Toros Athletic Director Leaving for Life in ‘a Slower Lane’

When Athletic Director Sue Carberry announced last week that she was leaving Cal State Dominguez Hills to teach high school in Northern California, it shocked a lot of people. Why would an energetic, 42-year-old administrator seemingly on the way up trade an administrative job at a four-year institution in a bustling community for a job in a small high school in the redwoods?

Rumors flew as fast as the announcement left President John Brownell’s desk. Was Carberry on the outs with Brownell? Had she been forced out after accepting a temporary role as acting vice president of student affairs? Was she burned out? Is Dominguez Hills in trouble and was she bailing out?

None of those, responds Carberry, who says she realized when she came to Dominguez Hills 11 years ago as a softball coach that sometimes people need fresh views.

“To keep going sometimes you need new blood, new energy,” she said.

Carberry said she does not see much advancement for women athletic directors.

“I had to look at it 10 years from now and see where I would be,” she said.

She also said she felt she had done as much as she could as athletic director.

“The same problems need solving. That’s not to say I haven’t solved some of them, but many are still there,” she said.

Carberry said she decided two years ago to look for job alternatives. When she was asked to handle the student affairs job, she saw it as an opportunity to kick a plan into gear.

“That way I wouldn’t be around (in the way) as the former athletic director,” she said.

Carberry also said she was seeking life “in a slower lane,” away from Southern California’s urban sprawl. She has purchased 40 acres in Laytonville, a town on U.S. 101 three hours north of San Francisco.

“Maybe it’s too slow,” she said. “But I’ll see. I have some other options.”

Carberry is quick to defend Dominguez Hills.

“The future here is strong,” she said. “We’re in very good shape. Enrollment is on the rise. That’s important for funding. We’ve established a successful athletic base. We also have good coaches.”

Dan Guerrero has served as the associate athletic director this semester in Carberry’s absence. He has been named acting athletic director. Sports information director Tom Neff has been given the additional duties of acting assistant athletic director, replacing Guerrero.

Although the vacancy will be advertised, it is speculated that Guerrero has the inside line on becoming the permanent replacement. He has been at the school five years.

The college expects to name a replacement sometime in June.

Add Toros--California Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball coaches selected Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai coach of the year. It was the second consecutive such honor for Yanai--but with a big twist. Last season Dominguez Hills won the CCAA title. This year the Toros struggled into fourth place, narrowly missing a postseason conference tournament spot. Usually coach of the year awards are automatic, with the coach of the championship team getting the routine nod. Yanai directed a team that had only one returning starter and relied on three freshmen to carry much of the load. After an 0-4 start, the Toros won 7 of their last 10 games. They lost to two tournament teams, San Luis Obispo and UC Riverside, by three points and trailed CCAA champion Bakersfield by only two points late in their first meeting before falling by nine. They defeated another tournament team, Cal State Northridge, twice. “I was surprised and elated that my peers would select me for this honor,” Yanai said. “This is highly unusual.”

Meat market--The annual community college state basketball tournament, played last week at Santa Clara, is a swap meet of four-year coaches. It is estimated that 200 assistants or head coaches from around the country made the trek to the three-day event won by El Camino College. Many coaches use JC transfers for a “quick-fix,” i.e., find an instant, experienced starter to breath life into a program that has lost three or four key players. One of those in attendance on the first night was Jay Hillock of Loyola-Marymount. Hillock was also spotted at several El Camino games during the season, but according to Warrior Coach Paul Landreaux, none of his players is considering Loyola. Still, with the talent at this tournament each season, Loyola should have plenty to choose from.

