March 31, 2008

Three USD men's basketball players have been recognized by CollegeHoops.net with postseason honors. Junior forward Gyno Pomare (Oceanside, CA) was one of five players named a CollegeHoops.net Second Team Mid-Major All-American. Junior guard Brandon Johnson (Houston, TX) was tabbed a College Hoops.net Honorable Mention All-American, and freshman forward Rob Jones (San Francisco, CA) was selected CollegeHoops.net Honorable Mention Mid-Major All-Freshman. The USD Toreros finished the season 22-14 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after knocking off the 15th-ranked UConn Huskies in the opening round, 70-69 in overtime.

Pomare, who averaged 21.0 points in USD's two NCAA Tournament games, averaged 14.1 points per game and a team-best 7.4 rebounds on the season. A First Team All-WCC pick, Pomare converted 55.6 percent of his shots from the field (188-338) and tallied a team-best 48 blocked shots. Johnson led the Toreros this season in scoring (16.9 points per game), assists (124) and steals (77). A First Team All-WCC pick, the junior guard came up big in the WCC Tournament on his way to being named the WCC Tournament MVP. He averaged 18.0 points per game in the three wins, including a career-best 28 point effort in the team's double overtime win over Saint Mary's in the semifinals. In the NCAA Tournament Johnson averaged 15.5 points per game. Jones ranked third on the team in scoring this season with a 9.0 ppg clip; he was second to Pomare in both rebounding (5.8 rpg) and blocked shots (19). For the season he converted 50% of his field goal attempts (135-270).

As a team USD came up with a couple of firsts. They became the first Torero NCAA Division I team to advance in the NCAA Tournament, and also the first to knock off three Top-20 teams in a season. Additionally, the 22 wins overall and 11 WCC wins are the second most in program history. With no seniors on this year's club the future looks bright for the 2008-09 campaign.