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The 2004-05 season marks the third year of the Jim Tomey era at San Diego State and some of the challenges of building a program into a annual conference title contender still remain. But Tomey has never been one to shy away from a challenge. In fact, the 20-year San Diego resident has built his career by embracing them. "I see this as a great opportunity," Tomey said. "To become a Division I head coach in a city that I've called home for 20 years and to do it at a great university like San Diego State is a huge honor. But it will continue to take a lot of work to build a program here. It is something that I've been through before and have enjoyed the challenge." In his sophomore campaign, SDSU experienced its fair share of growing pains with just three letterwinners returning and eight newcomers. The team started off strong by winning three of its first four contests. A victory over Pac-10 Conference member Washington State and a dominating performance against Texas Pan-American highlighted the Aztecs' remaining non-conference schedule. The MWC season saw the Aztecs upset Colorado State for the second straight year, while a wire-to-wire battle with eventual conference champion New Mexico in the home finale showed signs of the team's progress. In his first year as the Aztecs' head coach, Tomey directed an SDSU squad, which included seven freshmen, to a 9-18 overall record. Two players earned all-conference honors and senior Jamey Cox became the school's all-time career three-point leader. SDSU also boasted the league's leader in rebounds and double-doubles. When San Diego State was searching for a head coach to restore the winning tradition of Aztec women's basketball, the University set out to secure an individual with a track record as both a proven winner and a program builder. Mission accomplished. California high school coaching legend and SDSU men's assistant coach Tomey was named the Aztecs' seventh women's basketball coach on April 9, 2002. With a resume that included a winning percentage of 75 percent as a head coach, and tenure as an assistant on the men's side at SDSU that helped usher in one of college basketball's greatest recent turnarounds, Tomey was a perfect fit for the position. Before accepting the women's head coaching job at SDSU, Tomey took a leap of faith in leaving a secure winning program at University of San Diego High School (USDHS), which appeared to be on auto-pilot as it cruised to CIF title after CIF title. Tomey left to join Steve Fisher's staff with the SDSU men in September of 1999. Many pondered why a man who had built a struggling boys basketball team into a state powerhouse would trade it all in to try and help resurrect a collegiate program that had posted just one winning season in the previous 14 years. But that is the nature of Tomey, a man who thrives on beating the odds and one who has been a winner on both the high school and college levels. In his first season with the Aztecs, the men's team finished with a disappointing 5-23 overall record. Just a year later, the team almost tripled its number of wins, pulling to an even 14-14, including a 12-5 mark at home, the most victories by a SDSU squad since 1984-85. The improvements didn't stop there either, as San Diego State, with Tomey's help, pulled off the ultimate turnaround in 2001-02. Not only did the team finish with a 21-12 record, the fifth-seeded Aztecs claimed their first Mountain West Conference Tournament championship in dramatic fashion, defeating the No. 4 and No. 1 seeds, before securing the title in the final seconds of a 78-75 win over UNLV. With the win, SDSU earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, its first trip to the NCAAs since 1985. An educator by trade, Tomey got his start in coaching at nearby Clairemont High School before spending three seasons as an assistant at USDHS. In 1989-90, he was handed the reins of the program, and what ensued over the next decade can only be described as incredible. Taking over a team that had won a combined 14 games over the previous two seasons, Tomey put an indelible stamp on the Dons' boys' basketball program in his inaugural season, guiding the team to an 18-7 record, the San Diego Section CIF title game and the state playoffs. Over the next nine years, USDHS would evolve into one of California's premier prep programs as the Dons would post seven 20-win seasons en route to seven San Diego Section CIF titles, three state final fours and the 1998 state championship. Even Tomey's only losing season, in terms of wins and losses anyway, resulted in success. His 1992 squad finished with a 12-17 record, but still managed to peak at the right time, winning the CIF title and advancing to the state quarterfinals. Overall, Tomey's tenure at USDHS would see the Dons register a cumulative record of 212-71 (.749), proving to be one of the most successful runs in the history of San Diego County boys basketball. Tomey's program at "Uni" also produced a number of NCAA Division I student-athletes, including All-American and current Los Angeles Laker Luke Walton (Arizona), Chris Walton (SDSU), Nate Walton (Princeton), Josh Merrill (UCSB), Matt Blakley (UCSB) and David Abramowitz (SDSU). Individually, Tomey was named the 1998 San Diego County Coach of the Year and in November of 2001 was inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions as a Coaching Legend. In addition to his work at USDHS, where he taught social sciences, physical education and U.S. history, and SDSU, Tomey is a popular speaker at clinics and camps. Tomey has been a camp instructor at the Nike All-American Camp, Michael Jordan Flight School, Magic Johnson and Byron Scott camps. A native of Detroit, Tomey played college basketball at Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, Mich., from 1974-75. He finished work on his degree at the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor's of science degree in education in 1981. In 1994, he completed work on a master's in education at Azusa Pacific University. Tomey and his wife of 24 years, Annemieke, have three daughters: Lauren (13), Madeleine (11) and Suzanna (9). They reside in Scripps Ranch. TOMEY: By The Numbers
.678 Career Winning Percentage
229 Career Victories
19 Average Wins Per Season
15 Years Coaching Experience
7 San Diego CIF Titles
4 League Championships
3 State Final Four Appearances
1 State Title
3 Losing Seasons The Tomey File
Personal
Education
Family
Coaching Background
San Diego State(Assistant Coach - Men)
San Diego State (Head Coach - Women) Overall Head Coaching Total 229-109 (.678) COACH TOMEY HIGHLIGHTS
2002
2002
2001
1999
1999
1998
1989
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