Mulligan tribute set

Former UC Irvine men’s basketball coach Bill Mulligan will be recognized at a dinner/roast Sept. 16 at the University Club on the UC Irvine campus.

Mulligan served as the Anteaters’ head coach from 1980-91, guiding UCI to first-round NIT wins in 1982 (at San Diego State) and in 1986 (at UCLA). He was named Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. Coach of the Year in 1986, when his Anteater team defeated perennial power UNLV twice in 12 days.

Mulligan’s UCI teams defeated the Runnin’ Rebels six times in the 1980s, the most by any program in the nation.

His Anteater teams led the nation in scoring in the 1980-81 season (86.4 points per game) and his 1981-82 squad ranked No. 1 in the nation in field-goal percentage (.561).

Mulligan’s first two UCI teams, led by first-team All-American Kevin Magee, compiled a 40-17 record in two years. In his first game as UCI’s head coach, the Anteaters set a school record that still stands by scoring 125 points in a win over Virginia Military Institute on Nov. 29, 1980.

Mulligan’s teams won 163 games during his tenure at the University and the impact of his early success led to the construction of the Bren Events Center.

In the first game at the Bren Center, his Anteaters defeated Utah State, 118-96, behind 43 points from Scott Brooks on Jan. 8, 1987.

He sent nearly a dozen former Anteaters, including Magee, Brooks, Ben McDonald, current Anteater assistant coach Tod Murphy and Johnny Rogers into the professional ranks throughout the world.

Mulligan was inducted into UCI’s Hall of Fame in 1998 and he was named the Orange County “Sportsman of the Year” in 1982.

Mulligan also served as head coach at Long Beach Poly High, Riverside City College, Saddleback College, and Irvine Valley College. He was an assistant coach at USC.

The evening will begin with a no-host bar at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the program at 7.

Cost of the dinner/roast is $60 per person. For information, phone Linda Schermerhorn at (949) 856-2726. Checks should be made payable to Bob Schermerhorn.