Pepperdine Waves

The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of Pepperdine University, located outside the city of Malibu, California. They compete at the Division I level of the NCAA. The school is a member of the West Coast Conference for the majority of its programs. Pepperdine University was recently ranked by the Sears Cup as having the most successful athletic program for non-football Division I schools (Stanford was ranked the most successful Division I athletic program with football). Pepperdine University sponsors seventeen NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams. There are also several intercollegiate sports clubs such as men’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse, surf team, Ultimate Frisbee and men’s rugby.

Pepperdine’s chief athletic rival is the Loyola Marymount Lions, who are also in the WCC.

Since the school’s founding, the school’s nickname has been the Waves. It was selected by president Batsell Baxter, as the general consensus among faculty and students was that there were too many animal names in college athletics at the time. Though the school was located in South Los Angeles at the time, the name has stuck, becoming more appropriate after the school’s move to Malibu.^[2]

Men’s sports	Women’s sports
Baseball	Basketball
Basketball	Beach volleyball
Cross country	Cross country
Golf	Golf
Tennis	Soccer
Track and field†	Swimming and diving
Volleyball	Tennis
Water polo	Track and field†
	Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor

Major league pitcher Jon Moscot pitched for the baseball team in 2011 and 12.^[3][4][5] Other Waves pitchers who went on to success in the majors include Dan Haren,^[6] Randy Wolf,^[7] and Noah Lowry.^[8]

Pepperdine sponsors both men’s and women’s NCAA Division I college basketball teams.

The Pepperdine Waves men’s basketball team began play in the 1938–1939 season, and has amassed 12 regular-season conference titles and three conference tournament championships. It qualified for the NAIA men’s basketball tournament seven times during the 1940s and 1950s. It has made 13 appearances in the NCAA tournament, six in the National Invitation Tournament, and three in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), and it won the CBI championship in 2021. Thirty-eight former Waves have been drafted or played National Basketball Association as recently as 2021 (Kessler Edwards) and 2023 (Maxwell Lewis).

The Pepperdine Waves women’s basketball team began play in the 1975–76 season and has won four conference regular-season titles and three conference tournament championships. The Waves have made four appearances in the NCAA tournament and six in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2019.^[9]

The Pepperdine Waves women’s beach volleyball team represents Pepperdine University in women’s beach volleyball.^[10] Pepperdine launched its beach volleyball program in 2011.^[10]

The men’s golf team has won 20 West Coast Conference championships (1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019)^[11] They won the NCAA Division I Championship in 1997 and 2021.

Pepperdine golfers who have won at the professional level are Sahith Theegala (1 PGA Tour win),Brent Geiberger (2 PGA Tour wins), Jason Gore (1 PGA Tour win, 7 Korn Ferry Tour wins), Andrew Putnam (1 PGA Tour win, 2 Korn Ferry Tour wins), Jeff Gove (3 Korn Ferry Tour wins), Michael Putnam (3 Web.com Tour wins), and Byron Smith (1 Korn Ferry Tour win, 4 Canadian Tour wins).

The women’s soccer team, launched in 1993, has earned an invitation to the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship tournament 12 times, qualified with a national seeding five times, and advanced to the Round of 16 in 2002, 2005, 2014, and 2021.^[12] National Women’s Soccer League teams have selected seven Pepperdine players in NWSL Drafts: Roxanne Barker (2013, 32nd overall),^[13] Michelle Pao (2014, 24th overall),^[14] Lynn Williams (2015, 6th overall),^[15] Brianna Visalli (2018, 19th overall),^[16] Hailey Harbison (2019, 9th overall),^[17] Michelle Maemone (2019, 23rd overall),^[18] and Joelle Anderson (2021, 26th overall).^[19]

In 1982 Brad Gilbert transferred to Pepperdine University, playing for Allen Fox. He became an All-American and reached the finals of the 1982 NCAA Championship. Gilbert is a 1999 inductee into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame.^[20]

Andrew Sznajder played college tennis at Pepperdine, where he was a two-time All-American selection (1987 and 1988; he was # 3 in college rankings both years).^[21][22] In 1988, he won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association indoor individual championship. He turned pro in his sophomore year.^[21] Israeli tennis player Boaz Merenstein also played for the school.

