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| San Francisco Dons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | University of San Francisco |
| Conference | WCC (primary) Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (women's indoor track & field) |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletic director | Stephanie Shrieve-Hawkins (interim) |
| Location | San Francisco, California |
| Varsity teams | 17 (15 in 2024–25) |
| Basketball arena | War Memorial at the Sobrato Center andChase Center |
| Baseball stadium | Dante Benedetti Diamond at Max Ulrich Field |
| Soccer stadium | Negoesco Stadium |
| Other venues | California Tennis Club Crissy Field Kezar Stadium Peacock Gap Golf Club The Olympic Club |
| Mascot | The Don |
| Nickname | Dons |
| Fight song | "Victory Song" |
| Colors | Green and gold[1] |
| Website | usfdons |
 | |
TheSan Francisco Dons is the nickname of the athletic teams at theUniversity of San Francisco (USF). The Dons compete inNCAA Division I of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of theWest Coast Conference (WCC), of which USF is a charter member.
Athletics at USF dates back to its founding in 1855, when founderAnthony Maraschi, S.J. organized ball games as recreation for the first students. However, intercollegiate competition only dates back to 1907, when then-Saint Ignatius College began playing organizedbaseball,basketball, andrugby against other local colleges and high schools. Rivalries with neighboringSanta Clara University andSaint Mary's College of California have their origins in this early period.
Teams were originally known as the "Grey Fog", and red and blue were Saint Ignatius College's colors. However, as the college began to develop an identity distinct from the high school—the college became the University of San Francisco in 1930—it adopted green and gold as its colors in 1927 and chose theDon as its mascot in 1932. The old Saint Ignatius High School later becameSaint Ignatius College Preparatory and retained the red and blue colors.
Three USF alumni participated in the2016 Summer Olympics - Israeli long-distance runnerMaor Tiyouri, basketball playerJohn Cox and synchronized swimmerMariya Koroleva.[2] Tiyouri also competed in the marathon at the2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021.[3]
| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Beach volleyball |
| Cross country | Cross country |
| Golf | Golf |
| Soccer | Soccer |
| Tennis[a] | Tennis[a] |
| Track and field1 | Track and field1 |
| Volleyball | |
| 1 – includes both indoor and outdoor | |
2005 was a banner year for the baseball program, as the Diamond Dons finished with a 38–18 record (the best in team history), placed eight players in the all-conference team and earned Nino Giarrantano coach of the year honors. This was followed in 2006 with a 38–21 record, theWCC conference regular season championship, and a Top 25 ranking. However, USF lost in the WCC conference championship to Pepperdine but still was given an at large berth into their first ever postseason. USF did not advance in the tournament as they were beaten by theUniversity of Miami, andManhattan College.
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Future major leaguerAaron Poreda pitched for the Diamond Dons, finishing his freshman 2005 season with a 2.16ERA, the fifth-lowest in team history and third-best in the WCC, and his hits-per-9-innings ratio of 6.48 was second-best in the conference.[5][6][7] In 2006 he posted a WCC-best 2.49 ERA.[5][7] In the NCAA regional he pitched the team to a 5–1 victory over No. 6 national seed Nebraska.[7] Poreda was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the first round (25th overall) in the2007 Major League Baseball Draft; at the time, he was throwing a 97 miles per hour fastball.[8][9]
Nino Giarrantano became head coach in 1998, previously serving as hitting coach atArizona State University. Giarrantano was named 3-time JC National Coach of the Year and 2005–2006WCC Coach of the Year. Since arriving at USF, the team has had its best four-year stretch in its program's history, 104-69 overall since 2004.[citation needed]
USF began receiving reports ofsexual misconduct and psychological abuse from the baseball team in late 2021, regarding assistant coach Troy Nakamura, and fired him in January 2023. Two months later, it was reported that Nakamura was permitted access to the baseball facilities by Giarrantano, and aclass action lawsuit was filed against both Nakamura and Giarrantano the following March by three anonymous players. Two days after the suit was filed, Giarrantano was fired.[10]
Assistant coach Mat Keplinger became interim head coach, and the following season,Rob DiToma, then head coach of theFairleigh Dickinson Knights baseball team, was hired as new head baseball coach.[11]
The Dons'home field is named afterDante Benedetti, USF's head coach from 1962 to 1980. Benedetti attended then-Saint Ignatius College from 1937 to 1940, during which he lettered in Baseball, Football, and Boxing. During his tenure as head coach, he accumulated 373 career wins and has been inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame. Also during his tenure as head coach, the university wanted to cut the program for financial reasons. However, to keep the program alive Benedetti agreed to lower his salary. For the remaining 16 years of his coaching career, he was paid $1 a year.
The field is also named after Max Ulrich, a benefactor of the University of San Francisco.
