Introduction
Department Office: Titan House
657-278-2777
 From humble beginnings and with modest resources, the Cal State Fullerton Titans have achieved successes that are the envy of many older and larger universities across the country. The Titans have won 12 national team championships in seven different sports and have produced hundreds of individual All-Americans, dozens of professional athletes, several Olympians and numerous national coach of the year award winners. A National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institution, Cal State Fullerton competes in the Big West Conference, sponsoring seven men’s and 10 women’s sports.
Student-athletes at Cal State Fullerton must manage full course loads in identified degree programs, meet progress-toward-degree and grade-point average requirements, and manage intense competitive, practice and other responsibilities as representatives of the university. Meeting these challenges requires self-discipline and time management skills that are among the core learning outcomes of the experience. Coaching staffs work together with department administrators and Athletic Academic Services to support student-athletes both directly and through referrals to the array of services available to students on campus. Graduation rates, honor roll percentages and other academic measures show student-athletes compare favorably to the general student body.
The competitive profile of the Big West Conference includes Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, the University of Hawai’i, along with Cal State Fullerton. In addition to opportunities for student-athletes to travel to these institutions, this expansion has led to more opportunities for supporters of Titan Athletics to watch and follow via various media outlets, including national, regional and local television, along with web-based platforms.
Director of Athletics
James Donovan
Senior Associate Director of Athletics
Steve DiTolla
Associate Director of Athletics/Development
Greg Paules
Associate Athletics Director, Senior Woman Administrator
Meredith Basil
Assistant Athletics Director, Compliance (interim)
Derric West
Assistant Athletics Director, Chief Financial Officer
Summer Rivera
Assistant Athletics Director, Sports Medicine
Julie Max
Assistant Athletics Director, Marketing/Communications
Jay Lucas
Faculty Athletics Representative
Michael Perez
Baseball Coach
Rick Vanderhook
Basketball Coaches
Dedrique Taylor (Men)
Jeff Harada (Women)
Cross Country/Track Coach
John Elders (Men/Women)
Golf Coaches
Jason Drotter (Men)
Kathryn Hosch, Interim (Women)
Soccer Coaches
George Kuntz (Men)
Demian Brown (Women)
Softball Coach
Kelly Ford
Tennis Coach
Dianne Matias (Women)
Volleyball Coach
Ashley Preston (Women)
Athletics Programs
Baseball
Cal State Fullerton is one of the nation’s elite Division I baseball programs. In the year of its establishment in 1975, the program advanced to the College World Series. The Titans have won numerous conference and regional titles, competing in the NCAA postseason virtually every season. Through 2018, it had made 18 CWS appearances and won four national championships (1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004). Fullerton has produced three Golden Spikes Award national players of the year. Numerous Titans have played for Team USA, five have been Olympians and more than 60 have gone on to play in the major leagues. Completed in 1992 and expanded in 2000, Goodwin Field has become a regular host of NCAA regional and super regional tournaments.
Men’s Basketball
Men’s basketball was the first sport in which Cal State Fullerton competed (1960-61), and the program has produced many memorable moments in its first half century. The program’s second team advanced to the finals of the NAIA national tournament in 1962 and became a national “Cinderella” story in 1978 when the Titans reached the Western Regional finals of the NCAA Tournament in only their fourth year at the Division I level. Subsequently, the Titans have gone on to postseason play eight times through 2017-18, including advancing to the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament in 2008 and 2018. The program has produced more than a dozen NBA players.
Women’s Basketball
A Kodak All-American, an Olympic silver medalist coach and player, the nation’s leading scorer and the nation’s top 3-point shooter are all achievements that can be claimed by the Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball program. The program won the university’s first national title in 1970, one of the first national championships for any intercollegiate women’s sport. The program compiled a record of 121-13 in its first seven seasons. In 1991, the Titans made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished with several conference and NCAA records.
Cross Country
Cross Country is a Cal State Fullerton program with a successful tradition. Mark Covert was the NCAA College Division individual champion in 1970 when the Titans placed second nationally. A year later, they won the team championship and in 1972 placed third. The Titans annually honor Covert and his teammates by hosting the Mark Covert Invitational Meet at Carbon Canyon Regional Park over the Labor Day weekend.
