Struggling Huskies Are Home to UCLA

When Coach Andy Russo moved from Louisiana Tech to the University of Washington to replace the retiring Marv Harshman last spring, it seemed that Russo was inheriting a pretty good basketball team.

The one missing starter had been a key one, Detlef Schrempf, who went to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the National Basketball Assn. draft. But the four returning starters were all good players.

Seven-foot junior Chris Welp returned at center, 6-9 senior Paul Fortier returned at forward, 6-3 junior Clay Damon returned at guard and 6-4 senior Shag Williams returned at guard.

Williams has since been moved to forward, and 6-1 junior Greg Hill, who transferred from El Camino College in Torrance, has taken the other starting guard spot.

All in all, not a bad lineup. Washington was showing up at the top of all the preseason polls.

But the Washington team that UCLA will play here tonight has a surprising overall record of 7-7 and a Pacific 10 mark of 1-1.

At his weekly meeting with the media, Russo claimed to be in a positive frame of mind, saying, “It’s very good to be home.”

Washington played just 3 of its first 14 games at home, and that may explain a lot. Russo mentioned little things, like never having two or three consecutive practices to work out problems and having a lot of foul trouble.

Russo also said he’s asking his team to keep the record in perspective. “We’re still 1-1 in the league, and we’re in good shape,” he said.

Washington will play host to UCLA tonight and USC Saturday afternoon before taking to the road again to play the Oregon teams.

UCLA, also 1-1 in conference play, will play Washington State Saturday afternoon.

UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard is not heartened by Washington’s record or by Washington’s loss at Cal. Hazzard pointed out that Cal, under new coach Lou Campanelli, has turned into quite a contender.

“We’re going into the Northwest to play two hungry teams. They are on the skids right now, but we expect them to play their best games of the season against us,” Hazzard said.

Bruin Notes UCLA’s game at 8 tonight will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on KMPC (710). . . . Washington Coach Andy Russo coached at Louisiana Tech the last two seasons, compiling a record of 55-10. Last season, Tech’s 29-3 record was the best in the school’s history. . . . In Marv Harshman’s final season as Washington’s coach, the Huskies tied USC for their second straight Pacific 10 title. They lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Kentucky and finished 22-10. . . . This season, Washington won six of its first eight games, then lost five of its last six. The Huskies had a five-game losing streak before winning at Stanford. . . . Washington center Chris Welp is leading the team with an average of 18.3 points a game. Forward Paul Fortier is averaging 16.5 points.