Orange County Prep Review / Gerald Scott : Former Loara Coach Enjoying the Big Ten

Ordinarily, when somebody has been an assistant basketball coach at varied places such as Washington State, San Diego State and Iowa, as well as several high school coaching stints, you figure the guy must be pushing 40.

Not so with Brian Daly, whose resume reflects just that at the age of 29. Given his background, education, record and enthusiasm for his profession, Daly is considered as one of the game’s bright young coaches.

Daly coached at Loara High School for the 1984-85 season before accepting a graduate assistant’s job at Iowa last spring.

Being a caddy for Hawkeye Coach George Raveling in the Big Ten, however, doesn’t mean that he has forgotten his time coaching the Saxons.

Daly led Loara to a respectable 10-12 record last season (that’s very respectable, given Loara’s 0-15 mark this season), and his experience was such that he hasn’t ruled out returning to Orange County once his graduate coaching stint at Iowa ends after next season.

“The only difference now is that last year I was a head coach and now I’m an assistant, but otherwise it’s still basketball,” Daly said. “I really enjoy the basketball climate in this part of the country. There’s a tremendous amount of interest in the sport here. Seems like every game we’ve played in has been a sellout.

“During the football season, the weekend of the Iowa-Michigan game (matching the then-Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the country), we had two of our biggest recruits on campus, Anthony Pendleton of Flint, Mich., and J.R. Reid of Virginia Beach, Va.

“Well, not only was it a great football game, but we had an intrasquad (basketball) scrimmage the same day, and 15,000 people showed up for it.

“That’s 15,000 people for a scrimmage. Can you imagine that?”

A few years ago, nobody at Iowa could. For the longest time, Michigan and Ohio State had the two premier athletic programs in the Big Ten, but the Hawkeyes have since nudged their way into that class, with their football team going to the Rose Bowl, the wrestling team routinely winning NCAA championships and the basketball team regularly selling out their new 16,500-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“The campus reminds me a lot of Washington State,” Daly said. “I kid George that the only difference between here and Pullman is that we’ve got two McDonald’s here but Pullman didn’t have any.”

A Washington native, Daly had been a junior varsity player and graduate assistant at Washington State before coaching high school in the Seattle area. From there, he took an assistant’s job at San Diego State, where he also earned a master’s degree in education.

In the spring of 1984, when the U.S. Olympic team was practicing in San Diego, Daly showed up to observe his former coach, Raveling, who was chief assistant to Coach Bob Knight.

“I took a lot of notes at those practices,” Daly said.

Daly went from San Diego State to Loara, where he taught economics and world history.

“I was looking for a place to stay 20-some years when I first took it,” he said. “The school district, the salary and opportunity for professional advancement were all first rate. It’s a very progressive district.”

Daly said that he didn’t expect to leave Loara so soon, but a chance to coach with Raveling was just too good to pass up. The position also gives him an opportunity to work toward his doctorate degree in education, something that’s very important to him, but it was still basketball that was the draw.

“I love the chess game aspect of it and the relationship with the players,” Daly said. “That’s the same in coaching wherever you go.”

Last season, Daly matched wits against the likes of Katella’s Tom Danley and Kennedy’s John Mayberry. This season he helps Raveling prepare strategies against nationally respected coaches such as Indiana’s Knight and Michigan State’s Jud Heathcote.

“During games I’ll observe from the press box or on press row and report (by headphones) to an assistant on the bench,” he said. “It’s similar to being an offensive or defensive coordinator in the NFL or in college football.”

“We make most of our game adjustments at halftime based on what we saw in the first half.”

Daly said that he wouldn’t mind returning to Orange County at either the college, junior college, or high school levels, but there was just one thing.

“I’d have to find a situation where I could imprint my own style,” he said. “I’d have to fast break.”

Spoken like a true basketball coach.

Court of the Crimson Kings: Gary McKnight, Mater Dei coach, confirmed that the Monarchs will be attending the King Cotton Classic in Pine Bluff, Ark., next season, dropping out of the Tournament of Champions in the process.

McKnight cited Ocean View’s enjoyable experience at this season’s tournament, as well as the fact that the organizers will provide air fare, meals and lodging for 18 players, coaches.

“It’s sort of like a national Tournament of Champions now anyway,” McKnight said. “And we’re hoping that the Tournament of Champions will let us back in the following year.”

McKnight said Mater Dei will continue to participate in the Valencia and Orange tournaments next season.

Prep Notes Two girls who missed the rated mile race at the Sunkist Invitational Indoor Track Meet at the Los Angeles Sports Arena Jan. 17 because of the last-minute combining of two heats did get a chance to compete in a later event, the seeded mile. Nicole Ritchot of Edison was fifth in the seeded mile in 5:06.9 and Laura Chapel, formerly of Irvine and currently of University City in San Diego, finished sixth in 5:07.5. Maggie Henson of Newport Harbor won the rated mile in 5:08.9, after Ritchot, Chapel and four others missed the race when officials called for both scheduled heats to occur at once. . . . Mater Dei guard Jim Dwyer has been accepted to Columbia University where he will play basketball for the Lions. . . . The Southern Section’s budget for the 1985 football playoffs shows a deficit of $28,000. The second round of the playoffs had decreased revenues of $20,000 compared to 1984 largely because of inclement weather. The Big Five Conference title game at Anaheim Stadium featuring Edison and Long Beach Poly drew the smallest crowd for a large school championship game in two decades. Edison’s share of the gate receipts was $3,500. Santa Ana’s share in the Southern Conference game at LeBard Stadium was $2,900. . . . State Senator Willie Brown has introduced Assembly Bill 26.13 that would require a 2.0 grade-point average and no-F rule for high school students who participate in extracurricular activities. . . . The Southern Section office is awaiting approval from the city of Cerritos on plans for the addition of a $50,000 Hall of Fame room to honor former coaches, athletic directors and administrators throughout the section’s 73-year history. The room will be built at the section’s administrative office through private donations. . . . Troy’s baseball team is planning an alumni game on March 15 at 1:30 p.m. All interested players should contact Bruce King at 738-5705.