Not long after the incredible March run when he coached the USD men's basketball team to the West Coast Conference Tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament victory over Connecticut, Grier and his wife went out to dinner at a local restaurant with former UCLA coach-turned TV commentator Steve Lavin and his wife.

When Grier stepped away from the table for a moment, a waiter came over and asked discreetly: “Isn't that Steve Lavin?”

Grier tells it with a shrug and a laugh and professes to feel not in the least slighted. He has been in San Diego for only a little more than a year but has a pretty good read on his new hometown and USD's place on its sports radar screen.

“I've had a few more speaking engagements and things of that nature than a year ago, but my life hasn't changed much,” Grier said recently. “Does it bother me? Not at all. I can still just be myself and enjoy friends, family and the city.”

As an assistant at Gonzaga, Grier was a close witness to head coach Mark Few's rise to celebrity status in Spokane, Wash.

“While it can be very flattering, it can get almost annoying at times,” Grier said. “Mark does a great job of being polite and giving everybody time, but I know there are times he probably wishes he didn't have that obligation.”

It's one week short of 90 days since sophomore guard De'Jon Jackson hit the step-back jumper with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime to beat UConn. Jackson was the only nonfreshman in the lineup at the time, junior standouts Brandon Johnson and Gyno Pomare having fouled out.

It galvanized the campus of the little university (enrollment 7,600) on the hill in Alcala Park and caught the fancy of the community at large. But since then, the Padres' season started and the club waned before showing possible signs of waxing lately. The Chargers generated interest for a week regarding what they'd do with the 27th pick in the NFL draft. And now the latest big event, the U.S. Open, has come to town.

In the days since USD's ride ended with a second-round loss to Western Kentucky, the players have enjoyed increased recognition, modest though it might be by standards of NCAA Division I schools in other places. And they've been treated to congratulatory events like the one this week at the Hall of Champions, where the Toreros men's and women's teams were honored for their dual NCAA Tournament qualification.

“It's cool,” said guard Brandon Johnson, the MVP of the WCC Tournament. “I think a lot more people know who we are when we go out places and show us more love.

“We go out and, especially if you're wearing clothes that say USD on them, people come up and say, 'Great team, great season,' things like that. We're glad people recognize the accomplishments.”

Forward Rob Jones, a WCC All-Freshman Team selection, said he has received congratulatory messages from high school friends who have spread across the country with stories of how the USD win over UConn registered in that particular area.

And, on a trip home by Jones to the San Francisco Bay Area, a store clerk saw the name and said, “You play for San Diego, don't you?”

“People get us confused with State or even UCSD, but maybe there won't be as much of that now,” Jones said. “It definitely feels good to think that we made a name for ourselves.”

Hank Wesch: (619) 293-1853; hank.wesch@uniontrib.com