COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEWS : CAL LUTHERAN : 4 Returning Starters Offer Kingsmen Hope

Because Cal Lutheran has had two winning seasons in 26 years of playing basketball, picking the Kingsmen to break .500 this year would be a prediction of historic proportions.

So we won’t.

Nonetheless, CLU is beyond its years of 5-23 (1985-86) and 8-25 (1984-85) records. Larry Lopez rallied the team to a 10-18 record in his first year last season, and he has seven of his top eight players back. Included are four returning starters: Steve deLaveaga, Mike Demeter, James Faulk and Mike Fulton.

DeLaveaga is a 6-4 guard who averaged 20 points a game last year to lead the Golden State Athletic Conference in scoring. He was named All-GSAC and All-District III. Faulk, a 6-3 forward, averaged 11.7 points and led the conference in rebounding (8.6 average).

Even though Lopez said deLaveaga could get All-America recognition and Faulk is an All-District performer, it is Demeter, according to Lopez, who will be the Kingsmen’s most important player. The 6-7 sophomore center averaged 5.3 rebounds, 10.1 points and 4.1 personal fouls a game. He set CLU’s school record for most fouls in a season with 115.

“Being a freshman last year, he was thrown to the wolves,” Lopez said. “The referees got to him and he took his lumps, but he’s our key player now because he’s our strongest big man. And he is playing really well.”

At least he was playing well before recently suffering an ankle sprain and missing a week of practice. If Demeter can keep his fouls to a minimum, his scoring and rebounding averages may skyrocket.

Darren Ranck, a 6-3 forward, will be the likely replacement for Dave Jacques, who averaged 15 points as a senior last season. Ranck averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 rebounds off the bench.

Other players include junior guard Jeff Logsdon (6.1 points) and newcomers Blake Miraglia, a 6-4 transfer from Chemeketa College in Salem, Ore., and John Page (6-7) from Ventura College and Camarillo High.

“We’ve got problems on the defensive boards,” Lopez said, “but we’ve got a lot of experienced players. Most of the guys know each other and are comfortable with our offense. They have a good idea of what it takes to win against Division II and top NAIA teams.”

On the downside, the Kingsmen play their first seven games on the road, including the season opener at Puget Sound (Wash.) on Friday.

“If we have some early success,” Lopez said, “we’ll gain the confidence we need.”

The coach already revealed heretofore unheard of confidence when he said the team is “hoping to go over .500.” Until this season, hope--and very little of it--was all the Kingsmen had.