McQuarn Says He’ll Stay; Titans Beat UCSB, 66-62

In the days following a 52-39 humiliation at the hands of UC Santa Barbara Jan. 23, Cal State Fullerton Coach George McQuarn decided the frustrations of his profession were too much and he announced his retirement from coaching, effective at season’s end.

Saturday night, after the Titans had won the rematch against the Gauchos, 66-62, in front of 1,685 in Titan Gym and put themselves in a good position to qualify for the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. tournament, McQuarn announced he had changed his mind and will stay.

“I’m going to stay,” McQuarn said. “That doesn’t mean that the things I said about the frustrations weren’t exactly the way I was feeling then, and those problems still exist. The difference is that my attitude about them has changed.”

McQuarn, who said at the time that professional frustrations were causing problems in his personal life, said Saturday he was convinced to reconsider when scores of his colleagues and co-workers told him they thought he was making a mistake. In fact, he said the Fullerton “support personnel” (he listed equipment manager Cliff Hatter, trainer Jerry Lloyd and sports information director Mel Franks) were pivotal in changing his mind.

“I don’t want to put them in any kind of order, but I got an amazing amount of input--from my peers, the community, the academic community and from President (Dr. Jewel Plummer) Cobb and Ed (Carroll, the athletic director).

“(UC Irvine Coach Bill) Mulligan was the first to call me,” McQuarn said. “And I heard from (Nevada Las Vegas Coach) Jerry Tarkanian, (USC Coach) Stan Morrison, (Golden State Warrior consultant) Pete Newell, (Pepperdine Coach) Jim Harrick, (Fresno State Coach) Boyd Grant . . . to name a few. Every single Divison I coach I talked to told me I was making a mistake, reacting to the frustrations of the moment.

“Hey, I’m human. I’m an emotional kind of guy. And when I decided to stay, I’m going to come back more dedicated, ready to work harder and with more intensity than ever before.”

Carroll just reiterated what he’s been saying since McQuarn made his original announcement to quit.

“President Cobb and I are both elated,” he said. “I think this is the best decision for George and for the university. I’ve said all along I believe his best coaching days are ahead of him, and I’m glad he’ll be spending them here at Fullerton.”

The Titans (7-9 in the PCAA and 14-14 overall) are now tied with Utah State for sixth place in conference. Santa Barbara (6-9, 11-13) is tied with University of the Pacific for eighth.

Fullerton didn’t begin the game with any sort of obvious inspiration. But the Titans were certainly more into their game than the Gauchos, who committed 13 first-half turnovers.

“It seems like, as I watch the second round of play in conference, the team that doesn’t play as badly is the one that wins,” McQuarn said. “But we played hard in the second half, got the ball inside pretty well, had some nice spurts and our defense saved us again.”

For the fourth straight game, 6-foot 6 1/2-inch center Herman Webster was the Titans’ leading scorer with 19 points.

Even more encouraging for Fullerton was the play of Kevin Henderson, who hit 4 of 5 three-point shots and a couple of key free throws down the stretch. Henderson, who is still hobbled by the broken foot he suffered Dec. 22, made a 22-foot three-pointer with five seconds left on the 45-second clock and 1:10 left to play, giving Fullerton a 62-54 lead. He finished with 17 points.

Santa Barbara cut the margin to three, 63-60, with 26 seconds left when Conner Henry (who led the Gauchos with 22) followed his own missed three-point attempt with a short jumper.

But Henderson made both ends of a one-and-one situation and Webster made one of two free throws to seal the win.

“That was a very, very critical win for us,” McQuarn said. “I was hoping to get a win tonight so I could announce this thing and get it over with. I love what I’m doing. I love this university, and I love the people here.”

The players seemed pretty happy, too. “It’s great news,” sophomore guard Eugene Jackson said, “especially for the players who are coming back. Instead of wondering all year about what it’s going to be like, now we know the system. We know what’s expected.”