COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEWS : A Little Aging Helps, but Stem Still Finds Team Way Too Young

In his first season at Master’s College, Coach Randy Stem fought and fretted his way to a 6-23 record. The Mustangs tried to hunker down and play a gritty man-to-man defense but too often, in Stem’s mind at least, they had the ball slammed down their throats.

This season the coach has brought in a load of young players to supplement a group of young returning players. The result remains uncertain, but Stem says by mid-season this team will be better than last year’s.

“Defensively, we’re better,” he said. “We’re just not big or quick. We’ll make mistakes early. What’s hurting us is our guards are inexperienced. We don’t have an inside game because we don’t have any big guys.”

Exactly what that leaves the Mustangs with is a mystery.

After its first two games, Master’s is 0-2. Forward Pete Coeler led the Mustangs with 35 points in a season-opening loss to Grand Canyon College, 101-86. He made 11 of 22 shots, including seven three-pointers. He also had 10 rebounds. “He’s going to carry us,” Stem said. “On offense, he’s the key.”

Coeler, a 6-4 senior from Van Nuys, will team with forward Phil Hahn in the corners. Actually, Stem said all of his starters except Scott Goff, a 5-11 guard, are forwards.

Goff, a freshman who averaged 16 points a game at Manzano High in Tijeras, N.M., will direct the offense. Jeff Boehm, last year’s starting point guard, might miss the season with a torn hamstring.

Hahn averaged 9.5 points for the Mustangs last year. He is the team’s tallest starter at 6-5. “Phil has worked hard on his defense and has shown a lot of improvement,” Stem said.

Master’s has three centers on the roster, but Stem said none will contribute in the near future. Steve Gertsen, a 6-9 freshman from Napa, and Matt Cook, a 6-7 transfer from Victor Valley College, won’t be able to play anytime soon. Gertsen is out for three weeks with a dislocated ankle and will, and Cook is ineligible until January.

Steve Hammond, a 6-6 freshman, could develop into a strong center. “But, it’ll take him a while,” Stem said, “because he played against weak competition at a real small school in Texas.”

Sophomore Dave Knechtel, despite giving up a lot in size at 6-3, still offers the Mustangs some help in the middle, Stem said. “He’s not much of an offensive threat. He’s a blue-collar player. I just need him to rebound and play defense.”

The player who is drawing attention is Rocky Shipes, a 6-4, 210-pound forward from Fresno. After averaging 22 points a game his senior season at Clovis West High, Shipes walked away from basketball for three years. He had 20 points in the season-opener. “He’s our best athlete,” the coach said. “He’s got good quickness, he can jump and he’ll get better and better.”

Whether the Mustangs will improve their 6-23 record is anybody’s guess. Stem’s reasoning seems logical. “We have no place to go but up,” he said.