Fans? What fans?--Southern California community college administrators often complain that their athletic programs are lost in the shuffle between high school and major college coverage in local newspapers. But if they want more coverage, they must prove there is big fan interest. A good example was the lack of support paid El Camino as it won the state JC tournament. About a dozen supporters made the championship game. Even the cheerleaders were no-shows. Northern California opponents West Valley (Saratoga), Merced and Columbia (Sonora) brought ample followings. In fact, tournament officials planned on a full house in Toso Pavilion if Merced faced Columbia. Asked about the lack of support, Dr. James Schwartz of El Camino, who attended the tournament, said: “I think we do a lot of things with class at El Camino, but I think this is one thing that needs to be worked on.” Schwartz was particularly upset that the cheerleaders did not make the trip because El Camino was the only team without a support group. “This is the nature of the community college beast,” he said. “We have no funds to market our programs.”

Tight-lipped--A big complaint at Toso by JC coaches was the tightness of the rims. Example: El Camino missed seven easy layups in its championship game with Columbia. El Camino won, 58-56. Landreaux called the rims “unforgiving.” He claimed they were so stiff that a ball had to be in the center of the basket or it stood a pretty good chance of skipping out. Although official statistics are not kept for missed layups, other teams in the tournament suffered similar fates.

To dunk or not to dunk--Faced with the tight rims, El Camino guard Charles White wanted to dunk the winning shot, an uncontested play 27 seconds before the end. White had taken a pass from Kirkland Howling after slipping behind two Columbia defenders. As he went up for the game-winning shot, White said he had thoughts of dunking it to make sure it would get there. But White was off balance, which cut his dunking ability. He put the ball high off the glass and it caromed in.

Dr. of dunk--White was the unofficial slam champion at the tournament. He started off with a power jam six minutes into a 79-66 victory over West Valley in the opener. Later in the tournament he executed a strong monster-jam and then, after a steal, went coast-to-coast for a masterful tomahawk that even drew kudos from press row. White will attend Purdue.

In your face--One of the flashiest, albeit obnoxious, performers at the JC tournament was Columbia’s Curt Robertson, a 6-2 sophomore swing. Robinson reportedly wore a capped tooth that bore a diamond stud. For the championship game he carved his jersey number--44--into the back of his haircut. When he scored he would grin and point at the Columbia rooting section, and when he grabbed a rebound he would flail his arms long after El Camino had retreated on defense. White, who was briefly removed from the El Camino team earlier in the year after a fight with an opposing player, apparently offended Robertson. As they ran by the press table Robertson was overheard saying to White: “You want a piece of me, . . . .” White displayed control. He took a pass from a teammate and drove the reaching Robertson into the key, pulled up and made a 10-foot swish.

“D” department--Loyola Marymount’s full-court press concentrates on the in-bounds pass, so the team has been susceptible to the long pass. To get a different perspective on defense, Lions Coach Paul Westhead consulted with defensive coaches of the football Rams. “I think football has always been 10 years ahead of basketball in identifying problems and breaking them down,” Westhead said. He came away with new ideas. “I had (guard) Corey Gaines playing straight up, eyeball to eyeball,” Westhead said. “The Rams said, ‘No, we always play strong side.’ We tried that and our efficiency rate has gone way up. We’re using some of their terminology. The only one that did apply was ‘destroy the target.’ I felt there was great application, great similarity in the way we play defense and football.” Westhead said he got the idea to talk to football coaches when an opponent throwing the long in-bounds pass looked like a quarterback. The meeting was set up through Dr. Robert Kerlan, the sports injury specialist, and Westhead found the Rams’ Fritz Shurmur, defensive coordinator, and Steve Schafer backfield coach, very receptive. “I spent a whole morning,” said Westhead. “They would have given me a day if I needed it.”

Briefly--Football Coach John Featherstone of El Camino says he is “pleased” with his recruiting of area players so far. “We have a slew of verbal commitments,” he said . . . David Lee of El Camino, most valuable player of the state basketball tournament, is considering Texas-El Paso, Western Kentucky and North Carolina State . . . Eric Dunn, also of El Camino, didn’t seem to mind the rims in Toso Pavilion. He is reportedly going to play for Santa Clara next season . . . Brian Johnson, a redshirt, should help in the post for the Dominguez Hills basketball team next year, according to Yanai . . . The state JC tournament is expected to return to Toso next year, not Loyola-Marymount as some Southern California coaches had hoped.