Dan Belluomini

Class

1964
Honors

Men's Basketball (1961-1964)

Two Guys From the City

One was raised in the outer Richmond district, the other in the Sunset. City kids with deep and proud Italian roots, they caught the basketball bug at an early age and honed their playing skills under a persistent shroud of gray, damp fog on blacktop courts in neighborhood playgrounds around the city. They grew up watching USF's legendary teams of the mid-1950s at Kezar Pavilion with the same wide-eyed wonderment that the basketball-crazed youth of the Bay Area now cast to the likes of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Both were standout players at St. Ignatius College Preparatory, which at the time, was across the street from the USF campus, where they both eventually earned basketball scholarships.

Though a year apart, they became fast friends in high school and were nearly inseparable during their college days at USF. Big Sunday Italian dinners with family, friends and teammate were routine. Both lost parents at an early age and found comfort in each other's homes during trying times. When they would dissect games together as graduate students at the University of the Pacific, it was obvious by the conversation their basketball acumen was on an entirely different level than their peers.

They both caught the coaching bug and methodically worked their way up the ranks. Little did they know their paths would take them back to the Hilltop, where one presided over a star-studded USF team that was a national powerhouse in the late 70's while the other accepted the challenge of ushering in a new era of Dons basketball in the mid-1980s. Both earned conference coach of the year honors, one at USF and the other at the University of San Diego.

Classmates, teammates, friends and confidants for close to 60 years, Dan Belluomini and Jim Brovelli remain as close today as when they would sneak into Kezar Pavilion to shoot on the same baskets as their heroes Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, Hal Perry and Gene Brown.

These two USF legends recently sat down with USFDons.com to talk about growing up in the City, memories of USF's back-to-back national championship teams, their coaching influences and friendship over the years.

Where did you grow up in the City?
DAN: I was raised in the outer Richmond district on 41^st and Cabrillo near the beach. I played basketball on all of the outdoor courts in the neighborhood and it was a real treat to go to the Sunset where Jim lived and play inside in a real gym. On Sunday's, we'd occasionally sneak into Kezar Pavilion and play. That was a big deal because at the time Kezar was the mecca for high school basketball in San Francisco.

JIM: I grew up on the corner of Masonic and Fulton, right down the street from USF. We lived in an apartment above Pearl Market until I was eight years old and then we moved to the Sunset district – 2207 Cecilia Avenue between 15^th and 16^th. I went to St. Cecilia's Grammar School and then onto St. Ignatius.

As a kid, what was it like growing up in San Francisco in 1950s?
DAN: It was great. I went to Notre Dame des Victoires Grammar School downtown on Pine Street. I'd just jump on the bus and go and didn't think twice about it. It was a different time, for sure.

JIM: My dad worked at the Del Monte Meat Packing Company on Third and Howard. That's where I would work in the summer – 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. While he was upstairs cutting steaks for all of the best restaurants in the city, I was making the bologna and salami. I remember spending a lot of time at 19^th Avenue Park. Nothing was really organized except for CYO basketball. CYO league gave us a chance to go to other neighborhoods in the city. The Epiphany Peanuts were tough. Most of the CYO courts were in auditoriums underneath the churches. You'd have a short court, two baskets, always a stage and low ceilings. I also went to a lot of 49er games at Kezar Stadium as a member of the Christopher Milk Jr. 49er Club and loved watching Albie Pearson and the Seals at Seals Stadium. In those years growing up in the city, there wasn't anything else on your mind. We had the fog and never really knew what the sun was – but we didn't care. I remember playing with a wet ball in the drizzle and mist on the playground until 6:00 p.m. before I had to be home for dinner.

You were both were very impressionable kids when USF was winning back-to-back NCAA Championships in the mid-1950's. What are you memories of that era?
DAN: I was a young guy but what I remember most was the parade in downtown San Francisco. I didn't go but it was a big, big deal in the City. USF practiced at the old St. Ignatius gym, where the Koret Center is now. Memorial Gym had not been built yet. I remember watching USF and other great teams like Seattle University with the great Elgin Baylor practice all of the time. I thought I was a hot-shot high school basketball player until I saw Elgin Baylor pin a ball on the backboard above the square, turn and then throw a length of the court pass before his feet hit the ground. To this day it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen on a basketball court.

JIM: My earliest memories was when I was in grammar school, my mom made me go to my room each night at 7:00 p.m. to do my homework. Now if the Dons were playing, I'd instead listen to the game on my little radio. My homework suffered but I never missed a game. Of course when we were at SI, we'd watch USF practice all of the time.

