1977–78 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team

The 1977–78 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco as a member of the West Coast Athletic Conference during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dons opened the season with a top 5 ranking, but played all but three weeks of the season outside the top ten. San Francisco finished the season with a 23–6 record (12–2 WCAC) and a No. 11 ranking in the final AP poll. As champions of the West Coast Athletic Conference, San Francisco played in the NCAA Tournament as No. 3Q seed (automatic qualifier) in the West region where they were upset in the regional semifinal by Cal State Fullerton.

1977–78 San Francisco Dons men's basketball
West Coast Athletic Conference champions
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	West Coast Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 11
Record	22–7 (12–2 WCAC)
Head coach	Bob Gaillard (8th season)
Home arena	War Memorial Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

1977–78 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 11 San Francisco	12	–	2		.857			23	–	6		.793
Nevada	10	–	4		.714			19	–	8		.704
Portland	9	–	6		.600			19	–	8		.704
Santa Clara	9	–	6		.600			21	–	8		.724
Seattle	6	–	8		.429			11	–	16		.407
Saint Mary's	5	–	9		.357			13	–	14		.481
Loyola Marymount	4	–	11		.267			11	–	15		.423
Pepperdine	3	–	12		.200			7	–	19		.269
Rankings from AP Poll

Junior center Bill Cartwright was named conference Player of the Year for the second time.

Roster

1977–78 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G Winford Boynes 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Capitol Hill Oklahoma City, Oklahoma G Chubby Cox 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Villanova Philadelphia, Pennsylvania C 24 Bill Cartwright 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Elk Grove, California F 52 James Hardy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Jordan Long Beach, California	Head coach Bob Gaillard (San Francisco) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 26, 1977*	No. 5	San Francisco State	W 100–67	1–0	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Dec 2, 1977*	No. 5	vs. Tennessee Sun Devil Classic	W 84–75	2–0	ASU Activity Center  Tempe, Arizona
Dec 3, 1977*	No. 5	at Arizona State Sun Devil Classic	L 79–89	2–1	ASU Activity Center  Tempe, Arizona
Dec 8, 1977*	No. 8	at Stanford	W 99–78	3–1	Maples Pavilion  Stanford, California
Dec 10, 1977*	No. 8	UC Santa Barbara	W 63–57	4–1	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Dec 16, 1977*	No. 11	Idaho Golden Gate Invitational	W 109–70	5–1	Cow Palace  San Francisco, California
Dec 17, 1977*	No. 11	Baylor Golden Gate Invitational	W 98–93	6–1	Cow Palace  San Francisco, California
Dec 22, 1977*	No. 11	California	L 89–90	6–2	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Dec 23, 1977*	No. 11	Rhode Island	L 85–87	6–3	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Dec 27, 1977*	No. 19	vs. Austin Peay All-College Tournament	W 75–66	6–3	Myriad Convention Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 29, 1977*	No. 19	vs. Miami (OH) All-College Tournament	W 91–88	7–3	Myriad Convention Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 30, 1977*	No. 19	vs. Arizona State All-College Tournament	W 102–90	8–3	Myriad Convention Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jan 5, 1978	No. 19	at Nevada	L 80–82	9–4 (0–1)	Centennial Coliseum  Reno, Nevada
Jan 7, 1978	No. 19	Saint Mary's	W 111–87	10–4 (1–1)	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Jan 10, 1978*		No. 5 Notre Dame	W 79–70[1]	11–4	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena  Oakland, California
Jan 13, 1978		Portland	W 101–68	12–4 (2–1)	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Jan 14, 1978		Seattle	W 93–80	13–4 (3–1)	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Jan 25, 1978		at Santa Clara	W 74–66	14–4 (4–1)	Toso Pavilion  Santa Clara, California
Jan 28, 1978		Santa Clara	W 92–73	15–4 (5–1)	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Feb 2, 1978	No. 20	at Portland	L 87–101	15–5 (5–2)	Howard Hall  Portland, Oregon
Feb 4, 1978		at Seattle	W 96–85	16–5 (6–2)	Seattle Center Coliseum  Seattle, Washington
Feb 10, 1978		at Pepperdine	W 85–73	17–5 (7–2)	Firestone Fieldhouse  Malibu, California
Feb 11, 1978		at Loyola Marymount	W 82–80	18–5 (8–2)	Loyola Memorial Gymnasium  Los Angeles, California
Feb 17, 1978		Loyola Marymount	W 99–71	19–5 (9–2)	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Feb 18, 1978		Pepperdine	W 89–56	20–5 (10–2)	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
Feb 23, 1978		at Saint Mary's	W 87–81	21–5 (11–2)	McKeon Pavilion  Moraga, California
Feb 25, 1978		Nevada	W 78–73	22–5 (12–2)	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, California
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1978*	(W 3Q) No. 20	vs. (W 1L) No. 11 North Carolina First Round	W 68–64	23–5	ASU Activity Center (11,213) Tempe, Arizona
Mar 16, 1978*	(W 3Q) No. 11	vs. (W 4L) Cal State Fullerton West Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 72–75	23–6	University Arena  Albuquerque, New Mexico
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time.

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Rankings

Main article: 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

• Bill Cartwright – WCAC Player of the Year (2x)

Team players drafted into the NBA

Main article: 1978 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	11	James Hardy	New Orleans Jazz
1	13	Winford Boynes	New Jersey Nets

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References

1. "THE WEEK (JAN. 9-15)". Sports Illustrated. January 23, 1978. Retrieved January 28, 2023. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
2. "1979 West Coast Conference Champions". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
3. "Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1970-80) - University of San Francisco Athletics". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
4. "1978 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2023.