Merrill Moses, three-time Olympic water polo player and silver medalist, played water polo for the Waves for four years from 1995-98.^[23][24][25] He was All-American honorable mention in 1996, first team in 1997, and second team in 1998.^[23][24] He was also All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation all four years, and 1997 MPSF Goalkeeper of the Year.^[23] He helped lead Pepperdine to the 1997 NCAA championship, and was game and team MVP.^[23][24] Moses is now Associate Head Coach in water polo at Pepperdine.^[23]

Pepperdine played football from 1946 to 1961. At the end of the inaugural 1946 season the Waves defeated Nebraska Wesleyan University in the 1947 Will Rogers Bowl.^[26]

Venue	Sport	Opened
Eddy D. Field Stadium	Baseball	1973
Firestone Fieldhouse	Basketball	1973
	Volleyball
Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool	Swimming	1975
	Water polo
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center	Tennis	n/a
Stotsenberg Track	Track & field	n/a
Tari Frahm Rokus Field	Soccer	1993
Athletics Performance Center	Training facilities	n/a
Alumni Park[n 1]	Cross country	n/a
Zuma Beach	Beach volleyball[n 1]	n/a

Notes

The school’s first mascot was Roland the Wave (a nod to the popular cheer “Roll on you Waves!”). From 1945 to 1950 the school used a wave costume (less amorphous than the current mascot’s) on the sidelines. In 1951, Joe the Pelican was introduced at a football game. The idea was quickly dropped, however, because of the expense of caring for a live pelican. In 1952, Willy the Wave made his debut. Willy has always had the head and “hair” of a wave, though he has gone through several costumes, including one with white hair representing the foam of a wave, and the early 1990s version which bore a strong resemblance to the Mac Tonight mascot of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercials at the time. In 1996, Willy was replaced with King Neptune as part of a re-branding effort. The nickname never took off, however, and was scrapped in 2003. It was not until 2006, however, that Willy made his final return to Pepperdine athletics, this time with a larger wave head and usually wearing boardshorts and an Aloha shirt.^[27]

Since the founding, the school’s colors have been blue and orange. They were chosen by President Baxter over the final choice of blue and gold as at the time, no other Pacific school used the colors, which represented the blue of the Pacific Ocean and the oranges grown by the state of California. (Cal State Fullerton has since adopted similar colors, though their shades are darker than Pepperdine’s.)

The Pepperdine Waves men’s basketball team is an American college basketball team that represents Pepperdine University in NCAA Division I, the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Waves compete in the West Coast Conference and are coached by Ed Schilling. The Waves have competed in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament 13 times and are 3rd all-time in WCC Tournament wins and championships.^[2] The Waves most recently appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2002. Thirty-eight former Waves have been drafted or played in the NBA including Doug Christie and Dennis Johnson, an inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The most recent Waves drafted into the NBA are Kessler Edwards (2021) and Maxwell Lewis (2023).

Their home arena is the Firestone Fieldhouse. This is a multi-purpose facility that hosts volleyball, basketball, as well as other athletic events.^[3] They share this facility with the Pepperdine Waves women’s basketball team.

The Pepperdine Men’s Basketball team played their first season in 1938-39. The Waves would reach their first postseason tournament under coach Alva Duer four years later and would go on to compete in the 6th ever NCAA Tournament in 1944.^[4] Within the first eight years of the program’s history, the Waves would also earn invitations to four NAIA tournaments for a total of five postseason tournaments, including reaching the 1945 NAIA championship game. Al Duer would later be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982 for his contributions to the sport.^[5]

Their next coach was Robert “Duck” Dowell who led the Waves for 20 seasons, winning four consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association titles and competing in three NAIA tournaments between the 1949-50 to 1951-52 seasons. Dowell led the Waves to their second NCAA Tournament after winning the WCC regular-season championship in 1961-62.

