Foster Is Still Missing in Inaction as UCLA Meets Oregon

What will become of the UCLA basketball team? Where is center Greg Foster? Who will be the Bruins’ center next season if he doesn’t come back? Why is Coach Walt Hazzard so sure that everything will work out fine?

Stay tuned. This story, just like this team, is still in the developmental stage.

The Bruins will play another Pacific 10 game at Pauley Pavilion today, putting their 0-3 conference record on the line against Oregon, 1-0 in the conference after beating USC.

It doesn’t sound like a tough assignment, but the Bruins’ luck hasn’t been too good lately.

Foster, a sophomore whose playing time was dropping off, walked out on the team Thursday afternoon when told that, because he had missed practice with the flu, his starting spot would go to 6-foot 7-inch senior Kelvin Butler. As of Saturday night, Foster had not contacted his coach and wasn’t taking calls.

If he decides to transfer, the Bruins could be in trouble. They play pretty well with Butler at center, but he’ll be gone next season. And Hazzard, under the assumption that he had a 7-foot center for a couple more years, has been recruiting guards to move up behind senior Dave Immel and junior Pooh Richardson.

Hazzard refuses to panic. “When you lose a 7-foot starter, that’s a problem,” he said. “But we’re still a good basketball team. . . . We have to carry on. We must carry on.”

Hazzard has shown restraint while waiting for Foster to make a move. Hazzard has issued no ultimatums; slammed no doors.

Until he hears from Foster, Hazzard is calling Butler his center and getting the team ready for today’s game.

Oregon’s tallest starter is 6-8 center Brett Coffey, and the Ducks rely heavily on their guards, most heavily on 6-4 senior Anthony Taylor, who is averaging 20.5 points a game. Taylor has missed four games this season with a broken toe.

Oregon is 1-3 without him and 5-1 with him. Since his return, the Ducks have won four of five games.

Oregon hasn’t won a game at Pauley Pavilion since the 1983-84 season when the Ducks beat the Bruins, 87-83, in overtime. The game was sent into overtime when junior Greg Trapp sank a 27-foot shot while flying out of bounds.

While the Bruins were 0-2, the rallying cry was based on last year’s 0-2 start that ended with a Pac-10 title. Now that they are 0-3, the focus has shifted to the ‘81-82 season when the Bruins (then under Larry Farmer) started 0-3 but finished 21-6 and won the Pac-10 title.

Meanwhile, Hazzard remains optimistic.

“It has been a strange season, but I’ve been in this business long enough to know that you’ll have a strange season now and then,” he said. “This team is young, and there’s a long season yet to be played. We still have life.

“We’re going in the wrong direction right now in terms of wins and losses. But I believe the things we’re doing are the right things. We’re getting a good effort from the team. We’ll be OK. That’s not wishful thinking. That’s the truth.”

Bruin Notes

The game will be televised by Channel 2 and broadcast on KMPC (710 AM). . . . UCLA is 4-8 overall. Oregon is 6-4, but the Bruins have played a tougher schedule. . . . In 11 games he started, Greg Foster averaged 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. In his start against Oregon State, Kelvin Butler had 10 points and 4 rebounds. . . . UCLA’s next two games will be nationally televised. The Bruins’ game against USC Thursday at Pauley Pavilion will be televised by ESPN, and their game Saturday at Louisville will be televised by NBC.