Levi Coovert/ Contributor

The USD men’s and women’s basketball teams began play this past Monday, and now it’s time to meet the teams for the 2023-24 season.

The men’s team, led by Head Coach Steve Lavin, finished 2022 with a record of 15-16. They held their own in a very competitive West Coast Conference (WCC), and in Lavin’s second season as head coach, they will look to build on last season and finish with a winning record. Lavin had success when coaching for UCLA, his previous job, where he compiled 226 wins and took his team to the Sweet 16 five times.

The team is very young this season, featuring only two seniors, PJ Hayes and Deven Dahlke. Hayes is a transfer this year from Black Hills State University, where he played the past three seasons, while Dahlke is a returner from last year’s team, where he played 21 games.

Leading the junior members of the team is guard Wayne McKinney III. McKinney started 24 games for the Toreros in 2022, and was the team’s top defender, finishing first at USD in steals with 34 and blocks with 12. Fellow junior guard Deuce Turner transferred from Bucknell to USD last year, and played in all 31 games, compiling an impressive 80.4% free-throw percentage. The team also features juniors Bendji Pierre, Steven Jamerson II and Dominic Muncey. All three came off the bench for the Toreros last year, and will likely see more playing time now that they are more experienced.

The team also features two sophomores. Guard Neel Beniwal played in 12 games for USD in 2022, averaging two points per game, and Guard Emmanuel Callas who was on the team but didn’t appear in any games last season.

Finally, the nine first-years, who make up half the team. David Simon, a 6’11” forward, arrived at USD this year after growing up in Canada. As the tallest player on the team, he could make a real impact defending the rim and scoring in the paint. The second tallest player on the team is also a first-year, the 6’10” Argentinian Santiago Trouet. Trouet has competed in the FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, World Championships for Argentina with interest from many major universities, including Clemson and Grand Canyon University.

Trouet commented on his decision to come to USD, telling 247sports, a website that posts recruiting content and college sports as one of CBS’ platforms, that, “I committed to San Diego because I flew out there to meet the staff… I think coach Lavin is going to add way more people to the program, and I’m trusting it’s all going to go up…. The staff is really nice, it’s a good campus, and it looks like they’re investing in the basketball program.”

Dragos Lungu is another international student, who attended high school at NBA Global Academy in Australia.

“I committed to San Diego, because I think it’s the perfect place for me to develop,” Lungu said. “They have a great coach, staff [and] people around the program and play in a good conference with a lot of European players. San Diego is also a very good academic school,” Lungu told 247sports.

The team also features six more first-years from the state of California, including former California State Champion Jimmy Oladokun Jr.

Junior Dom Muncey discussed the team’s goals and expectations for the season.

“This group has a lot of potential to be special. I am expecting us to turn a lot of heads this season. We have a lot of talent and we will compete with all of the big teams we play,” said Muncey.

The women’s team is coming off a 17-15 season in 2022, and is “super excited for the season to start,” according to first-year Malia Tharpe. “A collective goal of ours is to get better everyday.”

Longtime Head Coach Cindy Fisher, who has a career record of 330-224, is entering her 19th season with USD.

The women’s team is mostly made up of juniors and sophomores, and looks to build off of a successful year from 2022. Five juniors include Courtney Wristen, Jess Finney, Hasimran Kaur, Kylie Horstmeyer and Claire Gallagher. Finney transferred to USD last season after spending 2021 at the University of Washington. She played 31 games for the Toreros last year, missing only one.

Horstmeyer averaged 5.4 points per game last season for the Toreros and will likely play a major role in their offense this season. Gallagher makes her return to court for USD after missing all but one game last season, due to an injury. She previously played at Lafayette University, where she averaged 6.8 points per-game during her first year.

The sophomores on the women’s team are also looking to contribute a lot to the Toreros’ success this season.

“I am so excited for this year and looking forward to seeing what we can do,” USD sophomore Veronica Sheffey said, who was named the WCC All- freshman team last year and will look to build on that in 2023. Melesungu Afeak, 6’2” forward, played 25 games for the Toreros last season, tallying 162 total minutes. Guard Maddie Vejsicky is a new arrival to USD, after playing for Virginia Tech last year.

There are only two seniors on the team. Dylan Horton, a graduate student, joins USD as her third school. She played two seasons with Virginia and spent the next two at Florida A&M, where she averaged 15.8 points-per-game in 2022. With the Toreros she can bring leadership and experience to a younger team. The other senior, Kasey Neubert, has been a Torero her whole collegiate career, and played an impressive 2022 season. She was an All-WCC Honorable Mention, averaging 9.2 points-per- game and 8.2 rebounds-per-game.

Of the three first-years on the team, two come to USD from Australia. Mila Wawszkowicz and Malia Tharpe are both from the land down under, and the latter won the 2022 School Sport Championship MVP. Lauren McCall is from Boise, Idaho, where she was the 2023 5A Defensive Player of the Year in Idaho.

The Women’s Basketball team began play on Nov. 6 at home versus Chapman and won. The final score was 92-38, earning their most amount of points in a game since 2020, resulting in six players reaching double figures.

Their next game is at home on Saturday, Nov. 11, when they host Portland State.

Sheffey commented, “We have a great group of girls and we work hard and work together and I’m excited to see where that can take us this year.”

The men’s team also began play on Nov. 6 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion, when they took on Sonoma State and won. The final score was 68-64, after coming back from a 19-point deficit.

They also hosted Jackson State on Nov. 8. Their next game is on Nov. 11 at UC San Diego, and their next home game will be on Nov. 17 against Le Moyne.

USD women’s basketball scored 92 points in their home opener with a final score of 92-38.

Photo courtesy of @usdwbb/Instagram