Warrior Weekly: Dream comes true for coach as men’s basketball plays at UCLA
When you visit Paul Trevor’s office, the first thing you will see is a framed UCLA basketball jersey, autographed by John Wooden.
For the Stanislaus State men’s basketball head coach, coaching on the same court where the legendary figure inspired coaches everywhere with his Pyramid of Success was a dream.
That dream is about to become reality when Trevor and his Warriors step on to Wooden Court at Pauley Pavilion and face the Bruins in a 7:30 p.m. exhibition contest tonight to begin the 2019-20 season.
“Growing up as a basketball fan, I’ve dreamed of playing or coaching on (John Wooden’s) court,” Trevor said. “I am a small-town guy, and opportunities like this don’t happen very often. I am really excited not just for me, but definitely for our guys and for our program!”
This isn’t Trevor’s first big-time appearance. At San Francisco State, his Gators nearly upset St. John’s in Queens, N.Y., in 2013. SF State also played Maryland and Cal years prior.
Playing at UCLA, with all of its basketball tradition and history, is a momentous event for Stanislaus State.
The Warriors have never played against a team from a Power 5 conference (They did scrimmage Stanford once in a closed-door session during the Keith Larsen days). Stanislaus State meets Pacific regularly and has played UC Riverside and Long Beach State a couple of times, but never a program with 11 NCAA Division I Championships. Not a team with the prestige of UCLA.
Trevor is looking forward to providing his student-athletes experiences they will look back on years from now with stories they can tell their children and grandchildren.
“I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity when it was presented,” Trevor said. “Being realistic, we are not there to try and beat them. We are looking at this as an experience of a lifetime and a chance to build our team and get ready for our season.”
In fact, the last time a Warrior team beat a Division I program was Oct. 29, 2005 — a 91-90 win over UC Irvine.
Only one Warrior on the current roster has been to Pauley Pavilion. Brandon Thomas, who transferred from Hawaii, played there last season.
Senior guard Darius Scott, who is from Pasadena, grew up a huge UCLA fan. His travel ball coaches Tracy Murray and Kyle Anderson were former Bruins.
“It will be a dream to play at UCLA,” said Scott, who will reunite with Murray, a radio analyst for UCLA basketball.
Vida Faniel, a senior forward from Palmdale, is looking forward to playing in front of his family.
“It’s going to be great to be able to play in front of my family, they don’t get to see me play very often. It will be huge for me to play on that court,” said Faniel, whose brother Vondel, a Warrior from 2015 to 2017, will also be in attendance.
“It will be a great experience for (the team) as we build up to where we want to be. It will be fun and we’ve just got to go out and compete,” Faniel said. “There will be ups and downs (during the game), but if we stick together as a team, we will be fine.”