Talent Will Keep Lions Roaring Next Season : Loyola Coach Becomes a Hot Property

Basking in the spotlight of the greatest season in its history, the questions for the Loyola Marymount basketball program are: What direction does the team take next season and will Coach Paul Westhead take the same direction?

In chalking up a 28-4 season with the country’s top-scoring team, Westhead’s name has begun to surface in virtually every coaching opening, from the NBA level to high school.

In Salt Lake City, Florida writers mentioned him as a candidate to coach the NBA expansion team, the Miami Heat. Around Los Angeles, he has been named as a possible replacement for Gene Shue of the Clippers. On Monday, when Providence Coach Gordie Chiesa resigned, Providence was abuzz with a rumor that Westhead had already agreed to a contract there.

All of that is news to Westhead. The only certain coaching change took place this week as Westhead acted as assistant coach for his daughter Julie’s junior high softball team.

Westhead said he has had no contact with other teams and is busily recruiting and solidifying the schedule for next season. He has turned down offers in his three-year tenure at Loyola. But Westhead is a hot coaching commodity--he has taken Loyola to post-season tournaments in two of his three years there--and he is certain to get some serious inquiries this spring.

As a career coach, he said, he’ll weigh attractive offers. As a converted Southern Californian who likes the environment at Loyola, he won’t jump at just any job.

“I like my situation here,” he said. “I’ve been coaching a long time--as a career person you tend to your career. And mine has been a fickle one.

“I do have this advantage: I’m not just a young and up-and-coming guy who will take the next job because it looks like a better job. I’m not going to go to School A, where I won 16 games, to School B because I think I can win 17. I can be more reflective and make a decision on what I think would be a nice coaching experience. From Day 1 at Loyola through today, I’ve had opportunities to go elsewhere and I’m still here. I like it here.”

With seniors Mike Yoest, Mark Armstrong and Corey Gaines graduating, next season’s Lions team will differ vastly from this year’s, with most of the top returning talent in the back court.

The Lions will return a solid nucleus, led by high scorers Hank Gathers at center/forward and Bo Kimble in the back court, guards Jeff Fryer and Enoch Simmons and redshirt guard Tom Peabody, who figures to step in capably. Kimble, at 6-5, and Simmons can fill the small forward/wing position as well. But if those five were to start, Gathers would be the tallest player at 6-6. Simmons, the second-best rebounder of the bunch, is only 6-3.

Loyola’s only early-signing recruit was 6-7 John O’Connell, described by Westhead as “a mixture of Armstrong and Yoest . . . an average talented player with a lot of heart who works hard. If he turns out to be another Armstrong or Yoest, I’ll be pleased.”

Still, there will be little inside power beyond Gathers, unless 6-10 junior John Veargason, 6-10 sophomore Marcellus Lee or 6-9 freshman Marcus Slater takes a step up. Also returning will be 6-8 Chris Knight, who redshirted as a freshman, and 6-9 Jeff Roscoe, who has played little for two seasons.

“They must step forward and perform this system,” Westhead said. “Any one of that group or any cluster is capable.”

Westhead said he’ll continue to play his high-octane, all-out fast break, whatever the personality or size of his team.

“We played it so well this year, every player who’s returning knows what’s expected of ‘em,” Westhead said. “The system doesn’t necessarily need two guards, two forwards and the classic center. The system demands effort and energy. You don’t have to be someone who jumps over buildings. Though it helps.”

The team has three scholarships still to give but won’t necessarily use them this spring. Westhead pointed out that most of the blue-chip players sign in the preseason, so the impact of Loyola’s success may not be apparent until November.

One immediate dividend is in scheduling. Loyola is suddenly in demand, to the point that Westhead said he is juggling offers and has very few games set in stone other than for the West Coast Athletic Conference. Loyola also is expected to make a formal bid for the WCAC tournament, which it won. The tournament has been played in the San Francisco area its first two years.

Westhead has set up a December trip to Philadelphia with probable games at LaSalle, Pennsylvania and Drexel. Loyola is still talking to Oklahoma for an anticipated quick-draw shoot-out; the hang-up is Oklahoma wants an assured television appearance. Both schools are working on it. “We’d play them anytime, anywhere,” Westhead said.

And the Lions have received an invitation to play in a December tournament in Tokyo, probably with three other American teams. Clemson is also among those invited.

“The (scheduling) possibilities are changing,” he said.

What has really changed is Loyola’s status as an attractive match-up, especially on the road, where teams want an opponent that will draw fans. In the past, Westhead said, the Lions have approached many high-powered programs for games and been turned down.

“A lot of big-name teams flat-out won’t talk to you till you do something. It’s a lot like recruiting,” Westhead said, adding that the Lions have now become “a team that has received legitimate national recognition. We’ve moved up several notches.”

The Lions accomplished that by scoring 110.4 points per game, only .2 of a point short of the national record. Gathers set a school record with 721 points, a 22.5 average. Fellow sophomore Kimble was right behind at 22.2. The Lions had the longest win streak in the country at 25 games, and the 28 victories shattered the 39-year-old school record of 22. The team earned its highest rankings ever, made its first appearance on national TV and won an NCAA tournament opener for the first time.

Fryer, a sophomore, made tremendous strides as the team’s top gun off the bench, closing the season with 27 points against North Carolina, hitting seven three-pointers. He led the team with 86 three-pointers in averaging 12.6 points. Moreover, by the end of the season Loyola coaches were calling Fryer their scrappiest defender. Simmons, perhaps the team’s best athlete, averaged 9 points and made 47% of his three-pointers.

“If I could have this team forever, I’d never leave,” Westhead said.

Even if Westhead were to move on, he’d know where to find Loyola on the map. He put it there.