UC Irvine Notebook : Goalie Duplanty Makes Surprising Trip

When Bill Barnett, U.S. Olympic water polo coach, told Chris Duplanty that he wanted to see him before a recent workout, the UC Irvine goalie knew it meant one of three things:

- Barnett wanted help setting up the pool for the practice.

- Barnett wanted to tell him he had made the team.

- “The kiss of death.”

Most would have bet Duplanty’s future was behind Door No. 3. Turns out he won a trip to Seoul.

“In the early going, I would have said he didn’t have much of a chance,” Irvine Coach Ted Newland said. “But he played well (during a European tour) and, after that, I felt he had a strong outside chance.”

When Newland approached Kaia Hedlund, the school’s associate athletic director for student affairs, about looking into obtaining an extra year of eligibility for Duplanty--a senior this year--she didn’t exactly scramble into action.

“I told Ted I’d heard he didn’t have a ghost of a chance of making the team,” Hedlund said, smiling. “I’m so happy he did, though. He’s the nicest guy in the world.”

Nice guys, of course, sometimes finish last. Duplanty just wanted to stick in the Top 13. That’s the roster count of the U.S. water polo team.

“The joke of the team was that you never wanted to be called in to talk to (Barnett),” Duplanty said during a phone conversation from Honolulu, where the U.S. team is preparing for the Olympics. “I felt as though I was on the bubble. It was an incredibly close decision that could have gone either way.

“Initially, it (his reaction) was just relief ,” said Duplanty, who will back up No. 1 goalie Craig Wilson. “There’s unbelievable stress involved. The physical stress is the easy part, but the mental stress is incredible. You’re always either trying to be perfect or second-guessing what you did that wasn’t perfect.

“After the relief came the excitement. And then the realization of knowing I’m going to be in the Olympics.”

Not to mention be in a great position to bring home a nice little souvenir . . . say something in a precious metal.

“Every player on this team knows we have the talent and experience, everything necessary, to win the gold. We have six guys back from the (silver-medal) ’84 team. But nothing’s for sure.

“We’ve been talking for months about not beating ourselves. About concentration. About killer instinct. I’ve never seen 12 players so determined and dedicated to win a gold medal. Everyone realizes that this is what you’ve worked your whole life for.”

Newland admits to having mixed emotions about Duplanty making the team. It means the Anteaters will have sophomore Andy Nott, who was redshirted last year and had not played in a college water polo match until this year, in goal.

“It certainly affects our season heavily,” said Newland, whose team is ranked sixth in the nation in the latest coaches’ poll. “It’s made a big difference in our style. We would have played a lot differently defensively with Chris in there. We can’t counterattack as much. We can’t cheat as much on offense.”

The blow was softened somewhat when Hedlund assured Newland that the chances were “very good” that the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. would grant Duplanty an Olympic waiver so he could play next year.

“Foremost, the Olympics will be a great experience for Chris and that’s what really counts,” Newland said. “But you would hate to see him lose his whole senior year.

“We’ll miss him this season, though. I don’t think one player can take you from No. 6 to No. 1, but it could easily be the difference between being No. 2 or No. 1.”

The country’s best water polo teams will get an early-season opportunity to see how they stack up Friday through Sunday in the Toshiba UCI Water Polo tournament at Heritage Park.

Top-ranked UCLA, No. 2 California, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Cal State Long Beach and No. 5 Stanford are all competing.

Irvine’s new marketing director, Chuck Harris, has talked basketball Coach Bill Mulligan into opening the season with a 12:01 a.m. practice on Oct. 15.

The “Anteater Basketball Bash” at the Bren Center is a bit of a marketing risk, however. Considering the history of student apathy at Irvine, it could turn out to be a major disappointment for Mulligan and an embarrassment for the program.

Much of the team’s support has come from the community--people who have taken advantage of a chance to see college basketball in an intimate setting at a reasonable price. And it’s unlikely a lot of these boosters will show up for a midnight scrimmage.

Despite more-than-reasonable prices, the students have stayed away from Bren, however. Last season, a student ticket for all 14 home games cost $20, but only 234 were purchased. (This season’s student package, which includes 17 home games, is $25).

Harris is acutely aware of the problem. It’s something he is trying desperately to change. He lobbied for the midnight practice because he thinks it will help draw more student support.

But he’s covering his bases, too.

“I knew it would look bad if only a hundred people showed,” Harris said. “So we booked The Untouchables, one of the most popular local bands, for a concert at Crawford Hall the same night.”

The concert is scheduled to end at 11:30 p.m. and the Bren Center is about 100 yards away.

Anteater Notes

The women’s volleyball team has tied a school record with seven consecutive victories--four to start this season and three at the end of last year. The 1981 team won its first seven games. The Anteaters’ next match will be against Tennessee on Friday night in the Buckeye Invitational at Ohio State. “I’m not surprised where we are now,” Coach Mike Puritz said, “But we still have several things to improve upon. We need to be challenged. This tournament will provide that.” . . . The women’s soccer team had lost five in a row before tying Stanford, 0-0, Wednesday night. Irvine has yet to score a goal this season. In fact, the Anteaters have just 40 shots on goal. Irvine goalie Janice Taft has had a great view of the action, though. She’s made 74 saves while allowing 17 goals. She set a school record with 27 saves during a 3-0 loss to UC Santa Barbara Sept. 4. Irvine plays host to UC Davis at 4 p.m. today and Cal State Hayward at noon Saturday. . .