SAN DIEGO — Up the hill the Toreros went, pounding the Bay Park pavement on a warm, mid-August day as they did battle with the steep incline. The players — ten of them in total — had their arms linked one over another, with freshman Wayne McKinney III on one side, redshirt senior Joey Calcaterra in the middle, and sophomore transfer TJ Berger on the other. 

"You're not done yet!" San Diego men's basketball head coach Sam Scholl exhorted as they neared the top, holding out his hands as he formed a makeshift finish line.

As all ten players reached the suburban summit, Scholl snapped a picture before his team embraced him, the workout and a summer full of preparation concluded. Fall practices and an important 2021-2022 season awaited USD, but for the time being the third-year coach was satisfied. In a quiet moment minutes later, mere months removed from a season in which circumstances out of his and his players' control forced the team apart, he tweeted the photo along with a simple dispatch. 

"Finishing an Outstanding Summer," Scholl wrote along with the picture. "TOGETHER!"
"We had to tell them to get to know each other without seeing each other," Scholl described of team-building in the COVID-19 era. "'Do it without going to each other's apartments…do it without going to dinner together…We need you guys to get to know each other…but you can't be together.'"

In the Jenny Craig Pavilion, seats were pushed all the way back and devoid of spectators. The scorer's table was split in half and partially set 20 feet away from the court. Team benches were separated apart like a game of musical chairs.

"Every game felt like a scrimmage," Scholl said of the atmosphere across the sport last season. "Even when we went on the road… even when we played Gonzaga."

Interruptions persisted. Challenges abounded. After the season ended, tough conversations ensued between the coaching staff and the roster, with the head coach making one thing clear:

"In the simplest of terms we call it being a 'Baller,' and there's four things that go into that — having a passion for the growth of your game, being willing to be challenged in that process, competing in everything, and wanting to win, without the 'But.'" said Scholl. "We set the expectations right then and there, if you can't do these four things or you won't do these four things, then maybe this isn't the place for you."

By mid-March, after retaining the talents of returners Joey Calcaterra, Josh Parrish, Scotty Prunty, Yavuz Gultekin, and Vladimir Pinchuk, Scholl was not yet taking a picture of his team on his phone, but instead using it to remodel his roster. 

"It started with hitting the refresh button on the transfer portal," said Scholl, now in his fourth season in charge at USD. "The first month after the season was crazy…you stepped away for 30 minutes, hit refresh, and there'd be 20 more names. We started having those same conversations with those incoming guys: 'Don't come here if you can't be about those four things.'"

Difficult conversations at the outset of the offseason led to fulfilling ones as it went on. Hours of film study, phone calls, and research into players' makeups netted San Diego five new transfer players —Jase Townsend (Denver), Marcellus Earlington (St. John's), TJ Berger (Georgetown), Bryce Monroe (Sam Houston State), and Terrell Brown (Pitt). They arrived as true freshmen Wayne McKinney III, Dominic Muncey, Alijah Kuehl, Patrick Caero, and Muon Reath entered the program, infusing experience with youth alongside the resources the Toreros returned. In total, five freshmen, two sophomores, one junior, two seniors, two redshirt seniors, and two graduate students.

"It's different…we bring a lot of knowledge," Brown said after he listed off the previous stops he and some of his new teammates had before joining San Diego. "We're all over the place in age, but we have a lot of experience. You don't get that a lot."

Brown, who stands at 6-foot-10 and set a single-game record at Pitt with nine blocks, figures to anchor the Torero defense, but should also bring value on the other side of the ball.

"If he doesn't block a shot, he can certainly intimidate it," Scholl said of the forward/center. "He's very underrated offensively. He has an ability to score with his back to the basket, he's got great hands, a nice soft touch, and he's a great passer."

If Brown is the main attraction on defense, Townsend should be his counterpart on offense. A 6-foot-3 guard who competed for three seasons at Denver before joining the Toreros, Townsend averaged 13.9 points per game with the Pioneers, including a team-best 19.2 points per game as a junior. 

"He's just a very, very efficient scorer," described Scholl. "He can score at the rim, mid-range, he's a very good three-point shooter. He has an ability to create offense with his passing…he's a guy that takes pride in his defense."

Earlington, a six-foot-seven guard/forward, provides a strong, skilled presence with his perimeter shooting, and McKinney III (Coronado High School), the highest-rated prospect to commit to USD in program history, will have the chance to make a big impact in his first college season. For Earlington, his tenacity and competitiveness turned heads in the runup to the season. For McKinney III, it's been how polished his game is, his wiseness beyond his years that's impressed. 

And back, of course, is veteran presence Joey Calcaterra, the lone player who has seen it all alongside Scholl, from his hiring in 2018, to a magical NIT run in 2019, to a pair of challenging seasons the last couple of years.

