Cal State Fullerton Notebook / Robyn Norwood : Basketball Team Gets Some Support From Tarkanian

After Cal State Fullerton’s near-upset of Nevada Las Vegas Wednesday night, UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian was as eager as ever to praise George McQuarn, the Titan coach and a former assistant to Tarkanian at Las Vegas.

“You mark my words,” Tarkanian said. “Fullerton is going to be very tough from this point on . . . Believe me when I tell you, Fullerton is not going to lose a lot more.”

The Titans, among others, would like to believe Tarkanian, but even McQuarn wasn’t proclaiming a turnaround for the Titans, who have five straight losses.

“I don’t know how well we played,” McQuarn said after the game. “We had 20 turnovers. Especially the way we struggle to score, we needed those extra 20 shots.”

Beginning today, the Titans (4-10, 0-5) will have a little extra practice time to work on the various things that ail them.

Their next game is not until next Thursday, against Utah State in Logan, Utah, so McQuarn said the Titans will go to two-a-day practices beginning today, after a day off Thursday.

“We were 1-4 (in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.) at this exact point last year,” McQuarn said. “It’s sort of like the same situation, but for a different reason.”

Last season, the Titans, stricken by a load of flu cases, started the conference schedule 1-6, but came back to finish 9-9.

This season, Fullerton has had difficulty finding a supporting cast for Richard Morton and Henry Turner.

Larry Cochell, Fullerton’s first-year baseball coach, said when he took the job last year that he looked forward to maintaining the program, but that he didn’t feel pressured to fill the shoes of Augie Garrido, who led the Titans to two NCAA championships in 15 years before leaving to become the baseball coach at Illinois.

Filling Garrido’s baseball cap, however, may be a different matter. Cochell’s hat size--6 7/8--is so unusually small that Fullerton didn’t have a cap that fit on hand. New caps have been ordered. But until they arrive, production of the baseball media guide has been held up, for lack of a picture of the Titans’ new skipper wearing a Titan cap.

The Titans, defending Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. champions, open their first season under Garrido Jan. 26 against Cal Poly Pomona at Titan Field.

Jim Thornton, the Titans’ first-team all-Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. tight end, will play in the Hula Bowl Saturday at Honolulu, becoming the first Fullerton player to participate in the game. Thornton, who caught 17 passes for 230 yards during Fullerton’s 6-6 season, was added to the West team as a replacement for Bill Hoffman of Wyoming, who sustained a broken arm during Wyoming’s 20-19 loss to Iowa in the Holiday Bowl.

The 42nd Hula Bowl will be televised on NBC at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Heavyweight David Jones, a sophomore competing in his first season after he sat out last year under NCAA Proposition 48 guidelines, has been a highlight for the wrestling team.

Jones, who is 5-feet 9-inches tall and weighs 245 pounds, has an 18-8 record--the best on the team--and has placed in each of the four tournaments in which the Titans have competed.

He won his division at the Lumberjack Open at Humboldt State in November, and finished second in the Midwest Championships at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, in December.

“I was shaky when I started, but I thought I could do all right,” Jones said. “I’m doing better than all right.”

His goal is to go the NCAA championships. To do that, he’ll need to finish in the top three or four in the conference tournament at the end of the season.

“I think I’m getting a lot better, and getting in better shape,” said Jones, who worked out on his own last season because he was not allowed to practice with the team under Proposition 48.

“Each tournament, I feel like I’m doing something better,” Jones said.

The gymnastics season gets under way this week for the men’s and the women’s teams, both of which have last season’s top performers now as assistant coaches. Ling Xiao Ping, the former Fullerton standout, is helping coach the men’s team, and Tami Elliott, whose career was cut short by an injury last season, is assisting the women.

The men’s team, which opened at UC Santa Barbara Thursday, plays host to San Jose State and Stanford at 8 tonight in Titan Gym.

Three gymnasts who competed last season--Bill Barham, Steve Ciccarelli and Eli Rodriguez--return. Barham holds the school-record in the all-around competition, which he set last year.

Coach Dick Wolfe also has several freshman with international experience in Amir Kadury, who has competed for the Israeli national team; Diego Lopez, who competed in the Pan-Am games for Argentina, and Sven Lode, who has competed for Norway.

Matt Stelling, a fifth-year senior who set two school records as a freshman, returns after a redshirt year because of an injury, and also will be a key competitor.

The women’s team, with nine freshmen, will be one of the youngest Fullerton has had.

Among the new gymnasts are Lisa Dolan, a former national team member, and Margot Gumerlock, another performer who has had success at the national level.

Cheryl Kaneshiro, Fullerton’s only representative to the NCAA championships last season, is one of the leading returning gymnasts.

The women’s first meet is tonight at Washington. The first home meet is Feb. 12, against Stanford.

Titan Notes

The North Orange County District Attorney’s office has not yet made a decision on whether any charges will be filed against Brown University Coach Mike Cingiser, who was involved in a scuffle with longtime Fullerton fan Bill Harvey at a game Dec. 30. No charges will be filed against Harvey, Roger Harvey or Michael Bader, said Dave Kirkpatrick of the district attorney’s office . . . Another community college football player--Rocky Palamara, a wide receiver from Glendale City College--has signed a letter of intent with the Titans. The first signing period ends today, and coaches say they may sign at least one more player in addition to the five already signed.