LA JOLLA, Calif. (KGTV) — Inside LionTree Arena in La Jolla, new UC San Diego men's basketball head coach Clint Allard leads his team through practice ahead of their first game of the season. It's a new chapter for Allard at a program he's known for nearly two decades.
"I have so much pride in UC San Diego," Allard said. "I've seen so much growth, and for me to be the guy calling the shots now, it just means the world to me".
There are new drills, offensive and defensive sets, but it all comes from the same brand of Triton basketball that helped them make history last season when they reached the NCAA tournament in their first year of eligibility.
"To go into the NCAA Tournament, playing in March Madness in front of 20,000 people, it was just something that was so memorable and something I'll never forget," Allard said.
Allard played for UCSD from 2004-08, when the Tritons were still competing at the Division II level. Seventeen years after his last season as a player, he served as the associate head coach for the Tritons' first tournament team.
Junior guard Aidan Burke recalls how special the moment was for him to make the big dance with the team last year.
"That's something I dreamed of as a kid, "Burke said. "Coming out of high school, playing in March Madness, obviously that's a dream. Being able to accomplish it, that's awesome".
After one of the best seasons in program history, former Tritons Head Coach Eric Olen accepted a job for the same role at the University of New Mexico. Along with Olen's departure, multiple players left the program — some graduating and some transferring schools. Those departures leave UCSD with only five returning players from last year's tournament team.
Burke is the lone returner who played a significant role. He's looking to use that experience to bring this team together.
"Yeah, we know we got a great group, a lot of talent," Burke said. "Playing defense, shooting the 3. We just need to put it all together."
It takes any team time to find their true identity during a new season, but with so many new faces on the sidelines and on the court, it presents a bigger challenge for Allard.
"It's been a lot of teaching," Allard said. "We've been at this since July, which feels like a long time, and we still have a long way to go to be the best version of ourselves".
Despite the roster turnover, he's ready to see his team compete at the highest level and bring continued success to a program he loves.
"We just gotta stick to the process and continue to get better through the season to hopefully be playing for a tournament birth in March". Allard said.
The Tritons play their only exhibition game on Friday, October 24th, against CSU San Marcos at home. The first regular-season game is on November 3rd.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
