L.A. Baptist Changes Name, 3 Coaches and Athletic Director

They changed the name, but that was only the first step.

The Master’s College, formerly known as Los Angeles Baptist, is a small college with its heart set on growing up.

Part of its proposed expansion: major growth in the athletic department.

To that end, the college has announced coaching changes for its three men’s intercollegiate athletic teams.

John Zeller, baseball coach at Tennessee Temple College for the last four years, has been hired as athletic director and baseball coach. He will be joined on the staff by basketball Coach Randy Stem and soccer Coach Richard Cooper.

Stem was an assistant coach at Tennessee Temple during the past five years. Cooper was an All-American at Memphis State and a former professional who played in the North American Soccer League.

Zeller replaces Pete Reece as athletic director. Reece had been basketball coach and athletic director at the college for 20 years.

Don Gilmore, a spokesman for the college, said that the majority of changes at The Master’s have come at the request of John MacArthur, the new college president.

“Dr. MacArthur is really a jock himself,” Gilmore said. “He loves sports, particularly baseball. One of the things he wanted to do was give a new commitment for a quality athletic program. The administration was not happy with the current progress of those programs.”

When Reece came to the college, which is tucked away in the foothills of Placerita Canyon in Newhall, it had no gymnasium or athletic field. The basketball team split its practice time between a local recreation center and a concrete slab at the rear of the school. Road trips were taken in an old, beat-up Volkswagen van.

Reece has been given an opportunity to stay on staff as an instructor and chairman of the physical education department, which is separate from the athletic department. He has not announced his decision yet, according to school officials. He was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Zeller, who started work in his new position last week, said the budget for The Master’s sports teams will expand by more than 50%.

“We’ll be playing more games, against better competition,” Zeller said. “To do that, we’ll need more scholarships and money, which we’re going to have. We’ll probably take our lumps a few times, but we’ll have to look at it as growing pains.

“We’re going after greater visibility. We’re out to improve the morale of both the students and staff. We’re out to reach out and grab the support of this community. To do that, the commitment has to start with us.”