The early years of Pepperdine’s basketball program would be a time of great change. During this period the Waves played basketball as independents and hosted their home games in a variety of locations including historic sports venues such as The Great Western Forum and the Los Angeles Sports Arena. But as the program continued to grow, it became clear that the Waves needed both a home conference and a dedicated arena. Pepperdine would join the West Coast Conference for the 1955-56 season with their long time rival Loyola Marymount and on November, 30th, 1973 they constructed Firestone Fieldhouse on campus near Malibu, California.^[6]

Two years later the 1975-76 Pepperdine squad would win their second WCC regular-season championship under head coach Gary Colson and advance to their third NCAA Tournament, defeating the University of Memphis in the first round. The Waves would return to the NCAA Tournament in 1979 collecting another first round victory, this time over the University of Utah.

In 1979 Jim Harrick was selected as the next head coach. Over the next nine years he would lead the Waves to six postseason tournaments including NIT appearances in 1980 and 1988 and four NCAA Tournament appearances in 1982 (defeating Pittsburgh in the first round), 1983, 1985, and 1986. Their trip to the 1983 tournament was particularly memorable as Pepperdine would take eventual national champion North Carolina State to double overtime. Although the Waves eventually fell 69-67, it was the closest game NC State played the entire tournament as they defeated their next five opponents all in regulation by an average of six points.^[7]

Tom Asbury was then promoted from assistant to head coach in 1988. In just six seasons at the helm, Asbury led the waves to a cumulative record of 125–59 (.679), five postseason tournaments, and the most consecutive conference wins in WCC history known as “The Streak.”^[8] The Waves competed in the NIT in 1989 and 1993 as well as three more trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1991, 1992, and 1994.

Jan van Breda Kolff would then take over the program and lead Pepperdine to their twelfth NCAA Tournament appearance in 2000. The eleventh-seeded Waves would become the Cinderella team of the tournament and upset the Indiana Hoosiers in the first round in what would become Bob Knight’s final game as the program’s coach. Pepperdine then fell to eventual Elite 8 team Oklahoma State.^[9]

Over the next two years the Waves would build on this success posting a record of 44–18 and return to both the NIT in 2001 and the program’s thirteenth NCAA Tournament in 2002. In the 2001-02 season Pepperdine tied nationally ranked Gonzaga for the WCC regular-season title and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with wins over USC as well as 10th-ranked UCLA and 13th-ranked Gonzaga.^[10]

In the years that followed the Waves have seen numerous program records broken including in 2016 when Stacy Davis became the all-time leading scorer and in 2017 when Jeremy Major became the all-time leader in assists. Both of these records would then be broken again by Colbey Ross who finished his Pepperdine career in 2021 as the program’s all-time leader in scoring, assists, and with several other records. Colbey Ross is also the first player in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history to accumulate totals of at least 2,200 points, 800 assists and 400 rebounds.^[11]

After a brief stint in the late 90s, Lorenzo Romar returned 19 years later as Pepperdine’s head coach for the 2018-19 season.^[12] In his first season back with the Waves, Romar completed a historic turnaround for the program, increasing the team’s win total from the previous season by ten. Two years later his 2020-21 squad would win the program’s first ever postseason tournament, the 2021 College Basketball Invitational, by defeating Coastal Carolina 84–61.^[13]

Pepperdine is 3rd all-time in WCC tournament wins and championships as well as WCC league wins since 1979 when the conference expanded to its current size.^[14] Throughout their long history the Waves have competed in 29 postseason tournaments including 6 NITs and 13 NCAA Tournaments.^[15]

From January 12, 1991, to January 29, 1993, the Pepperdine Waves went on a record-setting run known as “The Streak.” During this span the Waves won 38 West Coast Conference games in a row including the WCC tournament. This was the first time in 36 years that a team had won more than 31 league games in a row. The last team to do this were the 1954-57 San Francisco Dons led by Bill Russell who set the then-record at 31 consecutive games.^[16]