"Joey knows what goes into the highs, and he knows what goes into the lows," his coach added. "He's a leader for us, without a doubt." ASSEMBLING A ROSTER is one thing. Getting it to gel and become a true team, however, is another. Through no fault of their own, the Toreros learned that the hard way last season as they were dealt tough break after tough break amid the pandemic. But this time around, with COVID-19 in the rear-view mirror, Scholl and his staff are confident in the makeup of their roster, and have had the chance to do the things they didn't get to do last year.

"It just started right away in the summer with team meetings," Scholl said of the offseason. "I think our second team meeting, at my house as a group, it was just crazy how comfortable guys felt opening up. Opening up about their lives, and letting us all in to some of the really tough times that all of our guys have been through."  

There's been countless team meals as they prepare for the season. Comedy nights at Coach Scholl's house, where players must either do an impersonation of someone or sing a karaoke song. Simple, but invaluable team-building rites of passage, taken for granted no longer — a year after they were all but taken away. 

"It was very fun, honestly," Brown said of the summer, his voice brightening as he recalled the offseason. "It's good to get a group of guys with no agendas or anything like that…guys that are there just for the same goal: to be part of something special. A group of guys that want to turn the team around, a group where everyone plays their role. I think that's what we have."

The Toreros hope that all that team-building — in conjunction with a rigorous summer and fall of practice — will prepare the team for a full, 30-game schedule, one that includes 14 non-conference games against the likes of Nevada, Cal, Northern Arizona, Long Beach State, and UNLV before play in the vaunted West Coast Conference begins. Highlights include a trip to Las Vegas for the Las Vegas Classic, a jaunt to the desert for the Jerry Colangelo Classic in Phoenix, and away matchups with the Wolfpack in Reno and the Bears in Berkeley. 

"We've got a lot of good games on there," Parrish said of his team's non-conference schedule. "A lot of good home games..but at the same time, I wouldn't call it a 'walk in the park.' Hopefully that can help us build some momentum for conference."

The aforementioned WCC looms large in 2021-2022, with perennial national title contender Gonzaga atop both the conference and the national rankings. Beneath, a crop of teams that should prove challenging, but not insurmountable for the Toreros.

"I think it's gonna be another competitive year (in the WCC), added Parrish, the only Torero to start all 14 games the team played last year, including 10 in conference play. "Especially due to the fact that with that COVID year, people had the chance to come back for another year…in terms of strength, the league really hasn't lost too many pieces…every game is going to be a dog fight, but I think we're more than capable of having a good chance to perform."

To succeed in the WCC and beyond, the Toreros will continue to strive for the same tenets they did last year on offense, taking advantage of an athletic group that "loves to run and jump," a group that one player described as "explosive."

"It's the same emphasis," Scholl said. "We want great pacing, great spacing, we've gotta give the ball space to attack. This year, we're fortunate to have guys that can get in the paint. We want to get a lot of paint touches, and once they get there, to make the right play."

On defense, however, look for something new from USD.

"We've kinda revamped (the defense)," said Scholl. "We want to pressure, we want to pressure 94 feet. We feel like we have the roster and the athleticism to be able to do that. It starts with Bryce Monroe and Wayne McKinney…being able to wear guys down and dictate where they start their offensive possessions." 

Beyond the X's and O's, beyond the team's offensive and defensive identities, there's a another common bond between the Toreros, one that despite the team's varied background and myriad paths to Alcala Park, was found to be universal as the players got to know each other over the summer: a desire to reach their full potentials, both individually, and most importantly, collectively.

"Everybody came here for a reason," said Brown, who hails from Providence, Rhode Island. "I feel like a lot of guys can have a lot of good years. It's going to be fun to watch." WHAT TYPE OF PICTURE Scholl will be able to snap of his team after this year's season remains to be seen. What type of summit the Toreros will reach, how high they'll climb is up to them. Be it a peak that includes a postseason appearance, a picture that illustrates a winning season, or something in between, the team's journey will begin on November 9 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, when the Toreros will take the court in front of fans for the first time in 619 days ahead of their matchup with La Verne. The team won't be arm-in-arm, per se, but they'll be lined up next to each other nonetheless, listening as the music blares and their names are announced, many of them for the first time in San Diego, many of them for the first time in front of Torero fans.

As the fans rise to their feet and tip-off approaches, perhaps the Toreros will consider the path they've already taken, how far they've come since most of them met mere months ago.

"We started off as a group of guys (in the beginning of the summer)," Brown said. "But when we ran up that hill, we were family."

Whatever it is that San Diego men's basketball does in the 2021-2022 season after Tuesday's game begins, its head coach hopes it'll do so in one way, a way that he helped set into motion on a hot August afternoon in Bay Park.

He hopes they'll do it together.