Community College Basketball Preview : Changes Are the Critical Factors

For the past two years, Orange County community college basketball was simple to follow.

There was just the South Coast Conference, and all six county teams played in it.

Well, thanks to a neat bit of realignment, Golden West and Fullerton are the only county teams remaining in the South Coast Conference.

Cypress, Orange Coast, Rancho Santiago and Saddleback have taken off for the Orange Empire Conference.

Fullerton and Golden West are joined by Mount San Antonio, Long Beach City, Cerritos, El Camino, Compton and Pasadena to form the latest version of the South Coast Conference.

“All the change did was make the conference even tougher,” said Jim Greenfield, Golden West coach.

A couple of other changes are getting plenty of attention from coaches. The 45-second clock and the three-point shot from 19-feet 9-inches have been approved.

“We don’t have a lot of three-point shooters so I don’t think it will help us that much,” Fullerton Coach Roger See said. “But we do have a few guys who are able to make it from there.”

Golden West could have used the three-point play last season.

Last year, Rustler guard Bryon Strachan was the conference’s top scorer, averaging 24 points a game mostly from the outside. But he’s now playing at Nevada Reno, and Greenfield hasn’t found anyone to replace his scoring.

“For the first time in eight seasons I don’t have someone who can really drill the ball,” he said. “But this season we want to run and shoot so it might help us anyway.”

As for the 45-second clock, neither coach thinks it will make much of an impact.

“It’s more of a nuisance than anything else,” See said.

Greenfield: “We’ve played two full scrimmages and yet to have the thing go off, so I don’t know how much of an impact it will make unless you play a team that tries to slow it down.”

Here’s a closer look at the Orange County teams in the South Coast Conference:

“I don’t know if we can replace the scoring punch of Snow, but this season we should have better balance and depth,” See said. “We will also have better experience and leadership. Last season we had no returning starters and at times we lacked leadership.”

Fullerton was 15-16 overall last season and 8-8 in the South Coast Conference. The Hornets advanced to the playoffs, upsetting Santa Monica in the first round only to be eliminated by L.A. Southwestern in the second.

An example of this season’s depth can be found in the Hornets’ season-opening victory over Biola Saturday night, in which 13 players played more than 12 minutes.

The Hornets have three sophomore front-line starters: 6-foot 7-inch Kevin Patrick, 6-6 Alan Fraser, a returning starter, and 6-6 Eric Samuelson, who was an all-CIF player at Sonora High School in 1984.

Troy Joseph, a 6-4 freshman from Western, should play some at small forward and off-guard once he gains more experience.

The backcourt also has sophomores Bart Hakeman, Bill Buda and Jim Mansfield, who started last season and averaged six points.

Beyond that, there are a lot of “I don’t knows” and “it’s too early to tells” from Greenfield, whose team was 5-22 last season.

The major mystery these days is Glen Jefferson, a 6-6 forward who averaged 27 points a game at Clark High School in Las Vegas. He has missed the last two practices, and Greenfield isn’t sure whether he will play.

Brown is set at forward and Elbert Davis at point guard. Tony Risk was expected to start at the other guard but broke his finger in practice and will miss at least the first week.

Forward Pat Beck was all-Garden Grove League three years at ago at Bolsa Grande and could start. But after a stint with the Army, his skills have not fully returned.

Conference notes Mt. SAC is the favorite to win the conference by the coaches and is ranked first in the Southern California poll. The Mounties are led by sophomore 6-9 forward James Jones, who averaged 16.7 points a game last season. Mt. SAC also returns 6-4 Cletus Jarmon, who averaged 13.1 points. The Mounties also have Lloyd Daniels, a 6-8 freshman from Brooklyn, who many coaches think is the best freshman in the conference. . . . Cerritos, which is also expected to contend, is led by 6-4 Willie Joseph, a sophomore from Lynwood High School who averaged 16.6 points. He has signed a national letter of intent to attend New Mexico State next season.

Thursday: Orange Empire Conference.