Led by Coach Tom Asbury and star shooting guard Doug Christie, The Streak began with a win over Santa Clara before earning 12 more wins to finish the 1990-91 season 13-1 in WCC play and 22-9 overall. This span includes season sweeps against programs LMU (just one year removed from their NCAA Tournament run to the Elite 8), Gonzaga, and Saint Mary’s. The season culminated with the Waves beating Saint Mary’s for a third time in five weeks to win the WCC tournament and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament.^[17]

The following 1991-92 season the Waves continued to improve and went undefeated in the regular season sweeping their rival programs LMU, Gonzaga, as well as Saint Mary’s for a second consecutive year. At 14-0 this season also tied Pepperdine’s record for most conference wins in a single season. The margin of victory in those games also grew with the Waves defeating their WCC opponents by an average of roughly 12 points per game. Pepperdine would go on to win a second straight WCC tournament and compete in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in two years.^[18] At the conclusion of the season the winning streak had grown to 27 regular season games and 33 overall. The 1991-92 Waves were only the second WCC squad ever to go a perfect 14-0 in league and win the tournament title in the same season. Coach Tom Asbury and shooting guard Doug Christie would each earn WCC Coach of the Year and WCC Player of the Year awards respectively for the second consecutive year.^[19]

Finally during the 1992-93 season the Waves would extend their winning streak to 38 consecutive WCC games, breaking the 36 year old record, as well as win a third consecutive regular-season title. The Streak came to an end in January 1993 when, ironically, the previous record holders San Francisco defeated the Waves 75-72.^[20] In three seasons from 1990-91 to the end of 1992-93 Pepperdine won three WCC regular-season titles, two WCC tournament championships, and held a combined record of 38–4.^[21]

While the Gonzaga Bulldogs came close to breaking the record, winning 35 games from February 2020 to February 2022, their series came to an end when conference rival Saint Mary’s defeated them 67-57.^[22] Over 30 years later no West Coast Conference team has ever won more than 38 consecutive league games and The Streak stands as a key part of WCC history that remains unmatched to this day.^[23]

The Pepperdine–LMU basketball rivalry, referred to as The PCH Cup since 2009, is an American college basketball rivalry between the Pepperdine Waves and LMU Lions. The first game of the 177-game series was played in the 1940-41 season, fifteen years before both teams joined the West Coast Conference. This makes the rivalry the oldest and most played in WCC history.^[24] The Waves hold a 104-73 wins advantage in the series as well as records for the longest win streak (13 straight wins from 1998 to 2004) and the largest margin of victory (34 points on March 4, 2000).^[25]

A lesser-known rivalry of the Waves is the Pepperdine-Gonzaga Rivalry, referred to as The Surf and Turf Showdown. It is an American college basketball rivalry between the Pepperdine Waves and Gonzaga Bulldogs. Played since 1979 this competition is one of the newer rivalries in West Coast Conference. The Waves currently hold the record for most overtime wins in the series and up until recently boasted the longest winning streak in the series winning 12 games in a row from 1987 to 1992.^[26]

The Waves have qualified for the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament 13 times. Their combined record is 5–14.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1944	–	Elite Eight Regional 3rd Place Game	Iowa State Missouri	L 39–44 L 46–61
1962	–	Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Oregon State Utah State	L 67–69 W 75–71
1976	–	Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen	Memphis UCLA	W 87–77 L 61–70
1979	#9	Round of 40 Round of 32	#8 Utah #1 UCLA	W 92–88OT L 71–76
1982	#7	Round of 48 Round of 32	#10 Pittsburgh #2 Oregon State	W 99–88 L 51–70
1983	#11	Round of 52	#6 North Carolina State	L 67–692OT
1985	#14	Round of 64	#3 Duke	L 62–75
1986	#12	Round of 64	#5 Maryland	L 64–69
1991	#14	Round of 64	#3 Seton Hall	L 51–71
1992	#11	Round of 64	#6 Memphis	L 70–80
1994	#14	Round of 64	#3 Michigan	L 74–78OT
2000	#11	Round of 64 Round of 32	#6 Indiana #3 Oklahoma State	W 77–57 L 67–75
2002	#10	Round of 64	#7 Wake Forest	L 74–83