COLLEGE BASKETBALL ‘86-87 : PCAA Men’s Preview : After Las Vegas, It’s a Good Bet That the Race Is for Second Place

Some college basketball coaches will tell you they’re one power forward or point guard away from the promised land known as postseason play. Jerry Tarkanian will tell you he may have too many of both.

Tarkanian, starting his 14th season at Nevada Las Vegas, claims that it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, particularly when the good thing is basketball talent. The nation’s winningest active major college coach has a theory about what makes for good player personnel. Sometimes, so the theory goes, less is more.

“Give me eight real good players, and four solid citizens,” he said. “That would be the ideal make-up for a team. I’d be really happy with that.”

But Tarkanian is stuck with two All-American candidates, the guard who orchestrated an offense that helped the Rebels to a 33-5 record last season, and six or seven others who most major college coaches would welcome with open arms.

And therein lies the problem, Tarkanian says. There is only one ball, and only five guys can play at a time. What’s a coach to do?

“Having depth isn’t always the key to being a good team,” Tarkanian said. “Sometimes it works against you. All you have to be is eight deep. We’re 10 or 11 deep. That’s going to be a problem for us as far as playing time is concerned. I’ve gotta play some of these guys.”

There are several coaches in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. who would give their shoe contracts for Tarkanian’s problem. But none of them can relate to it, leaving PCAA followers with UNLV and a nine-team race for second place.

So what else is new? The Rebels have won the title every season since joining the conference in 1982-83. They are 72-7 against PCAA opponents in that span, including an 11-1 record in the conference’s postseason tournament. And this season’s team is ranked among the top five in the country in practically every preseason publication.

What is new is the coaching situation at Fresno State, where Boyd Grant resigned after a frustrating and stressful 15-15 season. Last March, Ron Adams, Grant’s assistant and the man credited with designing Fresno State’s defense, was named to succeed him.

In Selland Arena, which became known as Grant’s Tomb, that won’t be easy. “It hasn’t been tough to this point, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be,” Adams said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a more popular sporting figure in the San Joaquin Valley than Boyd Grant.”

The rest of the cast of coaching characters remains unchanged, although there was a time last season when Cal State Fullerton Coach George McQuarn thought he was ready to find another line of work. In January, McQuarn announced that he would be resigning at the end of the season because professional pressures were creating problems in his personal life. In February, he said he had reconsidered.

A capsule look at the PCAA, in order of the finish predicted by conference coaches:

NEVADA LAS VEGAS ‘85-86 records: 16-2 in PCAA, 33-5 overall.

PCAA finish: First.

Top returnees: Freddie Banks, 6-2 1/2, Sr., G; Armon Gilliam, 6-9, Sr., F; Mark Wade, 6-0, Sr., G.

Most preseason polls have ranked the Rebels between No. 3 and No. 6 in the nation, but Inside Sports Magazine has made them No. 1.

“I think they meant No. 1 in Nevada,” Tarkanian said. “I don’t understand our high ranking, I really don’t.”

By way of explanation: Banks and Gilliam combined for an average of more than 33 points a game last season. Gilliam was the team’s leading rebounder. Point guard Mark Wade had 283 assists and only 68 turnovers. All three are back, and will be joined in the starting lineup by Gerald Paddio, a 6-foot 7-inch forward and junior college All-American from Seminole Junior College in Oklahoma.

Tarkanian said much will depend on the development of forward Jarvis Basnight and center Richard Robinson, both role players last season.

CAL STATE FULLERTON

‘85-86 records: 8-10, 16-16

PCAA finish: Tied for fifth.

Top returnees: Richard Morton, 6-4, Jr., G; Henry Turner, 6-7, Jr. F; Herman Webster, 6-7, Sr., C.

One of the reasons McQuarn is happy with his decision to remain at Fullerton is the locker room full of talented players he has come back to. The injuries that plagued the Titans throughout last season forced Morton, Turner and Webster to expand their roles, and that should make all three better players this season.

