Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball head coach Greg Kamansky, who played for UC San Diego in the 1980s, experienced its collegiate basketball program's early struggles with limited resources. Kamansky, who later won a D-II national championship in 2010, marvels at how far his alma mater has come, and he’s “not surprised at all” that head coach Eric Olen has UCSD in the mix for a March Madness moment.

This article was originally published by The New York Times on March 11, 2025.