Basketball coach in Fullerton

Alex Omalev, 88, the first men’s basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton who led the Titans for 12 seasons starting in 1960 after having coached for 11 years at Fullerton College, died Nov. 10, the university announced. The cause of death was not specified.

Omalev, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the former Yugoslavia, also served as a translator for Vlade Divac when the Serb joined the Lakers in 1989.

Alexander Omalev was born July 2, 1920, in Hamtramck, Mich. He worked in an automobile factory for a year after high school before playing forward at USC from 1939 to 1943.

After serving in the Navy during World War II, he earned a teaching credential from USC and in 1949 began teaching drama at what was then Fullerton Junior College. When the basketball coach died unexpectedly, Omalev was asked to step in.

Over the next 11 years the Hornets went 262-77 and won eight conference titles and, in 1954, a state championship.

When Cal State Fullerton was formed as Orange County State College, Omalev became its first basketball coach and compiled a 139-176 record. His best season was his second, when the Titans went 24-7 and advanced to the fifth round of the small-college NAIA playoffs.

Among the players he coached there was Bobby Dye, who coached the Titans to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1978.

Omalev retired as coach in 1972 but taught physical education until 1991.

Fluent in Serbo-Croatian, Spanish and German, Omalev served as language coordinator for basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, overseeing a team of translators for players, officials and the media.