UCI’s Big Man Tries to Measure Up : Anteaters Grow to Like All but One Engelstad Stat . . . His Weight : By MIKE PENNER, Times Staff Writer

Wayne Engelstad is an Anteater. Also, a Pizza-eater, a Pasta-eater, a Burger-eater and an Ice Cream-eater.

Or so the legend goes.

You go to a UC Irvine basketball game, wanting to see this Engelstad, a player Coach Bill Mulligan once called “the biggest recruiting coup we’ve ever had.” What you find is a big body.

The program lists him at 6-feet 8-inches and 240 pounds--although your eyes tell you he must be at least 10 pounds heavier and ought to be at least 20 pounds lighter. The number 30 is s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d across a massive back, and on the flip side rests a belly that looks as if it has seen too many sit-downs and not enough sit-ups. The belly bounces as he runs, doing hang time over his belt. Suffice to say, when the Anteaters play Shirts vs. Skins during practice, Engelstad has skin to go around.

Supporting this bulk are a pair of thick, heavy legs that do a pretty fair impression of UC Irvine’s Doktorczyk brothers. The arms are curiously lacking a hammer or tattoo of any sort. And topping all this is an outrageous 2-inch-high flattop, inspired by the bad-guy Soviet boxer in “Rocky IV.”

Engelstad imagines what must go through the mind of a new visitor to the Bren Center, catching his or her first glimpse of this Michelin Man in high tops.

“They look at me during warmups and say, ‘He probably doesn’t start,’ ” Engelstad said. “Then they announce the starting lineups and I’m in there. They think, ‘Oh, he’s their intimidator. They’ll pull him as soon as he starts a fight or scares somebody.’ ”

Engelstad forgives them for this.

“If I was sitting up there, looking down at me, I probably would think the same thing,” he said.

So, Engelstad can smile when he hears the voices go up from the crowd: “Hey, 30! Where’s your football helmet?” “Engelstad! You’ve got the body of a bowler!”

He can understand such first impressions as that of Anthony Fobbs, the University of Tulsa center who guarded Engelstad during Irvine’s third game of the season. Asked what he thought of the Anteaters, whose most distinctive feature at that time was their tiny three-guard offense, Fobbs replied: “I don’t think they’re a short team. I think they’re a fat team.”

A fat team?

“Yeah,” Fobbs said. “That No. 30, he’s got some good-sized beef on him.”

Engelstad can also laugh and join in on the humor cast his way by teammates. After a season-opening exhibition victory over the Norwegian National Team, forward Rob Doktorczyk approached Engelstad’s locker and told the center: “I hear they’re having Happy Hour at Winchell’s tonight.”

Engelstad looked up, grinned and shot back: “I know. I’m going over to pick up a 12-pack.”

Nearing the end of his junior season, Engelstad has become something akin to a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. version of Terry Forster--a tub of goo and a Good-Humor man all rolled into one fun-loving package.

“He’s a warm-hearted guy, always giggling and laughing about something,” said Scott Brooks, Engelstad’s teammate, roommate and running mate. “He takes it all in stride, but then, he would have to. All the garbage he gets from people, if he took it personally he’d be in the funny farm by now.”

To Engelstad, garbage doesn’t smell quite so bad when the numbers on the stat sheet add up right. Entering tonight’s game at Utah State, Engelstad is averaging 15.8 points a game, second only to Brooks’ 23.2. He leads the Anteaters in field-goal percentage (51%) and rebounding (8.4) and was named PCAA player of the week after scoring a career-high 26 points against Cal State Long Beach in late January.

“I surprise a lot of people,” Engelstad said with a measure of pride. “They come out of games saying, ‘I didn’t think he could play.’ It’s fun changing people’s minds.”

Fun for Engelstad maybe. But Mulligan could do without the element of surprise.

For Mulligan, fat equals frustration.

Mulligan remembers the Engelstad he successfully recruited out of Bosco Tech three years ago, for once beating out the Pac-10 for a blue-chip prospect. “He was a big-time recruit,” Mulligan said. “I mean, really big. He told USC and UCLA he didn’t even want them in his house.

