Lion Cager Yoest Waits and Hopes for Shot With Pros

Basketball never came easily to Mike Yoest, so it didn’t figure he would get a red carpet to the pros.

Yoest was passed over in the shortened three-round National Basketball Assn. draft Tuesday, but the 6-foot-7 forward who recently completed his collegiate career as a four-year starter at Loyola Marymount is still pursuing a basketball career.

In fact, Yoest’s agent, Don DeJardin, said it would have been “a very pleasant surprise” if Yoest had been drafted, and Yoest said his free-agent status “could be a blessing in disguise.”

Yoest hopes to be invited to a rookie camp with some NBA team and perhaps play in the NBA Summer Pro League at Loyola.

“We’re hopeful of him going to at least one NBA camp,” DeJardin said. “If that doesn’t go real well--and it would have to for him to get a good look since he wasn’t drafted--we’ll look at a parallel route overseas,” DeJardin said. “There’s a strong probability he’ll play overseas.”

Yoest led the West Coast Athletic Conference in scoring as a junior and finished third in Lions career scoring. Desire and hustle make up a big portion of Yoest’s approach. However, by NBA standards, he’s not tall or strong enough to play power forward and may not be quick enough to play small forward. This is the guy whose fans at Loyola printed T-shirts proclaiming: “Mike Yoest Fan Club: It’s more than talent. It’s an attitude.”

“I’ll wait and see if somebody wants to invite me to a camp as a free agent,” Yoest said. “I’ll give it my best shot. If that doesn’t work out, I have no qualms about playing in Europe.”

Not being drafted, he said, meant “I can pick what camp I go to, if any, try to find the perfect situation for me and give it my best shot. I can’t ask for more than that.

“I’d like to play in the summer league here (Loyola). We’ve gotten some letters from agents overseas but nothing definite.”

Yoest has spent the last week working a youth basketball camp with Loyola Coach Paul Westhead and finishing a final class for his degree. DeJardin said he expects Yoest to be playing somewhere next fall.

DeJardin also represents former Loyola star Forrest McKenzie, who spent last season playing in Israel. McKenzie enjoyed the experience and will play abroad again this season, probably in France. Yoest has said he’ll play anywhere somebody wants to pay him.

“I’m just hanging out and waiting for things to happen,” Yoest said. “If nothing happens, I’ve got my degree. I’ll start going on job interviews.”

Loyola Marymount’s upcoming basketball schedule isn’t finalized, but it appears the Lions will be spending some time in the Midwest and on television. The hoped-for shoot-out with Oklahoma appears set for mid-December in Norman and will be televised nationally or regionally. The Lions will also play in a four-team Chicago tournament in early December with DePaul as the home team. The Lions are also scheduled to visit DePaul for a game around the start of conference play in January. Potential trips to Japan and Philadelphia fell through because of scheduling problems and final exams.

The school is talking to Z Channel about televising several home games. Attractive non-conference visitors include Xavier of Ohio and Oregon State.

Cal State Dominguez Hills soccer Coach Marine Cano has added nine players to the program, including several South Bay standouts, and is after several more.

Cano, who coaches both the Toro men’s and women’s teams, has added six players to the men’s program: junior forward Kaveh Razaghi out of Fullerton Community College; junior midfielder Mike Corrigan, a transfer from Cal State Bakersfield who previously played at El Camino College; junior goalkeeper Eric Smith out of Golden West College; freshman sweeper Sean Simmons from Don Lugo High; freshman fullback Rich Godalbin from West Torrance High, and freshman midfielder Matt Swindle from Brea Olinda High.

Razaghi hasn’t played since 1984 and Corrigan, a Palos Verdes High product, red-shirted last year after transferring. Swindle, who played primarily at midfield his last year in high school, also has experience in goal, giving Cano added versatility.

On the women’s side, Cano appears to have shored up the defense and gotten the goalkeeper he sought, signing: sweeper Monica Mautino, a four-time all-Bay League first-team selection who attended Cal State Long Beach last year but didn’t play and will have freshman eligibility; sophomore sweeper Karen Clancey out of Palos Verdes High and El Camino College, where she was South Coast Conference defensive player of the year, and freshman goalie Lisa Gonzales from Alemany High, who was in goal for 50 high school shutouts, 15 as a senior.

The NCAA will hold a women’s Division II soccer championship for the first time this fall, and the Lady Toros are expected to be among the top West Coast teams.

Coaching changes continue at Loyola Marymount where longtime rugby Coach Dick Laner has resigned to go into business. Rugby is played on the club level at Loyola but has been one of the school’s most successful intercollegiate sports for a decade under Laner, winning several Southern California titles.

New baseball Coach Chris Smith has narrowed his choices for assistant but hasn’t made a move yet.

The Lions also have a new men’s soccer coach, Al Kotero, who will guide the Lions through their first season of conference play. Kotero, who plays semipro soccer around Los Angeles, coached the Loyola women’s club team last year. He takes over a fledgling men’s team that went 4-13-2 last year, its best ever, under Roger Langner, who decided to devote full time to his business. The West Coast Athletic Conference will play a league schedule for the first time this fall. Kotero’s position is part-time, and he has no scholarships. The University of San Francisco, a perennial West Coast power, should be the WCAC’s dominant team.

College Notes

What a difference a year makes: Last summer, Loyola basketball Coach Paul Westhead’s youth camp had trouble attracting participants. This year the camp reached the cutoff point of 225 youngsters, with more on a waiting list. . . . Cal State Los Angeles pitcher Bill Bene got most of the publicity as the Dodgers’ No. 1 draft choice and the fifth player taken nationally, but several of his teammates were drafted as well, including Westchester High graduates Mica Lewis, a second baseman chosen by the Houston Astros in the second round, and outfielder Chuck Elder by the Montreal Expos in a lower round. Both signed. . . . Bill Snyder of Rancho Palos Verdes has been inducted into the Macalester, Minn., College Athletic Hall of Fame. Snyder, who graduated in 1950, was four-time Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wrestling champion with a record of 100-2-1. He’s the first wrestler named to the St. Paul school’s hall of fame. Snyder is an apparel executive and retired captain in the Naval Reserve.