By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops columnist | ARCHIVES
Four years ago all
Jamaree Bouyea could do was keep working at his game and allow himself to occasionally dream big.
He was a senior at Palma High School in Salinas, which is John Steinbeck country but not necessarily a hotbed for hoops. Colleges weren’t lining up with scholarship papers.
“I didn’t have any offers. A couple D-2’s,” he said. “I didn’t want to quit, but toward the end it seemed like a longshot.”
The longshot is that Bouyea would someday lead USF to a 61-60 upset of fourth-ranked Virginia.
“I definitely dreamed of it, imagined it,” he said this week. “Now that’s it’s reality, it’s amazing.”
Bouyea had 22 points, five assists and four rebounds in the win that second-year coach
Todd Golden called “the most important victory for this program since they brought the program back in ’82.”
The day before Thanksgiving last week, the Dons lost to UMass-Lowell. The day after Thanksgiving, they took down the still-reigning 2019 national champions.
In the hours after the game, Golden received about 400 text messages. “I heard from people that I went to middle school with,” he said. “It was a neat moment.”
For Bouyea, who said he got 200 texts, the game was the kind of validation every player needs.
“To beat the No. 4 team in the country makes you feel like you can play with anybody,” Bouyea said. “We just have to build on that, learn from that win. Bring that effort every night and see what we can do.”
The Dons played their fifth game in eight days on Wednesday, beating Nevada 85-60 on the road. Bouyea scored 11 points and is averaging 17.4 for the season.
It’s a long way from when he wondered if he’d ever play Division I basketball.
It only happened after the late Earl Rollins, father to former Saint Mary’s player E.J. Rollins, called Golden and ex-Dons coach Kyle Smith with a heads-up about a 150-pound point guard at Palma High. E.J. Rollins played with Golden at Saint Mary’s when Smith was an assistant coach.
“You wondered if this guy was ever going to get bigger,” said Golden, an assistant under Smith when USF recruited Bouyea. “But he had a basketball feel, something you can’t coach, you can’t teach.”
Bouyea, who now carries 180 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame, has improved every year. Last season he averaged 12.2 points and was an honorable mention All-West Coast Conference selection.
Against Virginia, Golden said, “He was the best player on the floor.”
“It was just an amazing experience just to be on the court with them and to get a win over them,” said Bouyea, who admitted that nerves started setting in with the Dons as Virginia whittled away at a late seven-point USF lead.
"To beat a top-5 team on national TV the day after Thanksgiving, a lot of eyeballs on us,” said Golden, noting that recruits they are talking with all saw the game. “We’re kind of the hot thing right now.”
Bouyea was never “the hot thing” during his high school career, but prospects can look at his progression and see what is possible.
"He’s a great example of what our program’s about,” Golden said. “He came in as an unheralded recruit. I’m so proud of him. He’s a great leader, a great student. He’s going to graduate in the spring.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on him, but he’s playing like an NBA player.”
The 35-year-old coach, only 13 seasons removed from his playing days in Moraga, fully understands what a high-profile victory means to all of his players.
“It gives them confidence that what we do every day in practice and what we preach in our meetings is the right direction,” Golden said. “We think this team has a chance to be special. Beating a team like Virginia solidifies that.”
TWO SCARES FOR GONZAGA: Top-ranked Gonzaga got No. 11 West Virginia’s best shot Wednesday night, but improved to 3-0 with an 87-82 win.
The game might have become secondary if
Jalen Suggs’ first-half ankle injury turned out to be serious. But the freshman guard was back onto the court 5 minutes into the second half and helped spark the victory.
“He played football so you know he's tough and we're pretty versatile so we could do some different things in the second to help him out,” teammate
Andrew Nembhard after Suggs, a former two-sport high school star, totaled four points, five assists and six rebounds.
The Bulldogs get another serious test on Saturday at Indianapolis against No. 2 Baylor (3-0).
COVID CHAOS: A week into the season and not every team has had the chance to test itself against an elite program. Some teams still are waiting for their first game.
The COVID-19 pandemic has tossed every team’s schedule into the air like confetti and some programs still are trying to piece together early-season games.
Santa Clara is basically having to move out of town after Santa Clara County this week imposed severe restrictions that include a two-week ban of all high school, college and pro sports, plus quarantine protocols for visitors arriving in the country from more than 150 miles away.
The Broncos’ men beat Cal State Bakersfield 53-47 on Wednesday night at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, home to the Golden State Warriors’ G League team.
At least the Santa Clara men have gotten the chance to play.
Their women’s team had to shut down practice for two weeks because of a positive COVID-19 test, and still don’t have any games scheduled. They are working on a possible extended road trip through central and southern California, perhaps beginning sometime next week.
The Pepperdine, Pacific and San Diego women also still haven’t played a game, with the Waves forced to cancel a matchup against UCLA and the Tigers and Toreros each missing out on the chance to face No. 2 Stanford.
No WCC school has been impacted by the pandemic quite like USD, which still awaits its first game by either of its teams.
The men, who announced Nov. 20 they were pausing practice for two weeks because of a positive test within the program, now hope to open their season next Wednesday against UCLA. The Toreros’ women, who have had two games scratched, make their debut Saturday against cross-town rival San Diego State. They hope.