UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California, United States. The school's team competes in the Big West Conference. The current head coach is Joe Pasternack.^[2] The Gauchos have appeared seven times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2023.

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball
2024–25 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team
University	University of California, Santa Barbara
Head coach	Joe Pasternack (8th season)
Conference	Big West
Location	Santa Barbara, California
Arena	UC Santa Barbara Events Center (capacity: 5,600)
Nickname	Gauchos
Colors	Blue and gold[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1961*
Other NCAA tournament results Sweet Sixteen 1961* Appearances 1961*, 1963*, 1988, 1990, 2002, 2010, 2011, 2021, 2023
Conference tournament champions
2002, 2010, 2011, 2021, 2023
Conference regular-season champions
1999, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2021, 2023
* at Division II level

The Blue–Green Rivalry

Main article: Blue–Green Rivalry

The main rival of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team is the Cal Poly Mustangs men's basketball team. The rivalry is a part of the larger Blue–Green Rivalry, which encompasses all sports from the two schools.

Yearly records

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Arthur Gallon (West Coast Athletic Conference) (1963–1966)
1963–64	UC Santa Barbara	18–11
1964–65	UC Santa Barbara	12–14	7–7	5th
1965–66	UC Santa Barbara	10–16	5–9	6th
Arthur Gallon:		40–41 (.494)	12–18 (.400)
Ralph Barkey (West Coast Athletic Conference) (1966–1969)
1966–67	UC Santa Barbara	10–16	6–8	5th
1967–68	UC Santa Barbara	9–17	3–11	T–6th
1968–69	UC Santa Barbara	17–9	8–6	4th
Ralph Barkey (Pacific Coast Athletic Conference) (1969–1974)
1969–70	UC Santa Barbara	12–14	6–4	T–2nd
1970–71	UC Santa Barbara	20–6	8–2	2nd
1971–72	UC Santa Barbara	17–9	5–7	T–3rd
1972–73	UC Santa Barbara	17–9	8–4	2nd
1973–74	UC Santa Barbara	16–10	7–5	3rd
Ralph Barkey (Independent) (1974–1976)
1974–75	UC Santa Barbara	18–8
1975–76	UC Santa Barbara	17–9
Ralph Barkey (Pacific Coast Athletic Conference) (1976–1978)
1976–77	UC Santa Barbara	8–18	3–9	6th
1977–78	UC Santa Barbara	8–19	3–11	7th
Ralph Barkey:		169–144 (.540)	57–67 (.460)
Ed DeLacy (Pacific Coast Athletic Conference) (1978–1983)
1978–79	UC Santa Barbara	12–15	6–8	6th
1979–80	UC Santa Barbara	11–16	5–9	6th
1980–81	UC Santa Barbara	11–16	5–9	T–5th
1981–82	UC Santa Barbara	10–16	5–6	6th
1982–83	UC Santa Barbara	7–20	1–15	9th
Ed DeLacy:		51–83 (.381)	22–47 (.319)
Jerry Pimm (Pacific Coast Athletic Conference) (1983–1988)
1983–84	UC Santa Barbara	10–17	5–13	9th
1984–85	UC Santa Barbara	12–16	8–10	6th
1985–86	UC Santa Barbara	12–15	7–11	9th
1986–87	UC Santa Barbara	16–12	10–8	T–2nd
1987–88	UC Santa Barbara	22–8	13–5		NCAA first round
Jerry Pimm (Big West Conference) (1988–1998)
1988–89	UC Santa Barbara	21–9	11–7	3rd	NIT first round
1989–90	UC Santa Barbara	21–9	13–5	3rd	NCAA second round
1990–91	UC Santa Barbara	14–15	8–10	T–4th
1991–92	UC Santa Barbara	20–9	13–5	2nd	NIT first round
1992–93	UC Santa Barbara	18–11	10–8	T–5th	NIT first round
1993–94	UC Santa Barbara	13–17	9–9	7th
1994–95	UC Santa Barbara	13–14	8–10	6th
1995–96	UC Santa Barbara	11–15	8–10	7th
1996–97	UC Santa Barbara	12–15	7–9	3rd West
1997–98	UC Santa Barbara	7–19	4–12	6th West
Jerry Pimm:		222–201(.525)	91–85 (.517)
Bob Williams (Big West Conference) (1998–2017)
1998–99	UC Santa Barbara	15–13	12–4	1st West
1999–2000	UC Santa Barbara	14–14	10–6	2nd West
2000–01	UC Santa Barbara	13–15	9–7	4th
2001–02	UC Santa Barbara	20–11	11–7	3rd	NCAA first round
2002–03	UC Santa Barbara	18–14	14–4	1st	NIT first round
2003–04	UC Santa Barbara	16–12	10–8	3rd
2004–05	UC Santa Barbara	11–18	7–11	6th
2005–06	UC Santa Barbara	15–14	6–8	5th
2006–07	UC Santa Barbara	18–11	9–5	2nd
2007–08	UC Santa Barbara	23–9	12–4	T–1st	NIT first round
2008–09	UC Santa Barbara	16–15	8–8	T–4th
2009–10	UC Santa Barbara	20–10	12–4	T–1st	NCAA first round
2010–11	UC Santa Barbara	18–14	8–8	T–4th	NCAA first round
2011–12	UC Santa Barbara	20–11	12–4	T–2nd	NIT first round
2012–13	UC Santa Barbara	11–20	7–11	7th
2013–14	UC Santa Barbara	21–9	12–4	2nd
2014–15	UC Santa Barbara	19–14	11–5	T–2nd	CBI first round
2015–16	UC Santa Barbara	19–14	11–5	4th	Vegas 16 semifinals
2016–17	UC Santa Barbara	6–22	4–12	9th
Bob Williams:		313–260 (.546)	185–125 (.597)
Joe Pasternack (Big West Conference) (2017–present)
2017–18	UC Santa Barbara	23–9	11–5	T–2nd
2018–19	UC Santa Barbara	22–10	10–6	T–2nd
2019–20	UC Santa Barbara	21–10	10–6	T–2nd
2020–21	UC Santa Barbara	22–5	13–3	1st	NCAA First Round
2021–22	UC Santa Barbara	17–11	8–5	5th
2022–23	UC Santa Barbara	27–8	15–5	T-1st	NCAA First Round
Joe Pasternack:		132–53 (.714)	67–30 (.691)
Total:		904–773 (.539)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Source^[3]

