It was the Class of 1983.Only two losses in 40 league games for the four-time Frontier League boys basketball champion Santa Clara Saints. Only two losses in 22 postseason games. Three section titles as well as state and section runner-up finishes. Quite a team legacy. More championships would follow. Joe Wallace. One of the team leaders. Wallace left his own footprint.
Ventura County’s scoring leader in 1983 (averaging 20 points per game), Wallace was selected as the CIF-Southern Section Division IA Player of the Year. After Santa Clara’s 66-62 loss to Banning in the 1982 1A semifinals, Wallace made the third team. Wallace had averaged 15 points that season.
Another tough setback ended Santa Clara’s season in the 1983 Division II state final. Santa Clara’s run to the 1983 state final included wins over Moorpark, 77-65; 1982 champion Banning, 62-58; and Blair, 52-49, in the section final. In the championship game, opponent Menlo made two free throws with 14 seconds left to win 53-51. It was the only state title in Menlo’s boys basketball history. Wallace was named to the all-state second team by CalHiSports.com.
After graduation, Wallace began a four-year career with Washington State. He made the all-PAC 10 freshman team, and as a sophomore, he averaged 18.1 points per game. Wallace had a personal-best 36 points in a road game against Nebraska on Dec 22, 1985.
In 110 games with the Cougars, Wallace scored 1,367 points for a 12.4 average, and he ranks as one of the program’s all-time best free throw shooters. Wallace made 79.5 percent of his career attempts. In the 1985-86 season, and he had an .859 percentage from the line.
His basketball career would continue for the next 11 seasons as he played for various professional teams in Spain and France.