Long Beach State’s Casper Ware gets an early honor

Four years ago, Dan Monson made his first appearance in front of the annual John R. Wooden Award preseason tipoff lunch at the Los Angeles Athletic Club and spoke of how his top returning scorer averaged 1.4 points a game.

“I laughed, but it wasn’t funny,” Monson said Wednesday. “One thing I did, though, was recruit four kids and they’re four-year starters. They are all seniors and they’ll have an opportunity to rewrite the record books.”

At the head of that list is Casper Ware, a 5-foot-10 guard who has already been honored this year by becoming the first Long Beach State player ever named to the Wooden Award watch list as one of the top players in the country.

Ware was an honorable mention All-American last year when he averaged 17.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.7 steals a game and became the first Big West Conference player to be player of the year and defensive player of the year.

Along with Ware, Monson’s recruiting class included guard Larry Anderson, a first-team All-Big West choice last year after averaging 14.3 points and 6.8 rebounds a game; forward T.J. Robinson, who is only one of six NCAA Division I players to average a double-double (in scoring and rebounding) the last two years; and forward Eugene Phelps, who was in the Big West top 10 in rebounding, blocked shots and offensive rebounds last year.

After all that was pointed out, though, Monson said, “Four kids, fourth year, and they’ve never been in the NCAA tournament.”

The rookies

Russell Turner, UC Irvine’s second-year coach, said he wasn’t sure whether it was good news or bad news when his sports information director, Bob Olson, gave him this tidbit:

“This year I have the youngest team in all of Division I,” Turner said. “After he left the office, I thought, ‘I wonder why he told me that?’ ”

Turner’s roster includes eight freshmen — two of them nonscholarship players — and no seniors. “This presents an incredible opportunity for a lot of interesting things to happen,” Turner said.

Young team or not, Turner said his style will remain the same: Play fast.

Last season, Irvine averaged 75.3 points a game. The problem was, Turner said, “We gave up 77. But we’re going to continue our up-tempo style.”

Getting defensive

Pepperdine’s first-year coach, Marty Wilson, said the Waves will rely on defense after the team lost its three double-digit scorers from last season.

Wilson, who spent 21 years as an assistant before getting the Pepperdine job, is particularly excited about the progress he has already seen from his 7-foot sophomore center, Jan Maehlen.

“He weighed 340 pounds when he first got here,” Wilson said. “He’s 314 now and as his body has changed, his confidence has grown.”

Officially a legend

Connecticut women’s Coach Geno Auriemma will receive the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching honor next April. Wooden’s daughter, Nan Muehlhausen, made the announcement during the luncheon.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

twitter.com/mepucin