Postseason

NCAA Division I

The Gauchos have appeared in seven NCAA tournaments. Their combined record is 1–7.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1988	#10	First Round	#7 Maryland	L 82–92
1990	#9	First Round Second Round	#8 Houston #1 Michigan State	W 70–66 L 58–62
2002	#14	First Round	#3 Arizona	L 81–86
2010	#15	First Round	#2 Ohio State	L 51–68
2011	#15	First Round	#2 Florida	L 51–79
2021	#12	First Round	#5 Creighton	L 62–63
2023	#14	First Round	#3 Baylor	L 56–74

NCAA Division II

The Gauchos appeared in two NCAA tournaments. Their combined record was 3–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1961	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight	Nevada Long Beach State South Dakota State	W 78–57 W 58–54 L 65–79
1963	Regional Semifinals Regional Third Place	Fresno State San Francisco State	L 60–68 W 58–56

NIT results

The Gauchos have appeared in five National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 0–5.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1989	First Round	Wichita State	L 62–70
1992	First Round	Arizona State	L 65–71
1993	First Round	Pepperdine	L 50–53
2003	First Round	San Diego State	L 62–67
2008	First Round	Mississippi	L 68–83

Vegas 16 results

The Gauchos appeared in the first and only Vegas 16 tournament held. Their record was 1–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2016	Quarterfinals Semifinals	Northern Illinois Old Dominion	W 70–63 L 49–64

CBI results

The Gauchos have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) one time. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2015	First Round	Oral Roberts	L 87–91

CIT results

The Gauchos have appeared in one CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Their combined record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2012	First Round	Idaho	L 83–86

NAIA tournament results

The Gauchos have appeared in the NAIA Tournament one time. Their record is 3–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1941	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals National 3rd Place Game	Wayne State Bemidji State Appalachian State Murray State West Texas State	W 32–26 W 31–29 W 36–29 L 33–35 L 35–46

Retired numbers

Main article: List of NCAA men's basketball retired numbers

The Gauchos have only retired one number in program history, that of guard Brian Shaw.

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos retired numbers
No.	Player	Pos.	Career	Ref.
22	Brian Shaw	PG / SG	1986–1988	[4]

Gauchos in the NBA

• Richard Anderson: San Diego Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets, 1982–1990
• Don Ford: Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, 1975–1982
• Conner Henry: Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings, 1986–1988
• Orlando Johnson: Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans, 2012–2016
• JaQuori McLaughlin: Dallas Mavericks, 2021–2022
• Ajay Mitchell: Oklahoma City Thunder, 2024–present
• Miles Norris: Boston Celtics, 2023–present
• James Nunnally: Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, 2014–2019
• Brian Shaw: Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, 1988–2003
• John Tschogl: Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, 1972–1975
• Gabe Vincent: Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, 2020–present
• Alan Williams: Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, 2015–2019

Gauchos in international basketball

• Michael Bryson (2012–2016)
• Lucius Davis (1988–1992)
• Scott Fisher (1982–1986)
• Matt Freeman (2019–2020)
• Branduinn Fullove (2000–2004)
• Tom Garlepp (2002–2020)
• Alex Harris (2004–2008)
• Max Heidegger (2016–2020)
• Zack Moore (2018–2019)
• Jay Nagle (2018–2022)
• James Nunnally (2008–2012)
• Greg Somogyi (2008–2012)