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Pepperdine University Athletics

Number Project 3

General by Athletic Communications

The Greatest Waves at Every Number: #3

MALIBU, California – Who are the best Waves ever to wear a particular number on their jersey or cap? This series will aim to identify the most accomplished Pepperdine student-athletes, number by number.
 
Today, the greats who wore number three are listed.
 
First, some caveats:
  • Student-athletes before a certain year may not be included, as complete numerical rosters only go back so far. For the eight sports that wear numbers, only women's soccer and women's beach volleyball have every roster available.
  • The complete numerical rosters for baseball (1971), men's basketball (1968-69), women's basketball (1979-80), men's volleyball (1975), women's indoor volleyball (1976) and men's water polo (1982) date back to the year shown here.
  • In some cases, additional standout student-athletes from prior to those years were identified.
  • Any student-athlete who received at least all-conference honors during this time, and others of note, were included based on current available information.
  • Pepperdine sponsored football between the years of 1946 and 1961. Fifteen football players have been inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame and those former student-athletes have been included in this series.
BASEBALL 
  • Andy Stankiewicz (Cerritos, Calif.) switched to #3 in 1986 and was all-conference second team. The infielder batted .288 that season and was a career .285 hitter over his four seasons, while stealing 101 bases. He went on to play seven years in MLB.
  • Chris Martin (Los Angeles, Calif./Hamilton HS) was an All-American in 1990. The infielder hit .358 that season with 14 home runs and 65 RBI.
  • John Sacchi (Los Angeles, Calif./California) was all-conference second team in 1993. The infielder batted .369 that season.
  • David Matranga (Orange, Calif./Orange HS) was all-conference twice, including the first team in 1997. The infielder hit .300 for his three-year career and had 20 home runs and 103 RBI. He went on to play two seasons in MLB.
  • Jacob Barrack (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista HS) made the all-conference first team in 2003 and 2004. The right-handed pitcher won 17 games over those two seasons. He had four-year career totals of a 25-11 record and a 3.86 ERA.
  • Adrian Ortiz (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Puerto Rico Baseball Academy) made three all-conference teams, including the 2007 first team. The outfielder had a career batting average of .320 over his three seasons, including .342 in 2007.
  • Chase d'Arnaud (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos HS) switched to #3 in 2008 and was all-conference honorable mention. The infielder hit .314 that season with 50 RBI. He was a career .309 hitter over his three seasons. He went on to play seven years in MLB.
  • Zach Vincej (Saugus, Calif./Saugus HS) was All-American honorable mention, the Brooks Wallace Award-winner for the nation's top shortstop and the WCC Defensive Player of the Year in 2012, and a two-time all-conference honoree. He batted .339 in his final season with Waves. Vincej went on to play two seasons in MLB.
  • Austin Davidson (Oxnard, Calif./Oxnard HS) was all-conference first team in 2013 and 2014. The infielder had career bests of .287 hitting in 2013 and 33 RBI in 2014.
  • Brandon Caruso (Pasadena, Calif./Loyola HS) was all-conference first team in in 2015. The outfielder hit .309 that season with 26 RBI.
  • Quincy McAfee (Houston, Texas/Westside HS) was all-conference second team in 2018. The infielder played in 149 games in his three seasons and had 159 hits and 58 RBI.
MEN'S BASKETBALL 
  • Geoff Lear (West Covina, Calif./Bishop Amat HS) began his career wearing #3 and earned his first of three All-WCC first team honors as a sophomore in 1989-90. The forward averaged 13.8 points and 8.9 rebounds that season.
  • Brandon Armstrong (Vallejo, Calif./Vallejo HS) made the All-WCC first team in both 2000 and 2001. The guard led the WCC in scoring at 22.1 points per game in 2000-01 and averaged a team-high 14.4 points in 1999-00. Over his three seasons, he scored 1,175 career points. He went on to play three seasons in the NBA.
  • Alex Acker (Compton, Calif./Eisenhower HS) made the All-WCC first team in 2005 and was honorable mention in 2003 and 2004. The guard averaged 16.6 points and 3.7 assists his final season. He finished with 1,273 career points. Acker moved on to a long professional career, including parts of two seasons in the NBA as well as overseas.  
