The High Schools / John Lynch : Summer Contact Schedule Leaves Taft Coach at Odds With NCAA

Taft basketball coach Jim Woodard realizes the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. likely will ignore him, but he is determined to offer an opinion anyway.

In Woodard’s view, the NCAA has its timing all mixed up when it comes to summer basketball camps and all-star games. Currently, college coaches are permitted to watch high school players through the month of July, but Aug. 1 signals the start of a six-week dead period when player-coach contact is restricted.

Woodard endorses the spirit of the rule, which is designed to curtail recruiting pressure on high school athletes.

“They’re trying to limit what college coaches can do and give kids more of a life,” he said. “They’ve just got their timetable all wrong.”

Woodard claims the need to gain exposure in July forces players who need academic assistance to make choices between summer school and basketball camps. Taft guard Dedan Thomas declined an invitation to the prestigious Nike camp in Princeton, N. J., because it conflicted with summer school.

Woodard advised Thomas after his experience with former Taft player Kevin Franklin, who now plays at Nevada Reno. Franklin led the Valley in scoring two seasons ago, but lost his freshman year of eligibility in college because he failed to meet NCAA academic regulations under Proposition 48.

“Kevin went to the summer camps and played in a Vegas tournament and wound up flunking his summer school classes,” Woodard said. “The all-star camps in July are convenient for college coaches who can watch all the kids at once. But it isn’t good for high school kids who have to go to summer school. They should have the tournaments in August, after summer school.”

Woodard will submit his suggestion to the NCAA in writing but holds little hope of effecting any changes. “I won’t have any luck but I want them to hear another opinion,” he said.

Add Woodard: Aside from his gripe with the NCAA, Woodard enjoyed the month of July and the success of his Taft team. The Toreadors won the Culver City summer league with a 6-1 record after defeating Culver City, 69-30, this week.

Taft also claimed the consolation championship of the Fairfax tournament, losing to state champion Manual Arts before defeating Hart, Santa Monica and Gardena.

Lost summer: Simi Valley’s Steve Carnes began therapy this week on his right ankle, which was broken during a July 19 summer-league game against Palm Springs at Bosco Tech. The injury ended his summer basketball season, interrupting his transformation from swing man last season to point guard for the Pioneers.

Carnes, the only returning player from last season’s Southern Section 4-A Division championship team, played in only nine of Simi Valley’s 26 games this summer. Earlier this summer he missed three games because of a slight sprain of his left ankle.

“I was looking forward to the summer and learning the new position,” he said. “I’ve missed a lot.”

Carnes is expected to return in time for the start of the high school season.

Father and son: Bill Redell, who also coached sons Randy and Billy at Crespi, faces a difficult decision every time he calls a play this season.

He can call the number of tailback Russell White, who is on a pace to break several Southern Section and state career rushing and scoring records.

Or he can have Ron Redell, Bill’s son and a potential Division I quarterback, throw the ball.

“It’ll be interesting to see how Bill handles it all,” assistant coach Don Klinkhammer said. “Not only because of Russell and the record book, but because it will be father and son.”

Bill Redell said he is confident that Ron--who is listed as a player to watch or honorable mention All-American in several preseason football publications--already has a solid reputation and that he needs no nepotism.

“It’s still a Russell White offense,” Bill Redell said. “The scouts know what Ron can do.”

Add Crespi: Bill Redell said the Celts, to a certain degree, will pass more often this season out of necessity.

Other than White, the Crespi cast is almost entirely filled with new or inexperienced faces. Ron Redell played the second half of last season at quarterback, fullback J. J. Lasley and receivers Eric Kieling and Dave Lefner all graduated.

“In years past, we had players like J. J. back there with Russell to carry the load,” Bill Redell said. “They’re both great players, heck, they’re both Division I talent. This year, we don’t have a guy like J. J. back there. This season, Russell will carry more often and we’re going to have to throw more.”

Ron Redell’s targets will include receivers Chad Nichols, Scott McCarthy and Paul Baukus and junior tight end Christian Fauria. All played last season but primarily as backups. Fauria’s brother, Quinn, who played tight end and linebacker as a junior last year, will move to fullback.

But Crespi hasn’t been hurting. The Celts are 22-0-1 in 7-on-7 passing competition this summer. The transition has been smooth, but the success is not surprising to the quarterback, who feels comfortable with his receivers.

“They may be new to the varsity, but I had them all as receivers when I was a sophomore,” Ron Redell said. “Our timing on the patterns is already there. They might not be the fastest guys around, but they run great routes.”

Possible preview: Grant, which advanced to the City Section 3-A Division basketball final last season, will face El Camino Real on Monday night at 6 in a game that will decide the El Camino Real summer league championship.

“This might be a preview of two of the better teams in the division next year,” El Camino Real assistant coach Jeff Davis said.

El Camino Real, which drops to the 3-A Division next season, is led by All-City swing man Brent Lofton and 6-foot, 6-inch center Jason Steele. Grant is anchored by center Troy Mcleod, forward Setro Terzian, and guards Sean Watkins and Nate Conner. El Camino Real is 4-0 and Grant is 3-1 in league play.

Panther prowess: Ken Barone calls them his Super 7. They are the key members of the Newbury Park basketball team who have led the Panthers to an 18-7 record in summer league basketball, including a third-place finish in the Ventura tournament and a fifth-place finish in a tournament in West Torrance.

Barone’s seven were 4-2 in the Thousand Oaks league and 5-1 in the Rio Mesa league. This, after a 6-16 season and a 2-10 Marmonte League record in ‘87-88.

“We think we’ve turned the corner,” Barone said.

The seven are: Wayne Cook, a three-sport standout who this summer averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds; Anthony Rutter (15 points, eight rebounds); Brian Smith (seven points, eight assists); Kevin Loveall (10 points, 12 rebounds); Shayne Gallimore (21 points against Agoura); Chris Falzone (29 points against Buena, including seven three-pointers); and Tim Lane (24 points against Crescenta Valley).

New Knight: Notre Dame has named John Skeese, who teaches biology and mechanical drawing at the school, its golf coach. Skeese replaces Rob Thomas, who resigned to pursue a teaching position in Phoenix.

Staff writers Tim Brown and Steve Elling contributed to this notebook.