Cal State Fullerton, then Orange County State College, began intercollegiate play in time for the 1960-61 basketball season. The Titans eventually moved up to Division 1 status in 1974. In those 60-plus years, the Titans have qualified to participate in the prestigious NCAA men's basketball tournament a total of four times: 1978, 2008, 2018, and 2022.

To our knowledge at FullertonTitans.com, only one person has attended all four of those NCAA tournament appearances. That man is Titan basketball super booster, Jon Hosea.

Hosea, a 1975 CSUF Business Economics graduate, became a dedicated Titan basketball fan in 1973, while also participating on the Titan men's tennis team. Jon quickly assimilated into the very vocal and visible student booster group, the Hell Raisers.

In the former seating configuration of historic Titan Gym, fans sitting between the baskets were only a couple of short feet from the court surface. Noisy crowds gave Fullerton a decided home court advantage for decades, with Titan Gym soon being dubbed the House of Pain.  Legendary coaches like Jerry Tarkanian described how much they disliked having to compete in Titan Gym due to the raucous, intimidating crowds who seemed to be surrounding them.

With that level of fandom ingrained in him. Jon will describe some of his memories from each of Cal State Fullerton's NCAA Tournament appearances.

• 1978 – The Pit - Albuquerque, New Mexico:  New to D1, and led by head coach Bobby Dye, the "Cal State Who?" Titans were the Cinderella story of the year. Jon Hosea was on the bandwagon before there even was a bandwagon.

The Titans stunned the college basketball world in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament by knocking off then-national power, New Mexico, 90-85. The Lobos were led by future Laker star, Michael Cooper.

Something was building, and Titan fans could feel it. The University arranged for two busloads of rooters to make the trek to Albuquerque for the next round. Hosea, a teaching tennis pro at the time, quickly rearranged his schedule in order to make the trip. Jon looked back: "There was lots of activity during that ride, such as impromptu poker games and "We Believe" chants. The 13-hour trip flew by."

The party continued as the Greg Bunch, Kevin Heenan, Keith Anderson-led Titans ousted 7'1" Bill Cartwright and the USF Dons by a nail-biting score of 75-72. As Hosea remembers it: "In the second half, Coach Dye pulled Greg Palm off of the bench with the apparent instructions to shut down the much-taller Cartwright using those Detroit playground skills of his. It worked."

The dream would come to an end with the "Elite 8" loss to Sidney Moncrief and Arkansas on a controversial no-call that still haunts the dreams of Titan fans who were around at the time. Jon somehow found his way under the Titan basket as time was expiring. Hosea remembered vividly: "With less than a minute to go, down by one, Keith Anderson had the ball at the top of the key.  Suddenly, the lane opened up and Anderson drove to the basket for a possible lay-up or foul.

"Arkansas' big center, Steve Schall, reached in and slapped the back of Anderson's hand so hard that I could clearly hear it, and the ball was knocked away. I looked at the ref, who was only a few feet away, his whistle has still never blown." To this day, if you hear an old-time Titan fan mutter bitterly, "He was fouled," you'll know what he or she is talking about.

During his trip to Albuquerque, Jon and a group of friends managed to ski the March snows on Sandia Peak. Unfortunately for them, the famous tramway had closed while they were still on the mountain, and they had to hitch a ride from a friendly park ranger to get back to their rental car.

• 2008 – Qwest Center - Omaha, Nebraska:  After a 30-year absence from the NCAA Tournament, Bob Burton's Titans defeated UCI in the Big West Tournament final to capture the automatic conference bid. The selection committee sent Fullerton to familiar grounds as Omaha is the site of the College World Series, where the Titan baseball team had made multiple appearances, and won four national championships.

The scrappy Titans were led by sharpshooting Josh Akognon, Scott Cutley, and Frank Robinson. Unfortunately, Wisconsin's size proved to be too much for the Titans as they fell to the Badgers 71-56.

Said Hosea: "I was filled with emotion as I walked through the parking lot to the arena.  It was kind of like we were picking up where we left off from '78.  The primary difference was that my baby boy, also named Jon, was now an adult and walking to my left, and (1978 Titan legend) Greg Bunch was sitting a few seats from me.

• 2018 – Little Caesars Arena - Detroit, Michigan:  In another year ending in 8, the Titans qualified for the NCAA Tournament by once again dispatching county rival, UCI in the final of the Big West Tournament. This time, Fullerton was under the tutelage of head coach Dedrique Taylor.

The Titans, led by guards, Kyle Allman, Jr, and Khalil Ahmad, along with forward Jackson Rowe, were selected to face the second-seeded Purdue Boilermakers.

Jon takes it from here: "I arrived in Detroit to the darkest night I had ever experienced. I remember walking to the car rental and I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, so I had to keep my head down and use the glow from my cell phone to find my way."

Fullerton kept It close early, only trailing Purdue 30-21 at halftime. Purdue then used their superior size and strength to dominate the Titans in the second, going on to a 74-48 victory.  Added Hosea: "The Purdue players were huge, and their bench was too deep.  They easily handled the Titans, so I would say my fondest memories of the trip were discovering Detroit square pan pizza, and touring the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovations."

• 2022 – Bon Secours Wellness Arena – Greenville, South Carolina:  Dedrique Taylor became the first Titan coach in history to take two Cal State Fullerton teams to the NCAA Tournament, and only four years apart.

The Titans had defeated archrival Long Beach State at the Big West Tournament to earn the automatic bid. Fullerton's prize was a date with #2 seed Duke in what would be legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski's final NCAA tournament prior to his announced retirement.

As Hosea said with tongue firmly tucked in cheek: "It was fun that we finally got to play Duke after they have been avoiding us all of these years."

Hosea continued: "After making the nearly 150-mile drive from Atlanta to Greenville, we arrived at the arena. My son, Jon, and I were greeted by the longest line that we had ever seen which delayed our entry. Eventually finding a lesser-used door, we still managed to catch most of the first half. 

"We made a game of it but we were outclassed in the end."  The Titans fell to the Blue Devils 78-61. Jon concluded: "The next day we toured the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum, and visited the University of Georgia's tennis facility which hosts the NCAA tennis tournament each year. And of course, we sampled some good southern barbecue."

Jon Hosea is a Commercial Real Estate Loan Officer. He has been married to his wife, Carmen for 50 years. They have two adult children, Jon Michael and Crystal Michelle, and two grandchildren, Jon Clayton and Hannah Grace.

Jon cannot wait for the next Titan team to go to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games. 

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