“As a junior in high school, he played with four little guys and took them all the way to the semis, where they lost in double-overtime to Long Beach Poly. It was Wayne Engelstad against Long Beach Poly.”

Engelstad dominated then. Mulligan believes he can dominate now.

That 15.8 scoring average could be 22.8; 8.5 rebounds a game could be 10.5.

When Mulligan looks at Engelstad, he sees this splendid basketball talent--complete with soft shooting touch, quick first step to the basket and tough defensive instincts--trapped inside the body of the Pillsbury doughboy.

And that miffs Mulligan.

“Fat Wayne” is what he called him when Engelstad reported to fall practice last October in the range of 250 pounds. Once, Mulligan threatened to keep Engelstad at home during a trip to Nebraska if Engelstad didn’t get down to a certain weight. Engelstad made it but, as he sadly notes, had to pass up seconds and thirds during Thanksgiving to do it.

Then there are the games, in which Engelstad and Mulligan form a cause-and-effect comedy team.

Engelstad blows a play . . . and Mulligan blows his stack. Happens every time.

“He treats players in different ways, and he treats me out loud,” is how Engelstad puts it. “I seem to be the guy he verbally attacks.”

Brooks: “Mulligan gets on him, but that’s because he knows Wayne has so much potential. He knows Wayne can basically control the inside game. It hurts Mulligan to see Wayne play below the best that he can be.”

Among Mulligan’s pet peeves:

- Engelstad’s shot selection. Mulligan and Engelstad disagree about the best method of getting the basketball into the basket. Mulligan thinks Engelstad should use his bulk to his benefit, powering the ball inside. Engelstad thinks every spot on the court is a good shot.

“I like to mix it up,” Engelstad said. “I like to keep ‘em guessing. The other night (against Nevada Las Vegas), I hit a three-pointer and the crowd seemed like it almost died.”

Mulligan: “He made that shot . . . and that saved his butt. But I looked at the films of the Vegas game and just about every time Wayne went inside he scored.

“But he still likes to go outside and do dumb things. He’s always been a pretty good shooter, so we give him some leeway. But we won’t let him do any of his little fadeaways anymore. No, we’ve taken that away from him.”

- Engelstad’s foul trouble. He leads the Anteaters in fouls (73) and disqualifications (6). Last week against Las Vegas, he scored 20 points but played only 22 minutes before fouling out.

Mulligan: “If he stays out of foul trouble, he’d get a lot of points because of his roommate, Mr. Brooks, who makes things happen. But he fouls too much. And they’re not smart fouls. The first three fouls against Vegas were all stupid fouls.”

Engelstad: “I feel like I let the team down when I’m in foul trouble and not in the game. (But) a lot of times I get caught out of position. I can’t stand someone to score on me.”

So he fouls.

- Engelstad’s weight. The ongoing saga.

“I told him to report at 215 to 220 this year,” Mulligan said, “and he comes in at about 250. I didn’t how how much for sure, but knew he was too damn fat just by looking at him. So I said, OK, you go inside. Fat people play center.”

And that is Mulligan’s version of how Wayne Engelstad, Irvine’s sophomore forward, became Irvine’s junior center.

Engelstad’s version differs a bit.

“I knew all along that I was the only center on the team,” he said. “I knew all summer. That’s why I really lifted (weights) hard all summer.”

- Engelstad’s off-season habits. Mulligan contends that the only thing Engelstad lifted hard all summer was a fork.

“He’s always fine when he leaves here,” Mulligan said. “After last season, he was down to about 230. But in the summer, he goes back home to Rosemead and his girlfriend cooks him all this Mexican food and he gets fat. We can only keep after him nine months out of the year.”

Engelstad: “See, he says all this, he questions my work ethic. But I put in a lot of time in the gym. I worked out with weights three to four hours a day and, after that, went to shoot around at a high school gym.”

So how come Engelstad shows up last fall carrying at least 20 pounds’ worth of natural padding?

He swears it wasn’t from eating.

“I just eat two meals, breakfast and dinner,” he said. “I don’t like snacks, I don’t like sugary things. I stick to white meats, carbohydrates, some pizza and spaghetti, but most of the time it’s usually a turkey sandwich and macaroni salad.”

