1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team
{{short description|American college basketball season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college sports team season
|year = 1978–79
|team = San Francisco Dons
|sport = Basketball
|image =
|image_size =
|conference = West Coast Athletic Conference
|division =
|short_conf = WCAC
|CoachRank = 17
|APRank = 12
|record = 22–7
|conf_record = 12–2
|head_coach = Dan Belluomini
|hc_year = 1st
|asst_coach1 =
|asst_coach2 =
|asst_coach3 =
|arena = War Memorial Gymnasium
|champion = West Coast Athletic Conference champions
|tourney = NCAA Tournament
|tourney_result = Sweet Sixteen
}}
{{1978–79 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings}}
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
{{CBB roster/Header|year=1978|team=San Francisco Dons|teamcolors=y}}
{{CBB roster/Player|first=Guy |last=Williams |num=44 |pos=F |ft=6 |in=9 |lbs=190 |class=Fr |cur_rs= |rs= |high_school= |home=Oakland, California |link=y |dab=basketball}}
{{CBB roster/Player|first=Bill |last=Cartwright |num=24 |pos=C |ft=7 |in=1 |lbs=235 |class=Sr |cur_rs= |rs= |high_school= |home=Elk Grove, California |link=y}}
{{CBB roster/Player|first=Wallace |last=Bryant |num=34 |pos=C |ft=7 |in=0 |lbs=230 |class=Fr |cur_rs= |rs= |high_school= |home=Gary, Indiana |link=y}}
{{CBB roster/Footer
|head_coach=
- Dan Belluomini ({{college|San Francisco}})
|asst_coach=
}}
Schedule and results
{{CBB schedule start
| rank =
| gamehighs =
| attend =
}}
|-
!colspan=9 style={{NCAA color cell|San Francisco Dons}}| Regular season
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Nov 25, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away = yes
| neutral =
| rank = 17
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=UC Santa Barbara Gauchos|title=UC Santa Barbara}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = Robertson Gymnasium
| site_cityst = Santa Barbara, California
| gamename =
| score = 91–68
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 1–0
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Nov 28, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank = 15
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=Chico State Wildcats|title=Cal State-Chico}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename =
| score = 77–53
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 2–0
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Nov 30, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away = yes
| neutral =
| rank = 15
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=California Golden Bears|title=California}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = Harmon Gym
| site_cityst = Berkeley, California
| gamename =
| score = 76–67
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 3–0
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 2, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away = yes
| neutral =
| rank = 15
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=none|team=UNLV Runnin' Rebels|title=Nevada-Las Vegas}}
| opprank = 18
| site_stadium = Las Vegas Convention Center
| site_cityst = Las Vegas, Nevada
| gamename =
| score = 82–117
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 3–1
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 5, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank = 17
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=San Diego State Aztecs|title=San Diego State}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename =
| score = 75–77
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 3–2
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 8, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank = 17
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=Stanford Cardinal|title=Stanford}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename =
| score = 87–77
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 4–2
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 9, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank = 17
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=Sacramento State Hornets|title=Sacramento State}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename =
| score = 78–59
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 5–2
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 15, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank = 19
| opponent = Pacific
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename = Golden Gate Invitational
| score = 69–57
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 6–2
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 16, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank = 19
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=Texas A&M Aggies|title=Texas A&M}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename = Golden Gate Invitational
| score = 65–68
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 6–3
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 22, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank =
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=San Francisco State Gators|title=San Francisco State}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename =
| score = 79–51
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 7–3
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 23, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank =
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=Seattle Pacific Falcons|title=Seattle Pacific}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename =
| score = 90–61
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 8–3
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 30, 1978
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral =
| rank =
| opponent = Texas
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename =
| score = 69–48
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 9–3
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 5, 1979
| time =
| nonconf =
| away = yes
| neutral =
| rank =
| opponent = {{cbb link|year=1978|sex=men|team=Loyola Marymount Lions|title=Loyola Marymount}}
| opprank =
| site_stadium = Loyola Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = Los Angeles, California
| gamename =
| score = 95–66
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 10–3
| conference = 1–0
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 18, 1979
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away = yes
| neutral =
| rank =
| opponent = Notre Dame
| opprank = 1
| site_stadium = Joyce Center
| site_cityst = Notre Dame, Indiana
| gamename =
| score = 69–88
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 13–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Feb 24, 1979
| time =
| nonconf =
| away =
| neutral =
| rank =
| opponent = Loyola Marymount
| opprank =
| site_stadium = War Memorial Gymnasium
| site_cityst = San Francisco, California
| gamename =
| score = 103–69
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 21–6
| conference = 12–2
}}
|-
!colspan=9 style={{NCAA color cell|San Francisco Dons}}| NCAA Tournament
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Mar 11, 1979
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral = yes
| rank = 12
| seed = 4 W
| opponent = Brigham Young
| opprank =
| oppseed = 5 W
| site_stadium = McKale Center
| site_cityst = Tucson, Arizona
| gamename = Second Round
| score = 86–63
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 22–6
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Mar 15, 1979
| time =
| nonconf = yes
| away =
| neutral = yes
| rank = 12
| seed = 4 W
| opponent = UCLA
| opprank = 2
| oppseed = 1 W
| site_stadium = Marriott Center
| site_cityst = Provo, Utah
| gamename = West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen
| score = 81–99{{cite news |title=Indiana St., Arkansas, DePaul, UCLA Win |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/03/16/indiana-st-arkansas-depaul-ucla-win/1d8f5ff4-4653-4e24-8fb7-56b210909832/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 16, 1979 |access-date=September 11, 2022}}
| overtime =
| attend =
| record = 22–7
}}
{{CBB schedule end
| rank =
| poll = AP Poll
| timezone = Pacific Time
| region = W
| regionname = West
| notes =
}}
{{cite web |title=1979 West Coast Conference Champions |url=https://usfdons.com/sports/2012/8/3/MBB1979Champs.aspx?id=11 |publisher=University of San Francisco Athletics |access-date=September 11, 2022}}
{{cite web |title=Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1970-80) - University of San Francisco Athletics |url=https://usfdons.com/sports/2014/8/7/MBB_0807140403.aspx#1978-79 |publisher=University of San Francisco Athletics |access-date=September 11, 2022}}
Rankings
{{main|1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings}}
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
{{main|1979 NBA draft}}
| class="wikitable"
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=San Francisco Dons|Round |Pick |Player |NBA Club }} | |||
| align="center" bgcolor=""
| 1 | 3 | Bill Cartwright | New York Knicks |
| align="center" bgcolor="" |
References
{{reflist}}
{{San Francisco Dons men's basketball navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1978-79 San Francisco Dons Men's Basketball Team}}