Hoping for a Shot at the Big Time : Gaines, Yoest Seek to Build on Lions’ Success

Whether or not Loyola Marymount seniors Corey Gaines and Mike Yoest can parlay the team’s success this season into pro careers, scouts for the National Basketball Assn. say they’ll get their chance.

Gaines, the point guard who transferred from UCLA to play his final season with the Lions, and Yoest, a four-year starter at forward, graduate this spring along with senior Mark Armstrong.

Loyola had two players, Keith Smith and Forrest McKenzie, drafted early two years ago. None of the team’s seniors were drafted in 1987.

Armstrong, a 6-6 forward whose strengths were rebounding and outlet passing, hasn’t shown much interest in continuing his playing career.

Gaines, who has a Walt Frazier body and great speed at 6-4 and may have the best pro prospects of the trio, has been invited to several of the NBA tryout camps that are widely attended by pro coaches, scouts and officials and has high hopes for an NBA career.

Yoest, a relatively slender 6-7 who was an effective inside player in college but would figure to be more of a wing type in the pros, would like to get a chance.

Judging by what several NBA scouts said this week, Gaines and Yoest should get their shot.

Marty Blake, an Atlanta-based scout whose “Court Report” is taken as the final word by many NBA teams, said it is too early to project where the Loyola players might be drafted. But he’s sure they will.

“Right now, we’re doing our homework, looking at all the small colleges,” he said. “It’s too early to project (the draft). Gaines is a much above-average college player with a big, strong body, and he played in a pro-style game. He’s a prospect. He has the ability to play in the league. Yoest is a very good college player. I don’t know what his pro potential is. Somebody will draft him.”

Pete Newell, who in retirement probably ranks with John Wooden as the dean of the coaching profession, may be a bit biased, having played for and graduated from Loyola. But he said both players will be looked at closely.

“A lot will depend on how they do (in NBA camps),” Newell said. “A lot of fellows like Gaines can move up a lot (by doing well in front of the scouts). The Loyola guys don’t get the television exposure, so a lot of Eastern people--meaning the NBA--will be looking closely. I’ve seen players move from third (round) up to second or first.”

Newell said Gaines’ move to Loyola was “a perfect situation for him. It’s one of the few times I’ve seen a transfer help himself. He had a good year, and there aren’t that many point guards out there.”

He said Yoest will probably be drafted and probably be able to play overseas if things don’t work out in the NBA. Newell said Yoest is the kind of player coaches like. “He’ll play somewhere. He’s a hard-knocking kid.”

Newell said Yoest could play for certain NBA teams.

“He’s not quite quick enough to be small forward, and he’s not big enough to be a power (forward). But he looks like a role player. He could come off the bench for six or eight minutes and play that tough defense, pick up garbage around the basket, which he did a lot of in college. He’s the kind of guy a coach likes on the bench. He can even play two-guard.”

Clippers Coach Gene Shue said he thought Gaines and Yoest would be drafted, but said: “I couldn’t project where they’d be taken” until they were seen in NBA camps.