Did you go to games at Kezar Pavilion?
DAN: All the time. I remember one game in particular. It was one of Bill Russell's first games at USF. Not much was expected out of the Dons that year and Russell was still a bit of an unknown. The Dons were playing Cal in 1953. Not much was expected out of the Dons that year and Russell was still a bit of an unknown. Cal had a center named Bob McKeen, who was a preseason All-American. Russell blocked 13 shots that game and after that everyone knew that USF and Russell were to be taken seriously. Russell, Hal Perry, Gene Brown – all great players. Gene Brown was one of the best guards in the country and he came off the bench for USF. He filled in for KC Jones during in the 1956 NCAA Championship game and was one of the best players on the court.

JIM: I went to a lot of the games at Kezar Pavilion. What a great place to watch a game. I remember when Pete Newell was coaching Cal he had the Bears hold the ball at half court for an entire half, hoping to draw Bill Russell out. (Dons head coach) Phil Woolpert wouldn't bite and USF ended up winning the game.

Any players stick out as favorites back when you a kid?
DAN: Gene Brown for me. I identified with him because he made the most of his opportunities when he was called upon.

JIM: I was a guard so I always watched K.C. Jones. Of course, you couldn't take your eyes off Russell. Gene Brown was the John Havlicek of his time. He'd provide instant offense off the bench. I loved Gene Brown.

The old St. Ignatius campus was located where the Koret Health Center stands now. What was SI like back then?
DAN: It was and still is a great place to go to school. It was an all-male school at the time and sports were really important. It was very competitive, very strict and provided for a great education. In those days, you really had to two the line or you were out. The Jesuits sent a very strong message from the first day you arrived on campus. Academics were always first. Imagine taking Latin and Greek. They'd graduate you from Latin to Greek but I never made it to the Greek class.

JIM: I was a skinny freshman. Back then, you were assigned teams based on your weight. As a freshman, I played on the 112 lb. team. My sophomore year, I played for (former USF standout) Stan Buchanan on the 130 lb. team and then played for Stan on the varsity my junior and senior years. We went undefeated in the league my senior year beat Santa Rosa and Richmond High in the Tournament of Champions. We lost in the title game to McClymonds, who had Paul Silas. The legendary Pat Malley, who later would coach at Santa Clara, was the football coach at SI then. We were good in basketball and baseball, too. It was a special place but academics always came first.

Do you remember the first time you met each other?
DAN: I think it was on some playground. I was a year ahead of Jim in high school but we graduated the same year from USF because I redshirted one season. I remember when he arrived at SI and he was really good, but small. He was like 5-5 and 120 lbs. He had a bit a growth spurt between his freshman and sophomore year and by the time he was a senior he was 6-1 and a totally different player. We played in the same backcourt and you can see he was really talented and special things were on the way for him. We were inseparable at USF. I was always over at his house. I lost my mom at a very early age and Jim's mom became a second mom to me. And she really knew basketball.

JIM: I think it must have been at St. Ignatius. We connected right away and found we had a lot of things in common outside of basketball. I remember going over to his house for lunch and dinner and his dad would always say, "Don't forget to leave a little something underneath the plate." Dan would come over all of the time along with the other SI and USF guys for big Italian dinners on Sundays. Always meat sauce – not tomato sauce – because we were from Northern Italy. There's a big difference.

Impressions of each other as players?
DAN: A lot of people remember Jim as a coach but few remember him as a player. He was a tremendous player who could have played in any era. His signature move was this shoulder fake and crossover dribble. He was such a good shooter that defenders had to play him really tight. That move allowed him to freeze the defender and take it all the way to the rim.

JIM: Dan's nickname at USF was "Wagon" as in wagon train. You figure it out, but it didn't come from me. Dan was an excellent shooter. He could really fill it up.

Was USF a destination school for every City kid who had a little game back then?
DAN: Definitely. Santa Clara was always an option, too, but it seemed so far away. USF was the only place I wanted to go. It was where all the city guys went. Now, Jim had options. I was lucky to end up at USF and earn a scholarship my sophomore year.

JIM: When you're a kid and grow up through a 60-game winning streak and two national championships, where else would you want to go? There was really no national recruiting back in those days. I got some letters from Oregon, Santa Clara, Cal and Stanford but USF was the only place for me because I was a city guy. Ross Giudice came over to the house for a visit and it was an easy call for me.

You both played for the legendary Pete Peletta. What was he like as a coach?
DAN: Pete died at a very young age. I think he was in his early 40's when he passed. Pete was a player's coach. He knew he needed good players to win and he went out and got them. Jim, Ollie Johnson, Joe Ellis, to name a few. He was fair but tough. Jim was on the court right away and was an integral part of all of the success USF had during that era.