Engelstad usually breaks bread with Brooks, who stands maybe 5-11 and weighs a lean 165 pounds.

“I eat the same as Scott,” Engelstad insisted. He shook his head. “It has to be something to do with metabolism.”

And a word or two from the witness, Mr. Brooks?

“I eat at the same places as Wayne, and we order the same things, but not the same amount,” Brooks said, grinning as he piles on the evidence. “Usually, he doubles the amount.

“What does he eat? I’ve seen everything from a Skor candy bar to a peanut butter wafer to a McDLT. Saying I eat the same as him is a farce.”

Brooks and Engelstad form an interesting alliance. The economy-sized scoring star and the industrial-strength center. Mutt and Jeff.

“They call us that,” Brooks said. “I don’t mind being called Jeff.”

Engelstad jokes that he tags along with Brooks “to meet people. He’s the most popular person on campus. I’m no dummy.”

And Brooks says that he hangs out with Engelstad for protection. Wayne Engelstad, My Bodyguard.

“If anything breaks out,” Brooks said, “I want Wayne on my side.”

Therein lies a misconception about Engelstad. Sure he’s big, sure he’s imposing. But he’d make a lousy bar bouncer. Mean? How mean can a guy be when he:

- Was the only one of five sons not to play football. “I was too big to play Pop Warner,” Engelstad said. “I was in the fourth grade, and I would have had to play with eighth-graders. In seventh grade, I was 6-3, 180. Some high schools wanted me to play football, but I said, ‘Yeah and they’ll stick me in the line.’ You can have a longer career playing basketball.”

- Chose Irvine over New Mexico and Arizona so his mom could see him play. “She went to all my high school games,” Engelstad said. “I didn’t want to go too far from home. If I went away, I’d be depriving her.”

- Was egged into getting a flattop by his mother and his girlfriend. “I saw ‘Rocky IV’ and said, ‘Hey, I want to look like him,’ ” Engelstad said, referring to the Ivan Drago character. “My mom said sure, sure, and called my bluff.

“Me and my girlfriend went to the barber and I said, ‘Give me a flattop.’ Then the scissors come out and I said, ‘No, no.’ But my girlfriend says, ‘Get it cut.’ So I did. I came back and my mom couldn’t stop laughing.”

- Wouldn’t mind a career in police work, as long as he didn’t need to carry a pistol. “I don’t know if I want to go out in the street with a gun,” he said. “I’d like to work with kids, maybe a parole officer. Growing up in Rosemead, I saw so many cops abusing their privileges, mistreating kids that may have only looked like they belonged to a gang. I’d like to be a role model for kids.”

None of this surprises Brooks.

“He’s a puppy,” Brooks said. “A big puppy.”

Even Mulligan admits that “he’s a likable kid.”

And all that abuse Mulligan dumps on Engelstad? Well, it may just be the coach’s way of showing that he cares.

“I was all over Bob Thornton during his junior year,” Mulligan said. “I crucified him. Bob Thornton’s now in the NBA. Some kids think you don’t like ‘em if you don’t go after ‘em.”

Kids such as Engelstad.

“It bothers me at times,” Engelstad said. “Sometimes I want to tell him, ‘Take off.’ But I liked being pushed. I want to be chewed out when I need it.”

Engelstad said he plans to push himself this summer. The goal is to shed 15 pounds by October, playing his senior season at 225.

And what would this mean to Engelstad’s game?

“I personally believe if he loses 15 to 20 pounds he would be nearly unstoppable,” Brooks said. “He has a really quick first step right now. None of the big guys on our team can come close to stopping him in practice.

“With less weight, he would be able to jump much higher. It would give him more of a chance if he wanted to play elsewhere later on.”

It might also give him a chance to get a break from Mulligan next season.

“We let up on Thornton his senior season,” Mulligan said. “And we’ll let up on Wayne next year too.”

Mulligan paused, then grinned. He couldn’t resist a final jab.

“Unless,” he said, “Wayne starts doing dumb things.”