Over the years of USF's baseball tradition, a number of players have been drafted into professional baseball. Of these players, a few have had debuts in the Major Leagues:
| Player | Years at USF | MLB Debut |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Giannini | 1908–1911 | July 8, 1911 |
| Clarence Fieber | 1932–1932 | May 18, 1932 |
| Ernie Sulik | 1929–1955 | April 15, 1936 |
| Jake Caulfield | 1937–1940 | April 24, 1946 |
| Neill Sheridan | 1940–1944 | September 19, 1948 |
| Con Dempsey | 1942–1944 | April 28, 1951 |
| Paul Schramka | 1947–1950 | April 14, 1953 |
| Stan Johnson | 1956–1960 | August 18, 1960 |
| Aaron Pointer | 1960–1961 | September 22, 1963 |
| Mike Buskey | 1968–1971 | September 5, 1977 |
| Justin Speier | 1992–1993 | May 27, 1998 |
| Jermaine Clark | 1995–1997 | April 3, 2001 |
| Joe Nelson | 1993–1996 | June 13, 2001 |
| Jesse Foppert | 1999–2001 | April 14, 2003 |
| Jeff Harris | 1995–1995 | April 2, 2005 |
| Aaron Poreda | 2005–2007 | June 12, 2009 |
| Scott Cousins | 2004–2006 | September 3, 2010 |
| Kyle Zimmer | 2010–2012 | March 31, 2019 |
| Bradley Zimmer | 2012–2014 | May 16, 2017 |
| Adam Cimber | 2013-2013 | March 29, 2018 |
USF is best known for its basketball program. The men's basketball team have won three national titles: the 1949NIT underPete Newell and the 1955 and 1956NCAA championships underPhil Woolpert. The latter two were led by futureNational Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame andNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame membersBill Russell andK.C. Jones.
USF retained its status as a basketball powerhouse into the 1970s and early 80s, holding the distinction of being a "major" program in a "mid-major" conference (the WCC having declined somewhat in stature since the 1960s). It held the number-one spot in the polls on numerous occasions. In 1977, led byAll-American centerBill Cartwright, the Dons went 29–0 and were regarded as the #1 team in the nation in both major polls before dropping their last two games.
The Dons' prominence in the 1970s came at a price, however. The NCAA placed the Dons on probation two times in the late 1970s. Head coachBob Gaillard was fired after the first, and an in-house inquiry after the second resulted in the firing of his successor, Dan Belluomini. It was also well known that basketball players got special treatment; many of them were marginal students at best, and at least one instance where a player threatened another student was swept under the rug by school officials.[12] It was also common for "tutors" to take tests and write papers for players.[13]
The situation came to a head in December 1981, when All-American guardQuintin Dailey assaulted a female student. During the subsequent investigation, Dailey admitted taking a no-show job at a business owned by a prominent non-sports USF donor. The donor had also paid Dailey $5,000 since 1980. Combined with other revelations, school president Rev.John Lo Schiavo announced on July 29, 1982, that he was suspending the basketball program—the first time a school had shut down a major sport under such circumstances. The move was applauded by several members of the coaching fraternity,[12] as the Dailey matter revealed a program that was, in the words ofSan Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Glenn Dickey, "totally out of control."[13]
LoSchiavo resurrected the program in 1985 under former starJim Brovelli, who quickly returned the program to respectability. He was not able to reach postseason play, however, and resigned in 1995. The program has only reached the postseason twice since its revival—an NCAA berth in 1998 underPhil Mathews and a 2005 NIT berth under former coachJessie Evans.
The program regressed the next few years, and Jessie Evans was granted a request for a 'leave of absence' on December 27, 2007. Basketball coachEddie Sutton took over on an interim basis, needing two wins for a personal milestone of 800 career coaching victories. At the time,Bob Knight was the only otherDivision I men's coach to have accomplished the feat. After months of speculation, Evans was finally officially fired by USF on March 20, 2008, and a national coaching search was launched, including the use of an executive search consultant company, DHR International.
