The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

January 18, 1999

When Mauro Potestio is loyal to something, he is loyal for a very, very long time. A 1950 graduate of the University of Portland, Potestio has attended every men's home basketball game at the university -- for nearly 50 seasons.

No one in Pilots history has seen more games than Potestio, who recently was honored by Portland for his longtime support.

As a young World War II veteran, Potestio saw the Pilots win their 1949-50 season opener in Howard Hall. Since that game on December 8, 1949, he has not missed one of the subsequent 728 home games.

Through the terms of 10 U.S. presidents, nine coaches and more than 1,000 players, Potestio has remained a fan.

"Everybody, and I mean everybody, knows Mauro Potestio," said Don Ott, assistant commissioner of the West Coast Conference. "We have a tradition-laden conference, and Mauro is a historian who remembers Bill Russell, Tom Meschery, Cincy Powell, Bill Cartwright, Hank Gathers and John Stockton," Ott said.

Potestio has been a sports fan ever since he was a boy during the Great Depression. Potestio loved sports, but he had to work at a job every weekday after school. His only chance to participate was the occasional weekend sandlot game where he was an avid competitor.

Potestio grew up in Portland, and he discovered Pilots sports when he was just a youngster, taking the nickel streetcar to Multnomah Stadium (now Civic Stadium) to watch Portland's football games.

Drafted shortly after his graduation from high school in 1942, Potestio served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in China, Burma and India.

When Potestio and his new wife, Ann, returned to Portland in 1947, Mauro began attending college -- and every men's basketball game. His interest caught the eye of coach Jim "Mush" Torson, who invited Potestio to become the team's official scorekeeper.

Potestio was the scorekeeper for 26 years, then he turned in his scorebook for a notebook and became the university's sports information director, a position he held from 1980 to 1988. After retiring as SID, he became the Pilots' men's golf coach.

During most of that time, Potestio also was the principal at East Orient Elementary school, where he served as principal for the last 26 of the 30 years he was there.

Potestio also worked his Pilots attendance into his family life, often bringing his three children, Phillip, Michael and Maura, to the games.

"Loyalty is just part of my nature, part of who I am," Potestio said. "I've had the same job for 30 years, the same house for 46 years, the same parish for 51 years and the same wife for 52 years. If I become attached to something, I just don't let go."

Required reading

Student-athletes in college and high school may want to add one more book to their list of required reading.

"The Real Athletes Guide: How to Succeed in Sports, School and Life" is a newly published book that offers a lot of good advice for those who are interested in balancing academics and athletics in college.

Written by the founders of a Web site for student-athletes, the book also features powerful messages from Ronnie Lott, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Mike Krzyzewski.

To order a single copy, call 800/356-9315. To inquire about discounts on bulk purchases, send an e-mail to: info@athletenetwork.com. For more information, see the Web site at www.AthleteNetwork.com.

Flipping over Scholarship

The University of Utah women's gymnastics team has achieved a unique goal -- all of its allowable scholarships are now funded by team boosters.

The Crimson Club Gymnastics Scholarship Circle, now in its third year, is funding all 12 scholarships, the total number of scholarships permitted under NCAA rules. The first year the program funded six, and last year it funded eight.

"This is an important step for our program as well as for women's athletics in general," said Utah head coach Greg Marsden. "When we undertook this project, I had no idea we'd be able to accomplish our goal in three short years. I think this further demonstrates the acceptance and support there is for women's athletics. This happened at the same time we raised $1.2 million for our new training facility and averaged more than 10,000 people at our home meets, which generated almost $250,000."

--Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

Undefeated Women's Champions

Long Beach State recently became the first Division I women's volleyball team to complete a perfect season on its way to an NCAA title. There have been 36 women's teams to claim NCAA crowns with perfect records. Following are the all-time NCAA women's champions with perfect records:

Division I Women's Basketball

1986 -- Texas (34-0)

1995 -- Connecticut (35-0)

1998 -- Tennessee (39-0)

Division II Women's Basketball

1995 -- North Dakota St. (32-0)

Division III Women's Basketball

1995 -- Capital (33-0)

1996 -- Wis.-Oshkosh (31-0)

Division I Field Hockey

1984 -- Old Dominion (23-0)

1991 -- Old Dominion (26-0)

1992 -- Old Dominion (25-0)

1994 -- James Madison (24-0)

1995 -- North Carolina (24-0)

Division II Field Hockey

1995 -- Lock Haven (20-0)

Division III Field Hockey

1981 -- Col. of New Jersey (20-0)

1984 -- Bloomsburg (19-0)

1986 -- Salisbury St. (21-0)

1995 -- Col. of New Jersey (20-0)

Division I Women's Lacrosse

1982 -- Massachusetts (10-0)

1988 -- Temple (19-0)

1990 -- Harvard (15-0)

1995 -- Maryland (17-0)

1996 -- Maryland (19-0)

Division III Women's Lacrosse

1993 -- Col. of New Jersey (15-0)

1994 -- Col. of New Jersey (15-0)

1995 -- Col. of New Jersey (17-0)

1996 -- Col. of New Jersey (14-0)

1998 -- Col. of New Jersey (15-0)

Division I Women's Soccer

1990 -- North Carolina (24-0)

1991 -- North Carolina (25-0)

1992 -- North Carolina (25-0)

1993 -- North Carolina (23-0)

Division II Women's Soccer

1994 -- Franklin Pierce (20-0)

1995 -- Franklin Pierce (19-0)

1997 -- Franklin Pierce (21-0)

Division III Women's Soccer

1994 -- Col. of New Jersey (15-0)

Division I Women's Volleyball

1998 -- Long Beach St. (36-0)

Division III Women's Volleyball

1992 -- Washington (Mo.) (40-0)

[Note: Tennis records unavailable.]