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The Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represents Saint Mary's College in Moraga,
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, competing in the
West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...
of the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
. The team plays home games in the University Credit Union Pavilion, capacity 3,500; it is one of the smaller gyms in the WCC. Their head coach is
Randy Bennett Randall William Bennett (born June 9, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Saint Mary's College of California. He has led the team nine NCAA tournament appearances, regular season confere ...
, who is the school's all-time wins leader. The Gaels have appeared in thirteen NCAA Tournaments
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
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. On March 1, 2013, they were placed on probation by the NCAA for four years due to rules violations. Their two historic rivals are the San Francisco Dons and the Santa Clara Broncos, two other Catholic schools in the San Francisco Bay Area that are in the WCC. More recently, the Saint Mary's Gaels have developed a rivalry with the Gonzaga University Bulldogs of
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.


History


Recent success

Under coach
Randy Bennett Randall William Bennett (born June 9, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Saint Mary's College of California. He has led the team nine NCAA tournament appearances, regular season confere ...
, the men's basketball team has become recognized nationally as one of the top non-Power 5 programs in the United States. He inherited a 2–27 team when he arrived in 2001, and began recruiting an Australian named
Adam Caporn Adam Caporn (born 16 March 1982) is an Australian basketball coach and former player. He is an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Saint Mary's Gaels men's ...
. Since then, Bennett has built a reputation of recruiting Australian players; the Gaels have had at least one Australian player in every season since Bennett's arrival. With Caporn in the line-up, and his best friend and fellow Australian
Daniel Kickert Daniel Michael Kickert (born 29 May 1983) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as an assistant coach for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played professionally for ...
joining him the following year, Saint Mary's record improved to 9–20 in 2001–02, 15–15 in 2002–03, and 19–12 in 2003–04. In 2004–05, the team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, although they lost in the first round. Their 15–1 record in McKeon Pavilion was its best ever. After rebuilding seasons in 2005–06 and 2006–07, the team enjoyed one of their best seasons in school history in 2007–08, behind the play of Australian freshman Patty Mills. The team was ranked in the AP and USA Today top 25 lists for five and six weeks, respectively. They ended up receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in 2008 as well, but again lost in the first round. In 2008, the team got off to a strong start, going 14–2 before Mills broke his hand and missed a month. Mills came back in time for the West Coast Conference tournament, but after a loss to Gonzaga in the WCC tournament finals, the team was not selected for the NCAA tournament and played in the NIT. After the end of the year, Mills declared for the NBA draft and was a second-round selection. In March 2010, the Gaels received an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA tournament, after winning the championship game of the WCC Tournament. Having beaten Gonzaga in the tournament final, it was the Gaels' second WCC tournament victory since it began in 1987. In 2010, they won their first NCAA Tournament game since 1959, defeating the Richmond Spiders. On March 20, 2010, the Gaels, led by Omar Samhan, defeated second seeded Villanova to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, for their first time in the 64 team era. They then lost to 3 seed Baylor 72–49 to end their season 28–6 and with its worst loss of the year. Following the loss of Samhan to graduation, many expected the Gaels next season to be a rebuilding year. Led by point guard Mickey McConnell, however, Saint Mary's compiled a 25–9 record, 11–3 in the WCC, including the Gaels' first win against Gonzaga in Spokane since 1995. But after absorbing a late-season loss to last-place
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and dropping an ESPN BracketBuster game at home against Utah State, Saint Mary's failed to make the NCAA tournament. They would be upset in the first round of the NIT by Kent State. After McConnell graduated, Australian point guard
Matthew Dellavedova Matthew William Dellavedova (born 8 September 1990) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Saint Mar ...
became the team's new star alongside San Diego transfer and San Francisco native Rob Jones. The Gaels compiled a 27–6 record and went 14–2 in the WCC in 2011–12, including a win in Moraga over Gonzaga and a sweep of new conference member BYU. Saint Mary's spent most of the season ranked in the AP and Coaches' polls and won the outright WCC regular season title, the first time since 2000 that Gonzaga had not claimed part of the title. The Gaels then defeated Gonzaga in overtime in the WCC tournament, marking the first time in school history Saint Mary's won both the regular season and tournament titles. Saint Mary's lost to
Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...
in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Saint Mary's Australian pipeline, historically focused on the
Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
(from where Caporn and Mills were recruited), continues to the present. The 2011–12 team featured four AIS graduates, including 2012 WCC Player of the Year Dellavedova, and another Australian, Jorden Page. The 2015–16 team had four AIS graduates, boasting a total of six Australians, and the 2016–17 roster had a program record of seven Australians. In the latter season, the Gaels went so far as to hold an official celebration of
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...
for their home game against
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, which fell on the holiday's date of January 26. Before the game, Australia's national anthem was played alongside the US anthem, and the school honored officials from Australia's San Francisco consulate.


Postseason


NCAA tournament results

The Gaels have made 13 NCAA tournament appearances. They have an overall 8–14 record in tournament games.


NIT results

The Gaels have appeared in six
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
s. Their combined record is 7–7.


Venues

Saint Mary's basketball and volleyball teams play their home games at the University Credit Union Pavilion, which has a capacity of 3,500. It was originally named after George R. McKeon, a former member of the college's Board of Regents. Constructed in 1978, it underwent renovations in the summer of 2006, with new features including painted bleachers, new chair backseats behind the reserved section, a remodeled VIP section, and a banner with "GaelForce" on it behind the
student section A student section or student cheering section is a group of students, student fans that supports its school's student athlete, athletic teams at spectator sport, sporting events; they are known for being one of the most visible and vocal sections o ...
. In 2019, the venue was renamed to University Credit Union Pavilion.


Notable players


Retired numbers


Notable in other fields

*
Mahershala Ali Mahershala Ali ( ; born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore on February 16, 1974) is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Fi ...
, guard 1992–1996, two-time
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
winning actor, listed as Hershal Gilmore while at Saint Mary's


References


External links

* {{West Coast Conference men's basketball navbox