McQuarn has compared Morton’s offensive skills to those of Leon Wood, a former Titan now with the New Jersey Nets.

Add to that nucleus a committee of skilled point guards and junior college transfer Derek Jones and it’s easy to see why McQuarn is smiling. Jones played two years at Long Beach City College and was set to transfer to Arizona until he learned he didn’t meet the entrance requirements. He spent last year in academic rehabilitation at LBCC, and McQuarn grabbed him on the rebound.

“I’m very patient with Derek,” McQuarn said. “I think he’s one of the better recruits that we’ve had since I’ve been at Cal State Fullerton.”

SAN JOSE STATE ‘85-86 records: 9-9, 16-12 overall.

PCAA finish: Tied for fourth.

Top returnees: Ricky Berry, 6-8 1/2, Jr. G; Reggie Owens, 6-7, Jr., F; Gerald Thomas, 6-9, Jr., F-C.

Ricky Berry, the Spartans’ leading scorer last season, suffered a knee injury in a pick-up game in September and will be sidelined until late December. Berry is San Jose’s best player, and much of the Spartans’ success will depend on how quickly and how well he can recover from the torn cartilage.

Reggie Owens, a hulking power forward who was the PCAA’s leading rebounder as a sophomore last season, returns to give San Jose strength inside. Coach Bill Berry, Ricky’s father, is hoping for better production from the center position, which will be shared by junior Gerald Thomas and sophomore Dietrich Waters.

Rodney Scott, a starting guard at UC Irvine two years ago, has resurfaced as a starter for the Spartans. Scott sat out last season and attended Compton College after encountering academic problems at Irvine.

NEW MEXICO STATE ‘85-86 records: 10-8, 18-12.

PCAA finish: Third.

Top returnees: Pierre Smith, 6-6, Sr., F; Kenny Travis, 6-2, Sr. G; Jeff Williams, 6-3, Jr., G.

Coach Neil McCarthy may have created a monster in Las Cruces, N.M. The Aggies completed one of the biggest turnarounds in Division I basketball last season, McCarthy’s first at the school. They went from 7-20 in 1984-85 to 18-12 and an appearence in the PCAA tournament championship game. Now, there are expectations to live up to. Travis, a flashy guard who averaged 15.5 points a game last season, suffered a broken wrist in an off-season pick-up game but will be ready for the Aggies’ season opener.

McCarthy has five sophomores and three freshmen on his 14-man roster, and will have two sophomores in his starting lineup.

FRESNO STATE ‘85-86 records: 8-10, 15-15.

PCAA finish: Tied for fifth.

Top returnees: Derrick Barden, 6-6, Soph., F; Jervis Cole, 6-6, Soph. F; Mike Mitchell, 6-6, Soph., G-F.

The Bulldogs may have a new master, but don’t expect to see many changes in their behavior. Defense, which Adams considers the foundation of the program, will still be stressed. Offense will still emphasize patience and shot selection, although Adams said it may include “a bit more movement and perhaps a bit more unpredictability.”

Last season, Mitchell became the first freshman to start an opening game for Grant, then went on to be named the PCAA’s freshman of the year. He’s back with the added confidence he acquired in leading the West team to the gold medal in the U.S. Olympic Festival last summer. One of Adams’ first recruits as a head coach is Rene Ebeltjes , a 6-11 center from Enschede, Holland, where he averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds as the starting center for the Dutch National team.

CAL STATE LONG BEACH ‘85-86 records: 3-15, 7-22.

PCAA finish: Tenth.

Top returnees: DeAnthony Langston, 6-10, Jr. C; Billy Walker, 6-0, Jr. G; Morlon Wiley, 6-5, Jr. G.

Ron Palmer is starting the third season of his rebuilding project at Long Beach but has found the right tools hard to come by.

