COLLEGE BASKETBALL ‘88-89 : Big West Preview : Conference Has a Different Name but the Same Favorite

The trick in the Big West Conference is not naming the likely champion--Nevada Las Vegas--but then, it never is. This season, the trick is naming the Rebel players.

There’s Stacey Augmon, of course. And then there are . . .

Fact is, six of the Rebels’ top eight players are new. Yet UNLV was the near-unanimous pick of conference coaches to repeat as champion--for the sixth time. UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian, naturally, picked his team second.

“I dare anyone to find any school in the last 20 years to be ranked as high as we are with six of their top eight kids being new,” Tarkanian said.

The Associated Press ranked UNLV 10th in its preseason poll. Some others have ranked the Rebels higher, including Dick Vitale.

“I had dinner with Vitale, and he didn’t even know who my players were,” Tarkanian said. “And he picked us fourth.”

So go ahead, name that team.

Besides Augmon, the sophomore forward who made the U.S. Olympic team, guard Clint Rossum is the only player from last season’s team expected to play a lot.

Among the 7 newcomers who make this team more talented than last season’s:

--David Butler, a 6-foot 10-inch center from a San Jacinto (Tex.) junior college who was considered by some the top community college player in the country last season.

--Greg Anthony, a sophomore guard who transferred from Portland, becoming eligible this season. Tarkanian says Anthony will probably be one of the best guards the Rebels have had.

--Anderson Hunt, a redshirt freshman guard who scored 20 points in the Rebels’ 94-83 victory over the Soviet Olympic gold-medal team in an exhibition game Sunday.

Last season was a rare one in which UNLV was vulnerable in the conference, known then as the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. During the regular season, UNLV lost to UC Santa Barbara twice and to Cal State Long Beach. In the tournament, the Rebels were upset by UC Irvine. They finished 28-6 overall and 15-3 in conference play.

But guess what? The Rebels still won the conference title.

And this season?

“Just when you think you’re starting to close the gap on UNLV, the gap suddenly becomes larger,” UC Santa Barbara Coach Jerry Pimm said. “Maybe we’re all fooling ourselves. Maybe catching UNLV is impossible.”

A look at the rest of the conference:

CAL STATE FULLERTON

1987-88 records: 12-17 overall, 7-11 conference.

1987-88 conference finish: 8th.

This was a team that figured to struggle anyway, but it has lost its coach and 2 key players since practice began Oct. 15. George McQuarn, preparing to enter his ninth season at Cal State Fullerton, resigned without comment Nov. 3, apparently in part because of differences with school officials. Two newcomers--junior forward William Allen and freshman forward Michael Brown--quit the team.

John Sneed, an assistant to McQuarn who has been named acting coach for the season, has an unenviable task in attempting to win the job permanently. He is left with the remnants of a 12-17 team that lost its top six scorers. The top returning scorer is forward Benson Williams, a walk-on player who averaged 3 points a game.

There are two bright points. Forward Derek Jones, who was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting more than a year ago, has returned. Forward Cedric Ceballos, one of the top community college players in the country last season at Ventura College, is expected to carry the scoring load.

One indication of how unproven the Titans are: Wayne Williams, a freshman who helped lead Manual Arts High School to the state championship last season, may start at point guard.

CAL STATE LONG BEACH

1987-88 records: 17-12, 11-7.

1987-88 conference finish: 4th

Cal State Long Beach Coach Joe Harrington reintroduced pressure defense and the fast break in his first season, which was punctuated by upset victories at UC Santa Barbara and UNLV, and an appearance in the National Invitation Tournament.

This season, Harrington’s second, the 49ers have lost 3 senior starters, including Morlon Wiley, a second-round draft pick of the Dallas Mavericks. And a fourth starter, junior Andre Purry, was lost for the season when he suffered a major knee injury during the summer.

The top returner is center John Hatten, who averaged 8 points a game.

Of 11 players attending preseason practice, four were walk-ons.

Two possible starters--guards Jeff Eastin and Tyrone Mitchell--will not become eligible until the second semester.

The starters appear to be Hatten, forwards Rolf Jacobs and Rudy Harvey, and guards Darrell Faulkner and Brian Jones--an impressive redshirt freshman.

“It will be a real challenge at Long Beach this year for myself and all of us,” Harrington said.

Nor do the 49ers start off easy. They open the season against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.

FRESNO STATE

1987-88 records: 9-19, 6-12.

1987-88 conference finish: 9th.

Fresno State’s worst season in 9 years under Boyd Grant was 15-15 in 1986, his last year. Ron Adams’ teams are 18-39 after his first 2 seasons as coach. How this team

does could be critical for him.

At least he has returning talent.

“This is the the best group of players I’ve had to work with at Fresno State,” Adams said.

Jervis Cole, a senior forward who last season led the team in scoring with a 16-point average and was named second-team all-conference, is the top returning player. Three other starters--forward Derrick Barden and guards Kevin Stevenson and Andre Sims--are also back. A fifth might have been, but Mike Mitchell, the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer last season, transferred.

Rene Ebeltjes, a 6-11 junior center, adds size up front but averaged only 4 points and 3 rebounds a game last season.

NEW MEXICO STATE

1987-88 records: 16-16, 8-10.

1987-88 conf. finish: 6th (tie).

