THE COLLEGES : Southern California College Basketball Preview : Vanguards Are Back to Square One : Defending Conference Co-Champions in Rebuilding Year

It’s looking like a rebuilding year for Southern California College’s basketball team. Even Bill Reynolds concedes that this is the biggest project he has faced in his six years as the Vanguards’ head coach.

“The cupboard is a little bare this year,” Reynolds said. ‘We’ve never had more than one freshman on the team since I’ve been here. This year, we have 3 among the top 10 players, and 2 of them may end up starting.”

The Vanguards, who shared the Golden State Athletic Conference championship with Point Loma Nazarene last season, were hit hard by graduation and defections.

Jon Haar, Rob Lucas and Jeff Stephens, three of the team’s top four scorers, graduated. Those losses alone would be enough to cause concern for Reynolds.

But even before practice began, the Vanguards lost:

--Randy Wynne, who got married and decided to sit out a year. Reynolds is not sure if Wynne, the Vanguards’ No. 3 scorer in 1986-87, will return next season.

--Forward Steve Moser, who is now attending Golden West College. Moser played at the University of San Diego in 1984 but changed his mind about continuing his basketball career.

--Alan Jones, a point guard from San Bernardino Valley College, transferred to Cal Poly Pomona before classes began.

The only starter remaining from a team that went 22-6 and reached the semifinals of the district playoffs last season is point guard Todd Dixon, a 6-foot 2-inch junior from Ocean View High School. The only other returning players who had any playing time are Mike Lightfoot and Chris Ofelt.

The rest of the team is a mixture of transfers and freshmen.

“You can call this a year of transition and experimentation,” Reynolds said. “It’s going to be a real indoctrination for these guys when we play some real ballgames.”

Reynolds hopes Dixon will be the base on which to build. Dixon was a walk-on as a freshman but earned a starting spot last season. He averaged 6.5 points and 5.2 assists per game.

“Todd never really played much at Ocean View, but he’s hung in there and become a pretty good player,” Reynolds said. “We’re hoping he’ll have a stabilizing effect on the team this year.”

Besides their inexperience, the Vanguards are also small. There are just two players 6-5 or taller on the roster, and both are new to the program.

Bryan Krenzin (6-5) transferred from San Jose City College, and Jeff Bickmore (6-7) is a freshman from Southern California Christian High School. They will alternate at center.

Lightfoot and Phil Hill, a 6-1 junior, will start at forward. Lightfoot averaged 3.9 rebounds per game. Hill was a guard for two years at the University of Redlands.

Reynolds feels that none are ready to step in and replace Lucas, who averaged double figures in scoring and rebounding last year.

“At the moment, our rebounding is almost nonexistent,” Reynolds said. “We don’t have anyone that can do damage down inside.

“We’ve had small teams before, but they were tough physically. We’re small this year and we don’t seem to have the bodies to bang inside.”

Freshman Jeff de Laveaga will get the first chance at replacing Haar. He was selected All-Northern California last season at California High School in San Ramon.

“I think de Laveaga is as good a shooter as we’ve ever had here,” Reynolds said, “but he is still just a freshman.”

Transfers John Mounce, John Mansfield and Kevin Alexander are expected to help with their experience. However, Mounce, who played at Mater Dei High School and Azusa Pacific, won’t be eligible until January.

“We should have plenty of depth,” Reynolds said. “That’s good if that comes from balance. Hopefully, it won’t be because of mediocrity.”

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE

N 20 Pomona-Pitzer 7:30 N 21 La Verne 7:30 N 24 at CS San Bernardino 7:30 D 3-4 *Pearl Harbor Classic TBA D 8 Christian Heritage 7:30 D 12 at Redlands 8:00 D 18 at Loyola-Marymount 7:30 D 19 Claremont-Scripps 7:30 D 29-30 *Southern Utah State TBA J 5 Wassack 7:30 J 9 at Christian Heritage 3:00 J 16 **at Cal Baptist 7:30 J 16 Cal Lutheran 7:30 J 19 **at Westmont 7:30 J 23 **Christ College 7:30 J 26 **at Azusa Pacific 7:30 J 28 at Biola 7:30 J 30 **Fresno Pacific 7:30 F 2 **Pt. Loma Nazarene 7:30 F 4 at Pacific Christian 7:30 F 6 **at Cal Lutheran 7:30 F 9 **Cal Baptist 7:30 F 11 The Masters College 7:30 F 13 **at Christ College 7:30 F 16 **Westmont 7:30 F 20 **Azusa Pacific 7:30 F 23 **at Fresno Pacific 7:30 F 27 **at Pt. Loma 7:30

*Tournaments

**Golden State Athletic Conference