“Two years ago, we needed rebounding, so with that thought in mind, we went out and got rebounders,” he said. “Last year, our perimeter game was totally non-existent, so I went out and got some shooters for this season. Unfortunately, two years ago the rebounders couldn’t shoot. Hopefully this year, the shooters can rebound.”

If Langston can show improvement as a rebounder, the 49ers could be much improved. Palmer expects some of the shooting problems to be solved by John Hoffman, a 6-6 transfer from Glendale College. “He can fill it up from 22 feet,” Palmer said.

PACIFIC ‘85-86 records: 9-9, 17-14.

PCAA finish: Tied for fourth.

Top returnees: Brent Counts, 6-9, Sr., C; Karlwin Matthews, 6-5, Sr. F; James Ray Richardson, 6-5, Jr. G.

Much of the Tigers’ fortunes might have crumbled on a slick road in Stockton last February, when Domingo Rosario suffered a broken leg in a car accident, ending a bright season for the 6-foot 5-inch guard from the Dominican Republic.

Rosario, who scored 116 points and shot 58% from the floor in the five games before his injury, spent most of the off-season healing and rehabilitating, and last Thursday after the Tigers’ intra-squad scrimmage, Coach Tom O’Neill announced that Rosario will be redshirted this season. Rosario’s absence will place an added burden on Counts, son of former Laker center Mel Counts, to become a consistent scorer. O’Neill’s job appeared to be in jeopardy at midseason last year, but the Tigers tore up the pink slip by winning six of their last eight games.

UC IRVINE ‘85-86 records: 12-6, 17-13.

PCAA finish: Second.

Top returnees: Scott Brooks, 5-11, Sr. G; Joe Buchanan, 6-1, Sr., G; Wayne Engelstad, 6-8, Jr., F-C.

The players who led Irvine to a 17-13 finish last season and a victory over UCLA in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament are gone. Without them, Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan is left with guards he likes, but no proven front-line players, a direct contrast to the usual order of things at Irvine.

“We’ve gone from slow, big guys to slow, small guys,” Mulligan said.

After years of having at least one post player to build his offense around, Mulligan now has a 5-11 guard as his top returning scorer. Brooks figures to launch plenty of three-point attempts this season, and point guard Buchanan will be responsible for orchestrating the Anteaters’ fast break.

But if Irvine is to be more than a bottom-of-the-pack team in the PCAA, Engelstad must become the type of player many thought he would when he left Rosemead’s Bosco Tech High School as one of Mulligan’s biggest recruiting coups.

UC SANTA BARBARA ‘85-86 records: 7-11, 12-15.

PCAA finish: Ninth.

Top returnees: Carlton Davenport, 6-0, Soph., G; Khris Fortson, 6-6, Sr., F.

Coach Jerry Pimm will need some big contributions from some relatively new players if the Gauchos are to return to the PCAA tournament after missing the cut last season.

Brian Shaw redshirted last year after transferring from St. Mary’s, where he averaged 9.4 points per game as a sophomore. Brian Vaughns, a redshirt transfer from Montana Tech, will start at one forward, and freshman Carrick DeHart will start in the backcourt.

Fortson, who started 22 games for Santa Barbara last season, is the closest thing Pimm has to a veteran.

UTAH STATE ‘85-86 records: 8-10, 12-16.

PCAA finish: Tied for fifth.

Top returnees: Jeff Anderson, 6-3, Jr., G; Nathan (Scooter) Grant, 6-6, Sr., F; Kevin Nixon, 6-1, Jr., G.

The Aggies were third in conference scoring last season--and last in defense. “We still believe that the way you beat teams is to outscore them,” Coach Rod Tueller said.

To that end, Tueller has some experienced guards returning, including sophomore Reid Newey, who appeared in 26 games in 1983-84 before leaving on a Mormon mission. Newey will start at off-guard. Grant and Nixon will share time at the other guard spot.

But, as usual, the Aggies have more guards of the “small but quick” variety than physical front line players.