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Dons Achieved Much in 2004-05 Season
March 20, 2005
The first season of USF men's basketball under head coach Jessie Evans is now over, but it is clear that the Dons' program is headed in the right direction. Evans kept a personal streak going, appearing in his fourth straight postseason (three at Louisiana Lafayette) and fourth in the last five years.
The Dons (17-14) went to postseason play for the first time since 1998 and won its first postseason game since 1979, a 69-67 win over Denver. USF hosted two NIT games, the first such games ever hosted by a West Coast Conference school.
During the season, USF defeated five regular season conference champions, Penn (Ivy), St. Joseph's (Atlantic 10), Pacific (Big West - only team to beat them in Stockton), Gonzaga (West Coast) and Denver (Sun Belt-West). USF also beat Montana, the Big Sky Conference postseason champions.
USF was very competitive in the West Coast Conference beating #1 Gonzaga once and almost a second time in Spokane, leading in the last minute. They lost a triple overtime thriller at home to second place St. Mary's (missing some crucial late free-throws) and lost a chance to beat St. Mary's in Moraga after the game officials incorrectly nullified a three-point USF basket. They swept third place Santa Clara in the regular season.
Senior guard/forward John Cox had an outstanding season as a senior after having to redshirt 2003-04 with a knee injury. His 621 points are the seventh highest total ever recorded by a USF player in a season and his 1,540 points are eighth best on the Dons' career scoring list. Cox finished second on the three-point list with 185.
Senior Tyrone Riley also completed a solid USF career with 489 points as a senior and 270 rebounds. He finished ninth in the WCC in scoring and second in rebounding and was named all-WCC honorable mention. Riley scored the game winning basket in the NIT opening round win over Denver. He was MVP of the Northwestern Mutual Shootout for the second straight season and finished 38th on the USF scoring list with 815 points in two seasons.
Another senior, Jason Gaines ended his career as it started. As a freshman he hurt his knee in his second game, had knee surgery, and redshirted. This season in the week of practice before USF earned the NIT bid, he hurt his knee again and missed the NIT games. This was a crucial blow as it left the Dons with just one point guard to play the two NIT games, Andre Hazel, who was recovering from injuries of his own.
Still, Gaines finished with 349 career assists, fourth on the USF career list, behind just Orlando Smart, Gerald Walker and LyRyan Russell.
USF will have its annual awards banquet on Thursday, April 7th at the Carnelian Room above the Bank of America building. Reservations for the event can be made by calling 415-422-6891.
Donnotes: The University of Denver had its hearts broken twice in a week due to Dons' head coach Jessie Evans. First, the Sun Belt regular season champs were beaten in the Sun Belt tournament by Evans' former players at Louisiana Lafayette, then Evans' current Dons knocked them out of the NIT.....Evans is now 12-1 against the Pioneers....John Cox made all WCC for his second consecutive year despite missing 2003-04. His father, Chubby is a former all-WCC player.....USF finished with the third best RPI in the WCC (the nation's seventh ranked conference) and at one time was as high as the low 30's.....The Dons will again have a very difficult schedule next season with home games against Texas Tech, Nevada,and Pacific and road games at Ohio State, Stanford and Fresno State tentatively scheduled.
