SAN DIEGO â€" The USD men's basketball team hosted an end-of-season banquet this evening with a nice turnout in the foyer of the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Head Coach Lamont Smith recapped his first season at the helm of the program and thanked his coaching staff, players, family members, administrative staff and loyal supporters.

Coach Smith had a special message for his first team and two seniors, "This group will always have a special place in my heart because it was my first team. I'll always remember these guys and do anything I can for them to help them be successful. I want to thank all of you for your hard work, especially you two seniors. You young guys, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Our guys are embracing the process, loving the process and it is allowing us to set a foundation for the future. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us and we are excited about this spring and summer. And we are excited about the future of this program and we know we are going to do exciting things."

Receiving special recognition were seniors Jito Kok (Wageningen, The Netherlands) and Duda Sanadze (Tbilisi, Georgia). Both players will graduate this spring with degrees in Communication Studies. Kok played all four years for the Toreros and leaves as the program's all-time leader in all three blocked shot categories â€" Game: 9 vs. UC Davis, 12-15-15; Season: 76 in 2015-16; Career: 271 (2012-2016). His 271 blocks ranks second all-time among West Coast Conference players. Sanadze, who competed for three seasons, totaled 991 career points in 91 games and set a new USD Division I record with 38 points against Portland (Feb. 27, 2016). Back in November he was named to the GCI Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament team.

Jack Cronin, Voice of the Toreros, was Master of Ceremony. A Torero Tradition at this event is for the players to stand up in front of the crowd at the podium and introduce one of their teammates. The players did a great job with their stories and introductions. A season highlight video, created by Cara Brown, was shown at the end of the event. A special Senior Tribute cake was presented and enjoyed by all to close out the evening.