The Cal State Fullerton Titans own one of the great forgotten runs in tournament history: the 1978 Elite Eight. Bobby Dye's Titans — a Big West program in just its early Division I years — ripped through the West Regional to reach the regional final, a stunning achievement that remains the program's high-water mark.
The modern era brought the Titans back to March: Big West tournament titles in 2008 and 2018, with the 2018 team earning a date with Purdue. The program's up-tempo style made the Titans must-see, and the conference tournament runs became a Fullerton tradition.
Titan Gym is the program's beloved home: an intimate, loud venue on the Fullerton campus. It's old-school Big West basketball — close, hot, and personal — where the Titans have ambushed better teams for decades.
The Big West wars define the season: UC Irvine, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, Hawai'i — a league where the conference tournament decides everything and the Titans have a history of crashing the party.
The 1978 Elite Eight team remains the program's immortal squad: the group that proved a young Division I program could play with anyone. In Fullerton, that run is legend — the standard every Titans team chases.
The 2018 tournament trip was the modern validation: proof that Fullerton could still dance, still compete, still matter in March. The program's pipeline of pros and all-conference stars keeps the talent coming.
What defines Cal State Fullerton is the 1978 magic: an Elite Eight from nowhere that still echoes through Titan Gym. The Titans' story is the Big West dream — and every March, Fullerton believes again. The Titans' pipeline of pros and all-conference stars — from the '78 heroes to the modern Big West standouts — keeps Fullerton relevant, and Titan Gym's intimacy remains one of the league's great home-court edges.
The 1978 team's West Regional rampage remains the program's immortal achievement: a young Division I program cutting through the bracket to the Elite Eight, announcing Fullerton to a sport that had never heard of the Titans. Titan Gym's lore grew with every March near-miss that followed — the building where the 2008 and 2018 championship teams were forged. The Big West's parity means the Titans are never far from contention, and the program's up-tempo identity keeps Fullerton must-see. The '78 banner hangs as both history and challenge.
Dedrique Taylor is the Big West's dean of coaches — fourteen seasons at Cal State Fullerton, a 179-221 record built mostly the hard way, and two Big West tournament titles (2008, 2018) that keep the program's March flame lit. The program's eternal standard remains the 1978 Elite Eight team, still the high-water mark nearly fifty years later, but Taylor's modern Titans have kept Fullerton relevant in a league where the conference tournament is the whole season.
The 2026-27 schedule is a gauntlet designed to forge a team. The Titans open November 3 at San Diego State's Viejas Arena — no warm-up acts in Fullerton — then the home opener November 12 against Lincoln at Titan Gym on ESPN+. A November 18 trip to Pauley Pavilion to face UCLA, a December 5 visit from Long Beach State, and a December 12 trip to Provo to face BYU at the Marriott Center round out a non-conference slate that will tell Taylor exactly what he has. Big West play begins December 3 against newcomer Sacramento State, one of three programs — along with California Baptist and Utah Valley — joining the reshuffled league this season.
Taylor attacked the roster build with his usual eye for overlooked production, and the headliner is a Division II star making the jump. Matthew Willenborg, a 6-foot-7 forward from Norman, Oklahoma, arrives from Central Oklahoma where he averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.0 blocks a game — leading the MIAA in rebounds and blocked shots, setting the UCO career blocks record (169), and earning D2CCA All-Region honors. 'His experience and productivity speak for itself,' Taylor said. 'His ability to score in multiple ways along with his size and mobility give us a much-needed addition to our roster.'
He's joined by 6-foot-9 forward Rockwell Reynolds, a Dana Point native who averaged 16 points and seven rebounds on 55 percent shooting at Citrus College, and graduate guard Drew McConnell, a 6-foot-1 Georgia native who averaged 13.5 points and earned all-conference honors at the University of the Cumberlands after stints at USC Upstate and James Madison. Taylor's calling card has always been development over pedigree, and this transfer class fits the mold perfectly.
The returning core includes senior guards Joshua Ward (Memphis) and Jaden Henderson (Sacramento), Canadian senior Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro, junior forward Kendrick De Luna (6-foot-9, San Antonio) and Australian junior Bailey Nunn (Melbourne) — a veteran group that knows the Big West's road grind. In a league where the tournament decides everything and Titan Gym's intimacy remains one of the West's great home-court edges, Fullerton's formula hasn't changed in decades: get to March, get hot, and let the building do the rest.