Coaches’ Poll Names Nevada Las Vegas to Win PCAA; San Jose State Second

Nevada Las Vegas, which has won the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. basketball title every season since joining the conference in 1982, has been picked by a poll of PCAA coaches to win its sixth championship.

The Rebels, who lost six seniors from a 37-2 team that advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament’s Final Four, have two starters back--Jarvis Basnight and Gerald Paddio.

Cal State Fullerton, which has its top two scorers (Richard Morton and Henry Turner) back, was picked to finish third, behind San Jose State.

UC Irvine, which has three starters but lost leading scorer Scott Brooks, tied for eighth place with Cal State Long Beach.

In a poll of women’s coaches, Cal State Long Beach, which last year advanced to the women’s Final Four in the NCAA tournament, was chosen unanimously to repeat as PCAA champion. UC Irvine was chosen fifth, Cal State Fullerton seventh.