1998 West Coast Conference Tournament Champions

Head Coach: Phil Mathews
Record: 19-11    WCC Record: 7-7
All-WCC Team: Hakeem Ward
Top Scorer: Hakeem Ward (17.0)    Top Rebounder: Damien Cantrell (9.7)
USF Hall-of-Famers: None

The 1997-98 Dons were hampered early on by injuries. Gerald Zimmerman would miss the entire season with a knee injury, while M.J. Nodilo (foot) sat out 12 games and Damien Cantrell (mono) missed 10 games. Yet, despite the injuries the Dons won six of their first seven games including a 59-50 win over California on the home floor and a sweep of Monmouth and Richmond in the Northwestern Mutual Classic.

The Dons gave Bobby Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers all they could handle in the Pete Newell Challenge at the Oakland Coliseum in late December. The Dons led 32-24 at the half before Indiana rallied for a 65-52 win. Hakeem Ward paced USF with 22 points on 11-18 shooting. The Dons finished the non-conference slate at 9-3 and seemed primed for a strong season in the West Coast Conference.

However, after the first half of league play the Dons were struggling with a 3-4 record and sat in fifth place. After a tough 65-61 loss at Pepperdine, the Dons were just 4-7 and in sixth place, then suddenly caught fire winning their final three WCC games to finish league play at 7-7. The red hot Dons then knocked off St. Mary’s 83-66 in the opening round of the WCC postseason tournament which set the stage for a semifinal battle with ancient rival Santa Clara. The two foes went toe-to-toe as neither club led by more than six points the whole game. USF eventually prevailed 85-83 as Ward poured in 23 points.

In the WCC title game against favored Gonzaga, USF grabbed momentum early in the second half and pulled away for an 80-67 victory and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA postseason tournament, the Dons first trip to the Big Dance since 1982. Seldom used freshman Ra’oof Sadat came off the bench to pour in 18 points in the win over the Bulldogs. The Dons then drew a 14 seed in the NCAA West regional and were upended by a powerful Utah team 85-68 in Boise, Idaho.

Four players averaged double figures in scoring for USF. Ward led the way at 17 points per game with Ali Thomas (11.1), Cantrell (10.9) and Nodilo (10.1) each providing additional scoring punch. Thomas knocked down 41% from three-point range and Nodilo made 36% of his three point tries.

Did You Know? A late season pep talk and line-up change turned the Dons season around on Valentines Day in Los Angeles. USF had just lost the night before at Pepperdine and coach Phil Mathews was upset with the way the team was practicing as they prepped for a game that night against Loyola Marymount. Mathews sat down the team on the bleachers at Gersten Pavilion, and gave a speech that he later called “The Explosion.” Mathews could be known from time to time for his emotional outbursts and he laid into the team – in particular targeting the veteran players. Senior guards M.J. Nodilo and Jamal Cobbs were benched in favor of freshman Ali Thomas and Dony Wilcher. The line-up change and “The Explosion” spurred the Dons on as USF went on to win the next six games and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

They Said It: “You either sit your rear down or you keep going. I wanted to keep going. I’m just a freshman. I don’t need to score on this team, we have scorers. But when called upon to come to the fore, I stepped up,” freshman forward Ra’off Sadat who came into the WCC title game averaging just 4.2 points per game. Sadat went off for a career high 18 points against Gonzaga, scoring 14 after halftime.