College Notebook : Marymount PV Coach Learns Hard Lesson but Fashions a Profit From It

As coach of a new program last year, Jim Masterson thought he knew an easy win when he saw one. So when the basketball team from the Manhattan, N.Y., Fashion Institute of Technology came to town and called to see if a game could be set up with Masterson’s new Marymount Palos Verdes squad, he immediately agreed.

“I figured, ‘This is great.’ The Fashion Institute--they’d look great on the court but they wouldn’t be a great team,” Masterson recalled with a laugh. “The next week my assistant sees the national rankings in the sports section and they’re No. 15.”

So the New York team fashioned a 15-point victory, but it may end up helping Masterson.

Thanks to an invitation and help from the Fashion Institute coach in setting up other games, Marymount will travel to New York over the Christmas holidays to play four games against two-year schools, including FIT.

“We did a little fund raising, and the schedule (trip) helped us do a little recruiting,” Masterson said. “My only regret is we’re going in the wrong direction at Christmas. We should be heading to Hawaii.”

For Masterson and several Marymount players, the trip will add to their frequent flier totals. Masterson took a team to China last summer, about half of them his own players. The same organization that set up the China tour has invited Masterson to bring a team to Australia next summer.

Meanwhile, Masterson’s Marymount team will have its work cut out this season. It will face strong El Camino College locally as well as the Fashion Institute and New York Tech, both rated in the top 20 nationally (California teams aren’t included in national ratings). “To be the best, you’ve got to play the best,” Masterson said.

And dress the best. The Fashion Institute, which concentrates on a curriculum of architecture as well as fashion design, has a perennially strong team that went to the community college final four two years ago and returns four of five starters. (Idle thought--if the team goes undefeated, does that make it a perfect FIT?)

The Fashion Institute is in midtown Manhattan, but Marymount will be staying off-Broadway. Through some connections, the team has secured lodging at a Salvation Army retreat house in New Jersey. Masterson said the trip will be “a good basketball swing.”

And one more thing about the Fashion Institute: “They look real nice on the court,” Masterson said.

“Just joking.”

Even Masterson might have trouble keeping up with Loyola Marymount basketball Coach Paul Westhead, who completed a whirlwind trip to New York City in less than 24 hours.

Westhead went to New York on Wednesday for a press conference to hype next week’s season-opening Lapchick Tournament at St. John’s. The Lions coach didn’t want to miss practice Tuesday, so he booked a red-eye flight to New York. The plane had an engine problem, so passengers had to transfer to another jet and takeoff was delayed several hours. Westhead didn’t land in New York until 8 a.m.

Figuring there wasn’t enough time to nap before the luncheon meeting with the press, Westhead did what any right-thinking fitness buff would do--he got in a morning run. Then he met the press, caught a 4 p.m. flight and was back in Los Angeles around dinner time.

Hardly a flight of fancy.

Loyola Marymount scored its first-ever early basketball signing over the weekend when Westhead landed 6-7 forward John O’Connell out of Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote, Pa., near Philadelphia. O’Connell, an all-Catholic League selection as a junior, averaged 18.6 points and 9.4 rebounds and shot 57% from the floor and 84% from the foul line.

O’Connell’s high school coach, Joe Sette, said O’Connell may still be growing--he has grown six inches since his freshman year--and that he’s a good student.

O’Connell will join a growing cast of Philadelphia transplants playing for Westhead, a Philadelphia native. Lions starters Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble are from Dobbins Tech in Philly.

O’Connell, incidentally, doesn’t have to worry about filling big shoes. The high school senior is already a size 17.

Cal State Dominguez Hills sophomore Joe Flanagan was rewarded for his productive soccer season with a spot on the All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. 12-man first team. Flanagan, a forward out of South Torrance High, scored 30 points on 13 goals and 4 assists to rank fourth in the CCAA. His games included a school-record four-goal effort against Metro State of Colorado.

Freshman Ryan Oshima, a midfielder out of North Torrance who was the Toros’ top playmaker, earned second-team honors. He had 4 goals and 2 assists to rank second on the team in scoring while also doing much of the ball-handling.

Joey Kirk of league champion Cal State Northridge was named most valuable player. The Toros tied for third place and will return 13 lettermen next year.

College Notes:

Former Westchester High basketball player Ken Horton scored 25 points and added 4 assists for Cal State Los Angeles in an exhibition against an Australian team. Horton is a sophomore guard . . . Two South Bay players may make their mark as guards at the University of Santa Clara this season. David Aaron, the backup point guard out of West Torrance, figures to start the season while incumbent Chris Lane recovers from minor surgery. Freshman Mike Woods from San Pedro has been nursing a sore back. Coaches are high on him but may redshirt him if he is not healthy to start the season . . . Cal Poly San Luis Obispo volleyball player Claudia Hemmersbach leads the team in assists (11 per game)as well as digs. The senior out of Redondo Beach is an All-American candidate at setter . . . Two South Bay high school basketball products are featured prominently in Sports Illustrated’s college basketball issue. Former Banning star Joey Johnson is splashed across two pages dunking for Arizona State while the caption plays up his 50-inch vertical leap.