  • Keion Bell (Los Angeles, Calif./Pasadena HS) was All-WCC honorable mention in 2010. The guard averaged a team-high 18.5 points that season and scored 1,365 career points.
  • Jeremy Major (Pasadena, Calif./Maranatha HS) recorded 494 career assists between 2014-17, breaking a school career record that had stood for more than 30 years. The guard also scored 1,236 career points.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 
  • Nakeya Isabell (Seattle, Wash./Cleveland HS/College of Southern Idaho) was All-WCC honorable mention in 2009. An exceptional point guard who played three seasons after transferring, she averaged 6.5 points, 5.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds as a senior.
FOOTBALL 
  • Jay Roelen (Inglewood, Calif./Hawthorne HS) was a quarterback from 1954-57. He was a 1957 Williamson Little All-American and made the 1956 United Press Little All-Pacific Coast honorable mention team. He passed for school records of 2,392 yards in a career, 1,428 yards in a season and 303 yards in a game. He was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981.
WOMEN'S SOCCER 
  • Tasha Spangler (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) was All-WCC second team in 1999 and honorable mention in 2000. The midfielder had four-year totals of 15 goals and 17 assists.
  • Courtney Assumma (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley HS) was a standout central defender from 2011-15. She played in 57 games and had three goals and one assist.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL 
  • Rod Wilde (Fort Dodge, Iowa) began his career at #8 but later switched to #3, where he was an All-American first team selection in 1977 and 1978. He would later serve as the Waves' head coach and would lead Pepperdine to the 1986 NCAA title. He was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
  • Peter Balding (Honolulu, Hawai'i) was an exceptional back-row specialist in 1980 and 1981.
  • Rob Scott (Sunnyvale, Calif.) made the All-American first team in 1985 and second team in 1987. The middle blocker recorded 1,056 career kills and averaged 4.49 kills per set as a senior.
  • Andy Hein (Carol Stream, Ill./West Chicago HS) made the All-American first team in 2005 and 2006. The middle blocker had career totals of 898 kills and 533 blocks. He averaged 2.93 kills and 1.59 blocks per set as a senior.
WOMEN'S BEACH VOLLEYBALL 
  • Delaney Knudsen (Valencia, Calif./Valencia HS) was a 2017 All-American and a two-time All-WCC first team pick. She won 81 career matches. She is currently the team's volunteer assistant coach.
  • Brook Bauer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) was a 2018 and 2019 All-American, the 2018 WCC Freshman of the Year and a two-time All-WCC first team pick. She has won 43 matches in her first three seasons.
WOMEN'S INDOOR VOLLEYBALL 
  • Nora Reyes (Oxnard, Calif./UC Santa Barbara) was All-WCC honorable mention in 1989.
  • Kristin Lee (Westlake Village, Calif./Moorpark CC) was All-WCC honorable mention in 1998. After transferring in, she played two seasons and averaged 2.90 kills and 3.25 digs as a senior.
  • Jennifer Fopma (Bellflower, Calif./Valley Christian HS) made the All-WCC second team in 2000. A middle blocker, she averaged 3.10 kills, 1.85 digs and 1.29 blocks as a sophomore.
  • Katie Messing (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands HS) was All-WCC honorable mention in 2013 and 2014. The outside hitter had 1,085 career kills over her four seasons.
MEN'S WATER POLO 
  • Mike Grier (Costa Mesa, Calif.) was the National Player of the Year in 1984 and was an All-American first teamer in 1983 and 1984. He was named the Most Outstanding Player at the 1984 NCAA Championships. He scored 157 career goals in his two seasons, including 93 in 1984.
  • Tucker Johnston (Cupertino, Calif.) was All-American honorable mention in 1988. He scored 42 of his 90 career goals that season.
  • Paul Matarangas (San Jose, Calif./West Valley College) was all-conference second team in 1989. He scored 28 goals that year.
  • Jeremy Pope (Clovis, Calif./Golden West College) made the All-American first team in 1997 and 1998. He was named tri-Most Outstanding Player along with two teammates after winning the 1997 NCAA title. He scored 91 goals in his two seasons, including 54 in 1997.
  • Karl Niehaus (Johannesburg, South Africa/St. John's College) made the All-American second team in 2002. He scored 44 goals in two seasons.
 
 
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