COLLEGE BASKETBALL : COACHES, PLAYERS, TEAMS, TRENDS TO WATCH IN THE 1985-86 SEASON : THE QUESTION OF WHO IS NO. 1 IN L.A.. : Morrison, USC’s Renaissance Man, Has Some Young Up-and-Comers

In past seasons, when USC Coach Stan Morrison said he had a young team that wouldn’t make an impact, people would smile knowingly and shrug.

Same old Trojans. Middle-of-the-pack Trojans. Next season will never come.

Those perceptions aren’t valid now. There has been a renaissance in the USC basketball program.

It began last season when USC became Pacific 10 co-champion with Washington. It was the school’s first conference basketball title since 1961.

Morrison, the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, won with a veteran team, and, in the off-season, he had one of his best recruiting years. He has brought in such talented high school players as Tom Lewis of Santa Ana Mater Dei, Rich Grande of Glendale High, and Greg (Bo) Kimble and Eric (Hank) Gathers of Dobbins Tech in Philadelphia.

Only two starters--point guard Larry Friend and forward Derrick Dowell--return from last season’s championship team, along with some reserves who played occasionally.

“This is easily the youngest team I’ve ever coached,” said Morrison, who is in his seventh season at USC. “We’re not going to be real good early, but if we concentrate on the things we have to do to be successful, we’ll be a real good team down the road. I think we’re two years away from making a significant impact.”

USC was picked by the conference coaches to finish sixth, although others view the Trojans as a sleeper.

It’s a comfortable position for Morrison. Not much is expected, and he isn’t under any pressure to produce a title immediately. After all, he already has a championship season.

Characteristically, though, Morrison is optimistic. He has lost four of his five top scorers--Wayne Carlander, Ron Holmes, Clayton Olivier and Glenn Smith--who represented 18 years of experience. But, in the next breath, he is enthusiastic about his current players.

“It’s a much quicker team, the fastest I’ve had since my first year here as coach,” Morrison said. “Last year, we wanted to run, but we’re more capable of doing it now because of the athletic ability we have and the depth. We go 10 deep now compared to six deep last season.”

Morrison won’t name a starting lineup but said that seven or eight players figure in the rotation: Friend, Dowell, postmen Ivan Verberckt, who redshirted last year after transferring from Cal State Long Beach, and Rod Keller; wingmen Kevin Steward, Brad Winslow, Lewis and Kimble.

“There’s a real war going on among Grande, Carl Washington and Ivan Harris for the backup point guard position,” he added.

Morrison said that USC probably won’t be as strong on the inside as it was last season, but should be stronger on the perimeter.

He will go basically with a 1-2-2 alignment--point guard, two postmen and two wingmen.

Verberckt, Keller, Gathers, Charlie Simpson and freshman Mike Canada are contending for the post positions.

“Ivan is a big target at 6-11,” Morrison said. “He has put on 30 pounds and is now up to 222 pounds. He is quicker and has increased his stamina.”

Simpson, a junior who came to USC with glowing prep credentials in Colorado, hasn’t progressed as rapidly as Morrison had hoped.

“Charlie has had some difficulty in establishing his priorities, and that has held him back from achieving his basketball goals,” Morrison said. With so many players wanting playing time, Morrison could have a problem in keeping all of them satisfied, especially the ones who have been in the program for some time.

“The lineup could change over the season,” Morrison said. “The competition in practice is outstanding.”

Morrison said that his team is over its head in its preconference schedule that includes road trips to Syracuse, Penn and Wyoming and home games with Virginia Tech and Texas.

The Trojans open the conference season Dec. 22 against Oregon State at the Sports Arena.

Trojan Notes USC showed its lack of experience in losing to the Australian national team, 63-59, in an exhibition game Tuesday night at the Sports Arena. . . . Brad Winslow, Ivan Harris and Charlie Simpson were all involved in preseason automobile accidents, with Winslow suffering the worst injuries. “It was at the start of summer,” Morrison said. “He had a multiple skull fracture, a broken jaw and broken clavicle, but he’s fine now.” . . . The Trojans officially open the season against Baptist College Friday night at the Sports Arena, preceding a Monday night home game with Virginia Tech. . . . Derrick Dowell and Larry Friend are expected to be the team leaders this season. Dowell, a 6-6 junior, was the third leading rebounder in the Pac-10 last season. “His rebounding, defense and contributions in all areas are a key for us.” Stan Morrison said. “Tom Lewis told me that Derrick is an absolute animal. I asked him what he meant and he said, ‘He’s crunching everyone who goes to the boards in practice.’ ” . . . The 5-11 Friend set a school record for assists with 176 last season. . . . Morrison said that his personnel is flexible enough that he can put together any combination of a team: tall, medium sized, or small and fast. He said he has several versatile players, who can play more than one position. . . . Rich Grande led Glendale to an unbeaten season (28-0) last season and the CIF 4-A championship. Tom Lewis did the same for Mater Dei, a 29-0 record and the CIF 5-A title. He wound up as the No. 4 career scorer (2,456 points) and No. 3 rebounder (1,174) in CIF history.