JIM: He ran the same reverse action offense that Newell and Woolpert ran. He was at Monterey Junior College when Phil Woolpert recommended his for the USF job. He returned USF to national prominence. He was a great recruiter. He brought in Erwin Mueller from Livermore, Joe Ellis and Ed Thomas from McClymonds High in Oakland, Dick Brainard from Fresno. He was a very intense, nervous guy who chain-smoked. He passed away way too young.

Who had the biggest influence on your coaching career?
DAN: Probably Pete Peletta. He had such a big heart. I was fortunate to also work under Bob Gaillard. USF's program was in a bit of a down turn when Bob took over and he did a great job in returning USF to national prominence. Phil Vukicevich is another guy. He was so smart and I learned so much just by watching him run his practices, teach the pivot and how to come off screens.

JIM: It's a combination of a lot of guys. Pete Newell Jr. played on our high school team so I was always over at his house and had a chance to talk a lot to his dad. We'd also go into the Cal locker room on occasion. Pete Newell had a big influence on me. Stan Buchanan was my high school coach and really drilled us in the fundamentals. Pete Peletta had the same philosophy as Newell, Woolpert and Buchanan so there was a lot of carry over. My first college coaching job was at the University of Portland under the great Jack Avina. Jack taught me how to run a practice and the importance of time management.

When did you get the coaching bug?
DAN: I knew I wanted to coach early on. I'm not sure Jim did because he had playing aspirations past college. But remember, the NBA only had eight teams then and there weren't the opportunities there are now in Europe. In another era, Jim might have played for 15 seasons after college. I think I made up my mind my sophomore year at USF that I wanted to coach. I tried to listen and learn at every practice and went to a lot of games. I remember sitting in the stands with Jim when we were still in school and we'd talk strategies, ask why a player did this or how we would break a press.

JIM: I was a business administration major at USF. Those four years flew by. Like all seniors, I asked, "Now what?" I still wanted to play so I hooked on with an AAU team. I never knew what I really wanted to do until I worked as a graduate assistant coach on USF's freshmen team.

What was your first coaching job?
DAN: My first non-paying coaching job was in the San Francisco recreation league after I graduated from USF. My first paying job was as an assistant coach at St. Ignatius under Bernie Simpson, who played on Cal's national championship team coached by Pete Newell.

JIM: I needed one more semester to graduate to I worked as a graduate assistant coach on USF's freshmen team under Vukicevich for the 1964-65 season. My first paying job was at Lick-Wilmerding High School, a small private school across from San Francisco City College. I made $5,600 a year. I thought it was heaven.

When you made a commitment to pursue coaching as a career, did you see USF as a destination job?
DAN: I did. USF was the only place I wanted to coach. It was a dream job because of the history and the fact I went to school there. I never had aspirations to jump from school to school, like it is today. Coaching at USF was really special.

JIM: I never looked at it that way. I always tried to do what was right in front of me and do my very best at the time. I never thought about where my next job would be. I always wanted to be prepared. I always had a fear about being unprepared and was always afraid some team would full court press us. I was in fear of the press so we always spent a lot of time on full court press offense. That's how I approach life – always be prepared for an opportunity that might come your way.

What was Jim's greatest attribute as a coach?
DAN: Jim was a great technician but his greatest attribute was he let his players play. He allowed them to play through mistakes and felt it was important to keep his best guys on the floor. He also made great in-game adjustments and on-the-spot decisions. He was always two or three steps ahead of the game.

Remember, Jim was a very successful coach at San Diego before he took over the USF program in 1985-86. He had some signature wins over Digger Phelps and Notre Dame and those great Loyola Marymount teams with Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers. And he recruited really well – Mark McCathrion, Orlando Smart, Gerald Walker – all USF Hall of Famers. I think Jim saw a little of himself in Orlando, who was always the first one in the gym and the last to leave and was always trying to make others better players. He gave Orlando a lot of rope to run the team.

And Dan's?
JIM: We both came from the same coaching background so we had a lot of the same influences. Dan was a great coach and won a lot of games at USF. He had some great players. Now a lot of coaches have great players but they really played hard and smart for Dan. He was an excellent high school and college coach.

If you had a free throw contest today, who wins?
JIM: Me.

DB: It would be close. I can still shoot it. Jim can too. He was never known for his passing. I always kid him that it's ironic he coached and developed USF's all-time career assist leader in Orlando Smart.

Jim Young, Associate Athletic Director / Communications & Community Relations, USF

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