Short road trips

2004-06-03

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

USD’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2003. The Toreros are in the rotation for hosting the West Coast Conference Tournament at Jenny Craig Pavillion. The school has a veteran coach in Brad Holland, the former UCLA and NBA guard who is entering his 11th season in 2004-05 at the Alcala Park campus.

All those reasons made it too hard for El Camino High’s Gyno Pomare to tell his family he needed to go away to play college basketball. Throughout the history of San Diego basketball, it was hard for a player of Pomare’s talent to stay home for his college career, but both USD and San Diego State have elevated their programs.

Pomare, a 6-foot-9 forward/center, led El Camino to a second straight CIF-San Diego Section Division I final as a first-team pick on the Breitbard All-CIF team.

"I liked Coach Holland, the campus and the players," Pomare said. "USD was one of the first schools to recruit me. It was important to me to have a chance to stay close to home so my family can come to my games."

At the Pomare home in Oceanside, there are several basketball trophies prominently displayed. But they aren’t all Gyno’s. Some are his mother’s, including an All-Marine Team MVP trophy.

Retired sergeant Gail Pomare, who is from Georgia, competed in the military tournaments for the Marines in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gyno's father, Leo, also a retired Marine sergeant, played high school ball in Panama.

"My mom and my dad have both influenced my basketball career,” Pomare said. “When I was young, we would all be out there practicing together.”

With basketball-playing parents and long arms to go with his 6-9 height, Pomare developed into a four-year starter for the Wildcats. El Camino coach Ray Johnson calls Pomare the best big man to play for him in two-decade career at the school that has seen him win more games than any coach in San Diego County high school basketball history.

Pomare and his teammates became the first San Diego Section Division I school to advance to the Southern California Regional semifinals in back-to-back seasons. El Camino finished the year with unprecedented state and national rankings for a San Diego boys basketball team at No. 4 in the state by CalHiSports.com and No. 21 by USA Today.

Both years the Wildcats were stopped in their quest for a state title by Los Angeles Fairfax. They lost by three in 2004 when Fairfax went on to rout the Northern California Regional champion, Concord De La Salle, for the state title. In 2003, El Camino lost to Faifax by one point before Fairfax lost to eventual state-champion Westchester.

"It still hurts to lose to Fairfax because we wanted to go all the way to state,” Pomare said. “But there is nothing we can do about it now. I think we proved San Diego basketball has improved and that we can play with the top Los Angeles teams."

Pomare, who uses his long arms well as a rebounder and shot blocker, averaged double-doubles as a senior.

"I think USD got a steal," Johnson said. "He's averaged 20 points and 15 rebounds a game against good competition. We've played a tough schedule. He has those long arms and a nose for the ball."

Pomare was one of four El Camino starters who will be playing Division I college basketball next year. Guard/forward Justin Armstrong is bound for Columbia and guard James Daniels for Brown. Craig Austin, who transferred from Carlsbad, is committed to Arizona State.

But Pomare is staying home. He couldn’t say no to San Diego basketball when he said yes to USD.