Hey, the <i> Other</i> Westphal Isn’t Bad Either

Bill Westphal remembers the days when his younger brother, Paul, now an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Assn., was “just a little squirt hanging around my USC buddies” in their North Redondo Beach neighborhood.

“Back then he was my brother,” Bill said of Paul. “Now that he’s famous, I’m his brother.”

Both count successful careers in basketball. Paul went on to an NBA career after following in Bill’s footsteps as a player at Aviation High School and USC. Now Bill, who has held a variety of coaching jobs, mostly at small colleges, is following in his younger brother’s footsteps at Grand Canyon College in Phoenix. Bill, 44, replaced Paul, 37, as Antelope coach when Paul accepted a six-year contract with the Suns, which reportedly guarantees he’ll be the next head coach of the team.

Paul left big shoes to fill. Grand Canyon is the defending NAIA champion. In two seasons Paul posted a 63-18 record.

But Bill (182-152, 12 seasons) is not letting brother down. The Antelopes are 13-3. Their only losses came on a five-game, seven-day road trip to the Southland. The team fell to Cal State Dominguez Hills (81-73), Cal State San Bernardino (80-66) and UC Riverside (92-78) but won the Occidental Tournament with victories over Chapman College (95-77) and Occidental (88-80).

Bill described the game with Dominguez Hills as “totally weird.”

The officials didn’t show and by the time one of the replacements arrived, the action began 25 minutes late. Grand Canyon spent most of that time on the floor fiddling away a shoot-around.

The team played tired, Westphal said. It had played the night before, then flown to Los Angeles for the Dominguez Hills game on the first leg of an eight-day stay. The Antelopes never got their fast break completely untracked.

“It was just ugly,” said Westphal.

The Antelopes rebounded by winning the Occidental Tournament two nights later, but neither victories reached the century mark. A week ago Grand Canyon was averaging more than 100 points a game but has now scored under the century mark for six games in a row.

One reason has been the loss of its leading scorer, Danl Williams, who injured an ankle and is out indefinitely. Without him, Westphal said, the Antelopes are struggling.

Bill Westphal was the head coach at Occidental when Paul accepted the Phoenix job. Bill was itching to move his family back to Arizona where he had had a short-lived career in the restaurant business between coaching jobs.

“Paul told (Grand Canyon) when he left, ‘Don’t worry, I have someone to replace me,’ ” Bill said. “Paul said: “ ‘That guy is my brother.’ ”

Bill had been at Occidental (1973-80 and 1985-88), Western Washington (1983-1985) and as an assistant with the San Diego Clippers of the NBA (1982).

At Grand Canyon Bill inherited three starters off the championship team that was 37-6. The team won its first 11 games, 10 with Williams in the lineup. They are 3-3 without him.

“I like the running game,” said Bill Westphal. “Without Williams we’ll have to adapt.”

Westphal said the Antelopes are likely to play more of a tempo game. Two big men, 6-foot-9 Robert Enge and 6-10 Chad Olson, should be back soon. Enge sat out the first semester for eligibility reasons and Olson recently had a cast removed from an injured foot. When they are back, Westphal said, he will switch to a power inside game. Senior point guard Craig Johnson, from Mary Star of the Sea High School in San Pedro, will be told to pass more. Johnson scored 31 points against Dominguez Hills, but “I don’t necessarily want 31 points a night out of my point guard,” Westphal said.

“I’m looking for (Craig Johnson) to play a Magic Johnson role--to make everyone else better rather than do all the scoring himself.”

Williams may or may not be back this season, which prompted Westphal to say, “We are by no means a shoe-in for the playoffs.”

Bill plans to be busy in the off-season. Among other things, he and his brother will conduct the Westphal Brothers Basketball Camp in Phoenix.

Junior numbers--Several former South Bay basketball players, all juniors, are performing around the country at four-year institutions. Center Elden Campbell, formerly of Morningside High School, is shining at Clemson. He’s averaging 15.3 points a game to lead the team, is second in rebounds with 7.5 a game and is shooting 55.9% from the field. He leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 41 blocked shots. . . . Former El Camino College standout Kirkland Howling is seeing playing time at Clemson. He’s been in all of the Tigers’ games (starting three), but has been inconsistent from the floor, making just 45.3% of field goal attempts (32% from 3-point range). He’s averaging 6.3 points and about 2 rebounds. . . . Two of his El Camino teammates from the 1988 California community college basketball championship team have met different fates. Center David Lee has played in 8 of 10 games for North Carolina State, averaging about 7.5 minutes of action. Forward Charles White, a community college All-American who signed early with Purdue, is asking the Big-10 Conference to restore his junior year of eligibility. White played sparingly in two games, then injured a shoulder. Purdue officials say they believe White can qualify for a medical exemption, which will give him two more full years of playing time. Rumors that White is considering quitting are unfounded, according to the Purdue sports information office. . . . At UC Santa Barbara, power forward Tony Akins, formerly of Cal State Dominguez Hills, is the ninth man in an offensive strategy by Coach Jerry Pimm that relies mostly on eight players. Akins has played in five games for the undefeated Gauchos. He’s averaging 2 points and 2 rebounds.

Quick Whistle--Substitute referee Danny Yee of Gardena made his presence known quickly after the scheduled officials failed to show for the Cal State Dominguez Hills-Grand Canyon College basketball game last week. The Toro home game had begun with only one substitute official, Jim Gasso of Long Beach, when Yee ran onto the court. He whistled his first foul two seconds later.

Early Prediction--Coach Dave Yanai raised a few eyebrows when he said early in the season that Cal State Dominguez Hills would be a contender for the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball title. Contender might seem a bit strong, considering that the top four teams in the preseason (UC Riverside, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) have a combined mark of 40-10 while Dominguez Hills is only 7-5. Nevertheless, Yanai, a plotter, strategist, knows he doesn’t have to take first place in the regular season to be a “contender.” What he wants to do is position the Toros to grab one of the top four spots so they can advance to the CCAA postseason tournament where, Yanai said, anything can happen in a single-elimination format. Last season Dominguez Hills, which tied for fourth place, won seven of its last 10 CCAA games and in one of those losses had Riverside on the ropes. By winning three of its last four games this preseason, Dominguez Hills is looking more and more like a serious threat for no worse than the fourth spot in the CCAA. Not to be overlooked are the facts that two of its losses came in overtime after blowing big leads. In addition, an exhibition win over a Canadian team does not count in NCAA rules. “Dominguez Hills is much improved,” said Riverside Coach John Masi.

College Notes

The 68 points scored by Enoch Simmons in the last two basketball games has given the Loyola senior more than 1,000 for his career. He entered the week with 1,050, putting him 17th on the Lions’ career list.