The 1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by first year head coach Bill Mulligan and played their home games at the Crawford Hall. They were members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished the season 17–10 and 9–5 in PCAA play.
Previous season The 1979–80 Anteaters finished the season with a record of 9–18 and 1–13 in PCAA play. They anteaters were invited to the PCAA tournament where they lost in the first round against the . Coach Tim Tift announced his resignation as coach of the anteaters with 6 games remaining in the season. Saddleback College coach Bill Mulligan was announced as the new coach on March 1.
Off-season Incoming transfers Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Ray Donnelly F 6'6" N/A Jr. N/A Transfer from Arizona Kevin Fuller G 6'3" N/A Jr. N/A Junior College transfer from Long Beach City College(CA) Leonard Johnson G 6'3" N/A Jr. N/A Transfer from Utah Kevin Magee F 6'8" N/A Jr. Gary, Indiana Junior college transfer from Saddleback College(CA) Grant Taylor F 6'8" N/A Jr. N/A Junior College transfer from Cypress College(CA) Randy Whieldon G 6'4" N/A Jr. N/A Junior College transfer from Saddleback College(CA) Jason Works G 5'10" N/A Jr. N/A Junior College transfer from Los Angeles City College
1980 recruiting class Source:
Roster
Schedule
!colspan=9 style="background:#002244; color:#FFDE6C;"| Non-Conference Season
!colspan=9 style="background:#002244; color:#FFDE6C;"| Conference Season
!colspan=9 style="background:#002244; color:#FFDE6C;"| PCAA tournament
Source
Awards and honors Kevin Magee AP First Team All-American PCAA Player of the Year PCAA First Team All-Conference Ben McDonald PCAA Freshman of the Year PCAA All-Freshman Team
References