COLLEGE NOTEBOOK : Picking All-Valley JC Team Is an Honor--and a First

The junior college basketball season is over--a little too soon for most teams--but accolades keep trickling in.

Each conference has its own all-conference team, most valuable player and coach of the year. But rarely are players and coaches at the junior college level recognized by anyone outside their conference.

With that in mind, here is an unofficial all-Valley junior college basketball team. The team was chosen by Times staff writer Derek Raser, who covered the 1985-86 junior college basketball season.

First Team:

--Vincent Ray, 6-3 forward, College of the Canyons; James Mixon, 6-0 guard, Canyons; Anthony Hines, 6-7 center, Canyons; Dave Inemer, 6-6 center, Moorpark; Mario Lopez, 6-7 center, Valley; Danny Camp, 6-4 guard, Moorpark; Danny Berryman, 6-3 guard, Moorpark; Derek Hughes, 5-11 guard, Canyons; Steve Abraham, 5-10 guard, Moorpark; Erik Harden, 6-0 guard, Valley.

Honorable Mention:

--Ron Stapp, 6-5 forward, Canyons; Cedric Purry, 6-6 forward, Pierce; Tony Thomas, 6-5 guard, Pierce; Kevin Honaker, 5-11 guard, Canyons; Darrin Channels, 6-5 forward, Moorpark.

Player of the Year:

It was a difficult choice. Ray, Mixon, Berryman and Camp--all of whom averaged about 20 points a game--were in the running. So were Hines, Lopez and Abraham, three of the finest defensive players in the area.

But the player of the year is Derek Hughes.

Why choose a 5-11 guard who didn’t score many points or grab many rebounds? Because Hughes directed the high-speed Cougar offense and led his team in assists. He twice passed for 16 assists in a game, a school record, and led the conference in steals.

His scoring statistics weren’t impressive, so his selection is arguable. One thing is certain, however. Without Hughes, Canyons (20-10) would not have made it to the second round of the state tournament.

Coach of the Year:

Picking a coach was easier. Canyons’ Lee Smelser was an obvious choice. Smelser led his team to the state tournament for the second straight year. Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist (16-12) was in the running until Canyons beat Moorpark in the first round of the state tournament.

Rookie of the Year:

There was a three-way tie with Canyons’ Honaker and Hines, and Valley Coach Virgil Watson.

Honaker was the first man off the Canyons’ bench, but he often scored in double figures.

Hines, a 17-year-old freshman center, was a first-team all-conference selection.

Watson led the Monarchs to a 10-19 record in his first year as coach. That leaves room for improvement, but the fact that he was a rookie coach in one of the toughest conferences in Southern California made him a unanimous selection.

Referee of the Year:

This award goes to Mike Scyphers, who doubles as Simi Valley High’s baseball coach. Scyphers, truly an unintimidated soul, survived a nightmare--officiating while the Canyons baseball team heckled him unmercifully.

The news that Tom Brandt and Pierre Rodnunsky, reserve infielders on the Cal State Northridge baseball team, were ineligible because they participated in the Pierce College alumni game came as little surprise to the players.

According to Brandt, they knew playing in the outside competition was against NCAA rules.

“You figure there are only a few spectators, and it would take some real guts for someone to turn us in for it,” Brandt said Wednesday.

As it turned out, the players all but turned themselves in.

“I was telling a teammate about the game, and one of the coaches overheard me,” Brandt said. “That’s how they found out.”

The players forfeit this year’s eligibility. For Brandt, a junior, it could mean the end of his career at Northridge.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” he said. “The second baseman we have out there now (Jimmy Mitchell) is younger than I am, and a lot of coaches don’t want to use a senior for just one season when they can work a younger player in. I’ll have to see what happens.”

Brandt appeared in four games, batting .429. Rodnunsky played in five games and was batting .545.

According to George Naum, Cal State Northridge assistant coach, the Matadors’ spring football drills are breeding plenty of optimism. Naum, who coaches outside linebackers, said CSUN’s defense has improved under Coach Bob Burt.

“We’re a quicker defense,” he said. “Burt’s got a great concept. It’s a pursuit type of defense. We want to take away the pass and make it look like it’s an easy defense to beat. But we’ll move people around. It’s a lot harder to stop a moving target.

“We know we can’t match up with some of the teams in our conference, size-wise. So we’ll try to outsmart and out-quick them.”

Naum said two newcomers have caught his attention--junior college transfers Mark Dozier and Bob Peil, both linebackers. “They are good players,” he said. “They are strong people--very good stickers.

“We’re optimistic. The team is coming together and the kids are really psyched up. They’re showing us that they can hit. And that’s what we want--we want 11 people on the ball.”

Randy Stem, The Master’s basketball coach, says he is having some difficulty signing recruits.

“It’s not going too good right now,” he said. “I’ve only got one guy who has given me a verbal commitment so far. I’m going to call a lot of guys tonight to find out if they’re coming. I’ve got a 6-9 guy I’m waiting to hear from and a 6-10 guy who just can’t figure out what he wants to do.”

Stem said 6-4 forward Rocky Shipes of Fresno has agreed to attend The Master’s. “He’s a big, strong kid--he weighs about 195 pounds. He’s a good leaper and a hard-nosed player. He’ll help us out because he’s aggressive on the boards. He was going to go to Fresno, but I went up there and got to talking to him and he’s decided to come here. He’s been out of high school for a couple of years, so he’s a mature player.”

Stem, who would go nearly anywhere to find a player, added: “We’re also talking to an all-state point guard in Alaska.”

Times staff writer Derek Raser contributed to this story.