Men’s Golf
Men’s golf returned to Cal State Fullerton for the 2009-10 academic year with a major financial boost from honorary alumnus Paul Folino. The program began competing immediately in the upper echelon of the Big West Conference and won the 2014 Big West Conference Championship. The Titans benefit from a rare on-campus chipping and putting green facility that they share with the women’s team, and play on several popular local courses. Their aggressive schedule takes them to some of the nation’s finest links.
Women’s Golf
Women’s golf also returned to Cal State Fullerton during the 2009-10 academic year and was an immediate competitor in the Big West Conference. Coach Pearl Sinn-Bonanni, a former U.S. Amateur champion and LPGA player, launched the program and by 2014 had the first individual conference champion in the program’s history. By 2018, the Titans had their first athlete to advance to the NCAA Individual Championships and their first golfer All-American. The women share the on-campus chipping and putting green facility with the men’s team and play on some of the nation’s most challenging courses.
Men’s Soccer
A pair of national final four appearances highlight the history of men’s soccer at Cal State Fullerton, which boasts one of the finest facilities in the nation with its 10,000-seat Titan Stadium. The program has defeated the national number one ranked team on five separate occasions and several of its alumni have gone on to compete at the professional level. The Titans have been named Big West champions in three of the last five seasons.
Women’s Soccer
Women’s soccer has won several conference championships, four in the last six seasons, and made a number of NCAA playoff trips. The Titans advanced to the “Sweet Sixteen” in 2005, the deepest advance to date by a Big West Conference member. Fullerton benefits from one of the nation’s finest soccer facilities in its 10,000-seat Titan Stadium. Program alumni include national scoring leaders and an Olympian.
Softball
The Anderson Family Softball Complex is a 1,000-plus capacity facility that annually hosts the nation’s premier on-campus tournament, the Judi Garman Softball Tournament. The Titans are one of a relatively small number of schools to claim an NCAA softball championship, winning the title in 1986. They have finished sixth in the nation or better seven times through 2018. Inaugural Coach Judi Garman built her Hall of Fame career around a 20-year CSF record of 913-376-4. Three Titans have won the Honda-Broderick Award as the nation’s top player, with two of these athletes going on to coach major college programs. Fullerton also enters 2019 as the defending three-time Big West Conference champions.
Women’s Tennis
The Titans have an eight-court facility on campus and are able to play most of their matches at home as they welcome national opponents from the east and north, all looking to play outdoors in mild temperatures in February, March and April. The Titans annually open the season with the CSF Intercollegiate Tournament over three days in late October or early November. The 2018 season featured the best record in school history at 21-6.
Women’s Indoor Track and Field
Cal State Fullerton established an indoor program for the 2000-01 season. The Titans have been competitive in select events in Flagstaff, Arizona; Reno, Nevada; and Seattle, Washington.
Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field
The phrases “champion sprinters” and “Cal State Fullerton” have often gone hand-in-hand as the Titans’ track and field program continues to develop. Top performers include a two-time Big West Conference female track athlete of the year and only the second Big West athlete to win the conference championship four times in the same event. The men’s track and field team garnered the Big West Conference Championship in 2017 and 2018.
Women’s Volleyball
The Titans blossomed in 2010 as they enjoyed their first conference championship, first national Top 25 ranking, first coach of the year trophy, first NCAA Tournament appearance and second conference player of the year award. The Big West Conference has produced several NCAA champions and recent additions to the conference promise even more competitive opportunities for the Titan volleyball team.
Athletics Academic Services
657-278-3057
Athletics Academic Services works closely with faculty, coaches and other student support services to ensure the academic success of Titan student-athletes. The mission of Athletics Academic Services is to provide effective life skills and academic support services for CSUF student-athletes to encourage timely graduation and to ensure student-athletes receive the information they need to be in compliance with institutional and NCAA rules governing continuing eligibility. Over 200 student-athletes attend the annual Fullerton Athletics Career Expo, which was established in 2015.
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