Just What USIU Needs: More Offense : Nation’s Top-Scoring Team Can’t Wait to Try Three-Point Shot
A smile undoubtedly creased the face of Gary Zarecky, United States International University men’s basketball coach, when the NCAA decided to add the three-point shot this season.
Last season, USIU used its running game to lead the nation in scoring with 90.8 points per game. But, the Gulls aren’t about to ignore the three-pointer.
“Last year we went after the scoring to hype the program,” said Zarecky. “This year we’re going to hit the three-point play.”
Zarecky has learned that a program has to do something unique to be noticed. Usually, that means winning, but Zarecky took over a program that had won just seven games in the three previous seasons. He decided to shoot for something else.
“I didn’t think we would win the basketball scoring title, but we did,” Zarecky said. “Basketball purists may look at it as a fluke, but we still did it. End of discussion.”
There is, of course, a down side for USIU to leading the nation in offense. It’s called defense, as in a lack of. USIU gave up an average of 98.1 points per game last season. But the Gulls (8-20) still had the most victories since the 1980-81 season when they were 9-18.
Senior Joe Yezbak returns after finishing third in the nation in scoring with 27.2 points per game. Yezbak, a guard, gets most of his points from outside. Another a long-range threat in the backcourt will be Mark Moses, a 6-3 point guard who transferred from Rancho Santiago Community College after averaging 20.8 points per game. In a recent scrimmage between the USIU A and B teams, the A team made 25 three-pointers, which was 60% of its three-point attempts.
Zarecky has added 11 recruits to his team’s three returning players--Yezbak; Charles Ray, a 6-2 junior forward from Point Loma High School; and Cliff Chambers, a 6-2 senior forward.
When Zarecky took over the USIU program he said he would make an effort to sign local players. This season, he signed Steve Smith, a 6-3 first-team Times All-San Diego County player from Serra High School. Zarecky said Smith will be converting to point guard.
Zarecky also has brought in three players from last year’s Cerritos team that was ranked No. 1 among community colleges in the state and the nation at the beginning of the season. Cerritos advanced to the state tournament, in which it was upset early by L.A. Harbor.
The Cerritos contingent includes Russ Heicke, a 6-4 all-state community college forward, 6-6 Kelly Andrew and 6-6 Josh Beall. The only freshman recruit, other than Smith, is London McWhorter, a 6-8 center from Houston.
Zarecky hopes his first full crop of recruits will make a difference. So far, the differences have been minor. Last season, USIU lost by an average margin of nine points, which was an improvement from a margin of 35 two seasons ago.