After losing 6 games by 1 point and 6 more by fewer than 5 points last season, Coach Neil McCarthy went for dramatic restructuring, asking a couple of players not to return and bringing in nine new players.

McCarthy’s exasperation with that team stemmed in part from the team’s attention span. Or lack thereof.

“The way I like to coach, I like them to remember what I told them from the timeout to when they go back on the court,” McCarthy said.

Among the players who are back are Willie Joseph, a senior forward whose 15-point average last season led the team; forward Johnny Roberson, center Steve McGlothlin and Jeff McCool, a sixth man who led the conference in 3-point shooting percentage at 51%.

McCarthy is enthusiastic, to say the least.

“I like our team,” McCarthy said. “I think our crowd will like our team. Our team likes our team. Our coaches like our team. I think we’ll be a nice team.”

SAN JOSE STATE

1987-88 records: 14-15, 8-10.

1987-88 conf. finish: 6th (tie).

Even with Ricky Berry, the school’s all-time scoring leader, San Jose State struggled to a 14-15 record last season, losing 5 of 7 games during a late-season slump. The Spartans suffered a blow this year when center Dietrich Waters was declared academically ineligible at least until the end of the semester. Without Waters’ rebounding, San Jose will struggle. Still, Coach Bill Berry says its scoring that concerns him.

“Somebody will rise to the occasion,” he said. “I just don’t know who.”

Point guard Rodney Scott and shooting guard Steve Haney, who set a school record with 60 3-pointers last season, both are back. Haney, who averaged 12.6 points, is the team’s top returning scorer.

UC IRVINE

1987-88 records: 16-14, 9-9.

1987-88 conference finish: 5th.

Coach Bill Mulligan’s band will be on the run this season. The Anteaters are going to run a full-court press and a fast break. They’re going to dictate the tempo; live, or lose, in the fast lane. After 2 exhibition games, they’re averaging 126 points--both offensively and defensively.

“Their coach will tell his players, ‘Take your time. Run the offense. Don’t go for the fool’s gold,’ ” Mulligan said. “But the players will say, ‘But the fool’s gold is a layup!’ Pretty soon, the players won’t believe their coach anymore and they’ll run--we hope.”

Junior transfer Rod Palmer, a 6-4 point guard who sat on the bench behind Pooh Richardson at UCLA for 2 seasons, will be a key player in the new game plan. Senior guard Kevin Floyd, who averaged 13 points a game last season, junior forward Mike Labat and sophomore forward Jeff Herdman will also be counted on for offense. Freshman Brian McCloskey, a 6-7 post player, has taken over as starting center after scoring 36 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in just 39 minutes during 2 exhibitions.

UC SANTA BARBARA

1987-88 records: 22-8, 13-5.

1987-88 conf. finish: 2nd (tie).

Last season, UC Santa Barbara’s 22-8 record was its best, the bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament was its first, and there were the two upsets of Nevada Las Vegas. But Brian Shaw, the conference player of the year and the conference leader in rebounds and assists and the final player cut from the U.S. Olympic team, is playing with the Boston Celtics. Coach Jerry Pimm is left to try to replace him.

“We’re trying to fill Brian’s space with three or four people,” Pimm said.

Still, there is plenty of talent back.

Carlton Davenport will step in at Shaw’s guard position, and Carrick DeHart, the second-leading scorer behind Shaw last season, returns at the other guard. Inside, Gary Gray and Eric McArthur return, as does Mike Doyle, who started only 1 game, but averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds in the final 10 games last season. Forward Tony Akins, a redshirt last year after transferring from Cal State Dominguez Hills, has particularly impressed Pimm.

PACIFIC

1987-88 records: 5-24, 0-18.

1987-88 conference finish: 10th

As if things weren’t bad enough last year, when Pacific became only the second team to go winless in conference play, the Tigers lost their best player unexpectedly over the summer. Domingo Rosario, a play-making guard from the Dominican Republic, will not be available because of visa problems. Also gone are Christian Gray, a forward who led the team in scoring and rebounding, guard Jon Barry, who transferred, and forward Willie Tatum, who signed a professional baseball contract. All were starters. Bob Thomason, the Tigers’ first-year coach--and a player on the 1971 Tiger team, the first to make the NCAA tournament--will make his debut with a team whose top returning scorer, Scott Hemsath, averaged 8 points a game.

UTAH STATE

1987-88 records: 21-10, 13-5.

1987-88 conf. finish: 2nd (tie).

Coach Kohn Smith, an assistant at Utah State last season who spent 6 years under Bob Knight at Indiana, takes over from Rod Tueller, who resigned after last season but remains as athletic director.

The Aggies have perhaps the most solid group of returning players of any team in the conference.

Four starters--among them forward Dan Conway and guard Reid Newey--are back from the team that won the conference tournament, earning the automatic NCAA tournament bid. Conway averaged 16 points a game, and Newey 14, taking nearly half his shots from 3-point range. The Aggies are in need of a point guard to replace Kevin Nixon, who averaged 16 points, 6 assists and 2.5 steals a game. Freshman Albert Chappell is in the running.

Everyone expects the Aggies to be good. The big question is, how much Knight is there in Smith?

“I hope you see a lot of him,” he said. “Bob Knight is a fixture in college basketball, a great teacher, one of the most honest people I’ve known. I feel good when people say he’s influenced me. . . . But my personality’s different. You can’t tell on the sidelines.”