Sat, 31 Oct, 2026, 08:45 pm
Reported by La Jolla
It was an up-and-down season last year for UC San Diego’s men’s basketball team under first-year head coach Clint Allard.
The squad won seven straight games to start the season and also had three- and five-game win streaks later in the year. However, the team alternated between wins and losses during the middle of the season and at one point dropped three in a row.
That inconsistency culminated in a loss against Cal State Fullerton in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference tournament, ending their season with a 23-11 record (12-8 Big West), a sizable step back from the 30-5 (18-2 Big West) finish the previous year – which culminated in a trip to the NCAA Tournament – under former head coach Eric Olen.
But now, with Allard’s first year as a head coach under his belt and experience gained and lessons learned, the upcoming season could be less of a rollercoaster for the coach and his team.
Allard, who had been UCSD’s associate head coach for 11 years, was promoted to the head role in March 2025 after Olen headed to the University of New Mexico. Allard’s a UCSD basketball alum and was a four-year starter and three-time captain for the team from 2004-2008.