USC FACTS & FIGURES

ROSTER

RETURNEES

NO PLAYER POS HT WT CL PPG RPG FG% FT%

42 Derrick Dowell F 6-6 210 Jr. 11.6 8.3 .514 .752 10 Aaron Dyer G 6-5 175 So. 0.0 0.0 .000 .000 11 Larry Friend G 5-11 155 Sr. 4.6 1.9 .434 .705 34 Ruben Goodsell G 6-3 185 Sr. 0.0 0.0 .000 .000 4 Ivan Harris G 6-1 185 Jr. 0.4 0.4 .111 .400 3 Rod Keller F-C 6-9 205 Jr. 1.2 1.1 .435 .500 24 Troy LaMar F 6-7 210 Sr. 0.7 0.8 .250 .833 50 Charlie Simpson C 6-10 215 Jr. 3.0 2.3 .432 .364 25 Kevin Steward G-F 6-5 1/2 185 Sr. 3.5 1.9 .431 .381 20 Carl Washington G 6-1 160 So. 0.5 0.3 .000 .400 5 Brad Winslow G-F 6-6 190 So. 0.6 0.4 .286 .333 40 Ron Young F 6-6 200 So. 1.2 1.1 .250 .833

NO HOMETOWN (Previous School)

42 Evansville, Ind. (Bosse HS) 10 Ventura (Ventura HS) 11 Los Angeles (Jordan HS) 34 Yorba Linda (El Dorado HS) 4 Pasadena (Pasadena HS) 3 Carson (St. Bernard HS) 24 Madison, Wis. (Madison West) 50 Aurora, Colo. (Aurora Central HS) 25 Los Angeles (Palisades HS) 20 Los Angeles (Palisades HS) 5 Santa Monica (Santa Monica HS) 40 Glendale (Hoover HS)

NEWCOMERS, REDSHIRTS

NO PLAYER POS HT WT CL 54 Mike Canada F 6-8 215 Fr. 33 Jeff Connelly G 6-4 175 Fr. 44 Eric Gaithers G 6-6 190 Fr. 22 Rich Grande G 6-2 170 Fr. 30 Greg Kimble G 6-4 205 Fr. 32 Tom Lewis F 6-7 200 Fr. 55 Ivan Verberckt C 6-11 220 Jr.

NO HOMETOWN (Previous School) 54 Omaha (Millard North HS) 33 Santa Cruz (Harbor HS) 44 Philadelphia (Dobbins Tech HS) 22 Glendale (Glendale HS) 30 Philadelphia (Dobbins Tech HS) 32 Garden Grove (Mater Dei) 55 Antwerpen, Belgium (CSLB)

COACH: Stan Morrison (7th season, 92-78 record)

1984-85 RESULTS

RECORD: 19-10 overall, 13-5 in Pacific 10 (tied for 1st)

Result Record

Memphis State 65, USC 41 1-1 **USC 67, Wyoming 57 2-1 **USC 99, Texas Tech 63 3-1 **USC 83, Boston U. 70 4-1 **USC 76, Arkansas Little Rock 5-1 **USC 72, Utah 65 6-1 **USC 95, The Citadel 62 7-1 **Duke 75, USC 73 7-2 USC 63, Oregon 59 8-2 **Washington 66, USC 50 8-3 **USC 69, Washington State 62 9-3 USC 64, Arizona 63 10-3 USC 73, Arizona State 54 11-3 **USC 86, California 80 12-3 **Stanford 60, USC 54 12-4 **USC 78, UCLA 77 (2 OT) 13-4 Oregon State 60, USC 58 13-5 USC 61, Washington 50 14-5 USC 64, Washington State 58 15-5 **USC 76, Arizona State 60 16-5 **Arizona 60, USC 55 16-6 Stanford 86, USC 65 16-7 USC 75, California 52 17-7 USC 80, UCLA 78 (4 OT) 18-7 Texas 71, USC 70 18-8 **USC 65, Oregon 62 19-8 **Oregon State 60, USC 58 (OT) 19-9

NCAA TOURNAMENT

**Illinois State 58, USC 55 19-10