Notebook : Pepperdine Water Polo Star Grier Named NCAA’s Co-Player of Year

Michael Grier, Pepperdine senior water polo player, was named the NCAA’s co-player of the year with Alan Gresham of California, as well as being named an All-American for the second straight year.

At the end of last season, Grier, of Costa Mesa, was the most valuable player of the NCAA tournament and player of the year in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.

He scored 93 goals as Pepperdine finished 33-7-3 and fourth in the national polls. His scoring total was second to teammate Pero Asic’s 95 goals, but he topped the Waves in assists (50), steals and interceptions (54) and major fouls drawn (65).

Others on the All-American team are Scott Thornton of UCLA, USC’s Charles Harris and Mike Spicer, and David Imbernino and goalie Steve Moyer, both of Stanford. Coach of the year is Stanford’s Dante Dettamanti.

Asic received honorable mention for All-American, as did Pepperdine’s Viktor Pusic and Victor de la Vega.

Pete McMahon, the St. Monica High School alumnus who was named to the Times 1981 All-Westside prep football team, played linebacker last season for the University of San Diego, which is in the NCAA’s Division III for football.

McMahon, the most valuable player on St. Monica’s 1981 Santa Fe League champions, was encountered at last weekend’s basketball game between USD and Pepperdine at San Diego.

McMahon said that he spent his freshman year at Pacific University in Oregon but transferred to USD because he couldn’t get used to living in a small college town (Forest Grove).

At St. Monica, he got used to nearly everything in football. As a senior, he played offensive tackle, linebacker and quarterback and snapped the ball for punts. In his three years on the varsity, he played every position.

Leland Faust, a former Beverly Hills resident who was a star water polo player at Cal and played on medal-winning teams in the Maccabiah Games of 1961, 1965 and 1969, is co-chairman for a West Coast reunion of participants in the games in Israel.

Faust, who lives in San Francisco, can be reached at (415) 421-9535 or (415) 334-0869 or by writing him at 1 California St., San Francisco 94111.

Three West Los Angeles College football players--wide receiver Stephen Baker, defensive back Patrick Baker (no relation) and wide receiver Bruce Walker--have signed letters of intent with four-year colleges.

Stephen Baker, the Oilers’ record-setting most valuable player last season, catching 56 passes for 1,191 yards and 16 touchdowns, will attend Fresno State. Patrick Baker is headed for Texas El Paso, and Walker will go to Prairie View A&M; in Texas.

Jim Smoot, a Pepperdine graduate who has been men’s volleyball coach at Ohio State for three years, has been named co-head coach at the University of Hawaii, announced Dave Shoji, coach of the Rainbows.

At Ohio State, Smoot’s teams were 70-19, including finishes of third and fourth in the NCAA tournament. Previously, he coached at Loyola Marymount, Cal State Dominguez Hills and El Camino College.

Three West Los Angeles College baseball players--outfielders Gayron Jackson and De-Jon Watson and pitcher Mike Aspray--were selected in the major league January draft.

Jackson, son of former major league pitcher Grant Jackson, was picked by Montreal. Watson, a Santa Monica High graduate who batted .342 for WLAC last season, and Aspray, a right-hander from Gardena High whose 4.26 earned-run average was the best for last season’s Oilers, were chosen by Kansas City.