec 5, 1978*	No. 17	San Diego State	L 75–77	3–2	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 8, 1978*	No. 17	Stanford	W 87–77	4–2	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 9, 1978*	No. 17	Sacramento State	W 78–59	5–2	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 15, 1978*	No. 19	Pacific Golden Gate Invitational	W 69–57	6–2	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 16, 1978*	No. 19	Texas A&M Golden Gate Invitational	L 65–68	6–3	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 22, 1978*		San Francisco State	W 79–51	7–3	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 23, 1978*		Seattle Pacific	W 90–61	8–3	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 30, 1978*		Texas	W 69–48	9–3	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Jan 5, 1979		at Loyola Marymount	W 95–66	10–3 (1–0)	Loyola Memorial Gymnasium Los Angeles, California
Jan 18, 1979*		at No. 1 Notre Dame	L 69–88	13–4	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 24, 1979		Loyola Marymount	W 103–69	21–6 (12–2)	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1979*	(4 W) No. 12	vs. (5 W) Brigham Young Second Round	W 86–63	22–6	McKale Center Tucson, Arizona
Mar 15, 1979*	(4 W) No. 12	vs. (1 W) No. 2 UCLA West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 81–99	22–7	Marriott Center Provo, Utah
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

Bill Cartwright – WCAC Player of the Year (3x), Consensus Second-team All-American

Team players drafted into the NBA

Main article: 1979 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	3	Bill Cartwright	New York Knicks

References

"Indiana St., Arkansas, DePaul, UCLA Win". The Washington Post. March 16, 1979. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
"1979 West Coast Conference Champions". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
"Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1970-80) - University of San Francisco Athletics". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
"1979 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 11, 2022.

v t e San Francisco Dons men's basketball
Venues	Kezar Pavilion (1924–1958) St. Ignatius Gym (1924–1958) Sobrato Center (1958–present) Chase Center (alternate; 2019–present)
Culture & lore	The Don KTCT
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

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