Rex Walters was named as the Dons' head coach on April 14, 2008. On March 9, 2016, after eight seasons during which the Dons were unable to do more than break even (127-127), athletic director Scott Sidwell fired Walters.[14]
On March 30, 2016, Kyle Smith was named as the new head coach. Prior to joining USF, Smith had spent the prior six years as head coach of theColumbia University basketball team. For nine years prior to that, he was assistant coach atSaint Mary's College of California, which went to the Sweet 16 in his final year.[15]
Women's basketball also experienced recent successes, including appearances in theNCAA women's tournament in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2016 and a WNIT berth in 2002. The 1996 season represented their best ever, as the women's team made it into the tournament'sSweet Sixteen. The team is presently coached byMolly Goodenbour.[16]
| San Francisco Dons basketball | |
| Men's NCAA Championships (2) | |
| NIT Championships (1) | |
| Men's Conference Titles (17) * WCC Tournament title | |
| Men's NCAA Tournament Appearances *Final Four appearance | |
| Women's Conference Titles (4) | |
| Women's NCAA Tournament appearances (4) *Sweet Sixteen appearance | |
| 1949 San Francisco Dons men's basketball NIT Champions | |
| Record | |
| Head coach | |
| Players | |
| 1954–55 & 1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball NCAA Champions | |
| Record | |
| Head coach | |
| Players | |
Compared to local rivalsSanta Clara andSaint Mary's, USF's football teams were historically not as strong. However, the Dons entered college football lore by going undefeated in1951 and producing threeNFLhall of famers (Gino Marchetti,Ollie Matson, andBob St. Clair). However, they did not receive a bowl invitation, as the team turned down any suggestions that they leave their two black teammates at home at the expense of a much-needed bowl bid. Due to the associated financial burden on the school that a bowl bid would have alleviated, USF's finest football team ever was its last at the major college level (now Division I FBS). Though football made a brief comeback as a Division II sport during the 1960s and 1970s, USF has not fielded a varsity team since.
Kuharich, at times, would delegate recruiting responsibilities to his freshman coach, Brad Lynn, who had little to offer prospective players in the way of scholarship inducements beyond tuition and room and board in an old ROTC barracks. However, Lynn would take recruits to the highest hill on campus, and would gesture out towards the sweeping panorama of San Francisco saying, "THIS is your campus." Only a handful of players from that 1951 team had been considered blue-ribbon prospects in high school. Two of the team's best players, Toler and guard Louis (Red) Stephens, had not even played high school football. Future Hall of Famer Marchetti was a high school dropout who had played only sparingly when he was in school.
The 1951 Dons were honored during theFiesta Bowl in January2008.
| 1951 San Francisco Dons football | |
| Record | |
| 9-0-0 (FinalAP Poll ranking: 14) | |
| Head coach | |
| Kuharich | |
| Assistant coaches | |
| Brad Lynn, Ryan, Kerr, Daly, Zanazzi | |
| Players | |
| Arenivar • Arnoldy • Becker • Boggan •Brown • Bruna • Carley Chess • Colombini • Conte • Cronan •Dando • Dawson • DeBernardi | |
| Sports information officer | |
| Rozelle | |
The men's golf team has won 11 West Coast Conference championships: 1970–71, 1981–84, 1986, 1988, 1990, 2009, 2011.[17]
Men's soccer is USF's most successful program, earning fivenational titles, including a co-championship withPenn State in 1949. The program's successes came under alumnusStephen Negoesco, who coached from 1962 to 2000 and led the team to 540 wins and four national championships (1966, 1975, 1976, 1980). Under Negoesco's successor, alumnus Erik Visser, the men's team earned the 2004, 2005 and 2008 WCC titles.
Alejandro Toledo, the former president ofPeru, played for USF on a partial scholarship.
| San Francisco Dons soccer | |
| Men's NCAA Championships (4) | |
| 1966 • 1975 • 1976 • 1980 | |
| Men's Conference Titles (32) | |
| 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1963 • 1965 • 1966 1971 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1978 • 1980 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1987 • 1988 • 1991 • 1993 1994 • 2004 • 2005 • 2008 | |
The Women's cross country team won four consecutive WCC championships in 2009–2012, and in 2011 made an NCAA Championship appearance. They maintained national rankings in both 2011–2012. Israeli OlympianMaor Tiyouri, who went on to run the marathon in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, competed for the team.[18]
The men's tennis team, led by Harry Likas, Harry Roche andArthur Larsen, won the 1949NCAA Men's Tennis Championship. Likas also won the 1948 individual men's title.
USF announced it would drop men's and women's tennis at the end of the 2023–24 school year.
| San Francisco Dons tennis | |
| Men's NCAA Team Titles (1) | |
| Men's NCAA Individual Titles (1) | |
The women'svolleyball team has made two NCAA tournament appearances: in 2003, under former coach Jeff Nelson, and in 2008 under current coach Gilad Doron. The 2008 season saw the Dons finish with a Top 25 national ranking, a 22–8 record, and five all-WCC players.
| San Francisco Dons volleyball | |
| Women's NCAA Tournament appearances (2) | |
USF participates in the following club sports: golf,fencing,boxing,rifle,tennis,karate, soccer andlacrosse. Rugby, which was one of the first varsity sports in school history, is currently a club sport.Football is played on theintramural level.
In 2013, USF hosted the inaugural championships of theUnited States Intercollegiate Boxing Association, the first national collegiate tournament in the US to include women's boxing.[19]
