Oct. 17, 2007

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - In addition to predicting the 2007-08 West Coast Conference regular-season standings, WCC head coaches were also asked to submit who they thought were the top six returning players from last season. USD has two of the six players in junior center Gyno Pomare and junior point guard Brandon Johnson. The USD junior duo are joined by Josh Heytvelt and Jeremy Pargo of Gonzaga, Diamon Simpson of Saint Mary's College and Manny Quezada of USF. The Toreros have been picked to finish 3rd in the WCC Coaches Preseason poll.

USD returns one of the quickest guards in the WCC in Brandon Johnson. The junior point guard is one of the top playmakers in the conference, leading the WCC in assists last season with 4.75 apg, while ranking 12th overall in scoring at 12.8 points per game. While he was making plays on the offensive end for USD, he tormented the Toreros' opponents on the defensive end, ranking fourth in the WCC in steals with 1.94 spg. Johnson needs just 33 more assists to crack into the Toreros' top five career assists chart.

Last season, junior forward Gyno Pomare established himself as one of the top frontcourt players in the conference, earning All-WCC first team honors. Pomare teams up with point guard Brandon Johnson to give the Toreros one of the top inside-outside tandems in the league. Pomare was relentless on the boards, averaging a WCC-best 8.3 rpg. He finished the season ranked in the top ten in the WCC in scoring (14.9 ppg-6th), rebounding (1st), field goal percentage (.538-2nd), and blocks (1.31 bpg-6th).

The Toreros have been hard at work since their first practice on October 12th. Head coach Bill Grier and his staff will run the team through their first inter-squad practice this coming Saturday at the USD Sports Center. USD has two exhibitions scheduled against Point Loma (Oct. 31st, 7 pm) and Occidental College (Nov. 4th, 2 pm).