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Improved academics has Pepperdine in better position to achieve on-court success

WCC Basketball Tournament - Quarterfinals - Pepperdine v Saint Mary's

during a quarterfinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 8, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saint Mary’s won 80-69.

Ethan Miller

When Marty Wilson took over as the head coach at Pepperdine in 2011, it’s safe to say that there was a lot of work to be done. The program was coming off of a 12-21 season in 2010-11, and the Waves hadn’t finished above .500 since Paul Westphal led the 2004-05 edition to a 17-14 mark. But for as important as it was for Wilson and his staff to make strides on the court, improvements in the classroom were even more important.

James Barragan’s story in the Los Angeles Times discusses just how far the program has come during Wilson’s three seasons at the school off the court, a process that actually began when Tom Asbury returned as head coach in 2008. With academic issues attracting the attention of the NCAA the program mad significant changes, and with that process paying off in the classroom the Waves are also beginning to see better results on the court.

In those six years, 18 Pepperdine men’s basketball players have received the West Coast Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll award — given to players who earn a 3.0 GPA or better — and nine have been selected to the conference’s All-Academic team.

“I think the biggest thing is recruiting guys who are self-motivated to succeed academically,” said sophomore forward Jett Raines, a double major in computer sciences and mathematics. “If the student doesn’t want to succeed or give it his best, then it’s not going to work out. On our team we have a lot of guys that care a lot about academics.”


While Pepperdine still has that streak of nine consecutive seasons under .500 to deal with, in each of Wilson’s three seasons the win total has improved. From ten wins in 2011-12, Pepperdine won 12 in 2012-13 and 15 last season. That may not seem like a big deal, but given where the program was when Asbury returned to campus in 2008 that’s progress.

Pepperdine will have to account for the loss of WCC Defensive Player of the Year Brendan Lane, who played one season after transferring in from UCLA. But with guards Malcolm Brooks and Jeremy Major and first team All-WCC forward Stacy Davis all returning, Pepperdine has some solid pieces to move forward with.

But the goals are to pair the on-court success with progress in the classroom. Having taken care of the academic issues that plagued the program in the years prior to Asbury’s arrival, Pepperdine can take another step in the right direction in 2014-15.

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