Family Influence Wins Pilots’ Whitfield for Stanford

Bob Whitfield, whose balance of athletic ability and good grades made him the most sought-after football prospect in the South Bay, ended the suspense Tuesday by verbally committing to Stanford.

The 6-7, 275-pound offensive tackle from Banning High said a coaching change and the influence of his family persuaded him to choose the Cardinal over Michigan and Notre Dame. He also visited UCLA and Miami.

“(Stanford Coach) Dennis Green had a major influence on me,” Whitfield said. “I liked him the first time we met and I know he’s a good coach. He’s putting in a pro-style offense, similar to that of the 49ers, which I liked. If I want to pursue a career in the pros after college, this will help me.”

Green, an assistant coach with the 49ers, replaced Jack Elway as Stanford coach after the season, becoming the first black head football coach in the Pac-10 Conference. Almost immediately, Green began pursuing Whitfield, rated the No. 1 prospect in the Far West by Super Prep magazine.

Until then, Whitfield had narrowed his choices to Michigan and Notre Dame.

“(Green) called me and set up a home visit,” he said. “I talked to him for about two hours and decided to visit Stanford.”

The two-time All-L.A. City lineman took his final recruiting trip to Palo Alto last weekend.

Stanford was also the first choice of Whitfield’s mother and sister, who attends Cal State Hayward in the Bay area. Whitfield said being close to his sister weighed heavily in his decision.

“Sometimes kids get it in their heads that they want to go back east to school,” said John Becker, Banning recruiting coordinator. “Then they find out how far it is and how long it takes to fly there.

“Stanford is perfect for Bob. You cannot knock the facilities or the logistics. It’s close enough to come home. The key thing was that the mother wanted him to go there since he was in the 10th grade.”

Whitfield was one of three Banning players to give verbal commitments this week. Defensive back Paul Montgomery committed to Oregon State and linebacker Randy Woolridge picked Northern Arizona, giving the Pilots at least nine players who are expected to sign with four-year colleges when the letter-of-intent period starts Wednesday.

Said Gardena basketball Coach Bill Hughes before the season: “If spring and summer league was any indication, we’ll be one of the better teams in the City.”

Hughes has a different opinion now, his team languishing in last place in the Southern League with a 2-5 record.

What went wrong?

Although Gardena played well during the off-season, winning 30 of 35 games in the summer, Hughes said he underestimated the competition in the L.A. City 4-A Division and the disparity among teams.

“I’m more realistic now to what’s going on in the City, how powerful the teams are,” he said. “I’ve had coaches tell me (that) if I want to win at Gardena I’ll have to recruit, and I’m not willing to do that.

“I think I’m a good coach, and I can’t win. I enjoy coaching when things are equal. It makes it frustrating because things are not equal.”

Hughes’ frustration reached the boiling point Jan. 13 when he was involved in an argument with an official after Gardena’s 75-74 overtime loss to Banning. He was suspended by the school for one game.

Hughes, who coached Reseda to L.A. City 3-A titles in 1983 and ‘84, says Gardena does not belong in 4-A. The Mohicans were 6-17 overall and 1-9 in the Marine League last season when they were one of three 4-A teams that missed the playoffs. Despite the finish, they were kept in 4-A when leagues were realigned for this season.

On the other hand, Fremont, a 4-A semifinalist last season, was moved down to the 3-A Division.

“It’s almost like (L.A. City) is punishing us,” Hughes said. “The kids worked very hard in the off-season. But if we lose our last three games, it means we worked all those hours and months to win one more league game than last year.

“I can’t justify that when I look at my kids and my family. I took all that time away from them, and for what?”

Steve Carroll, Bishop Montgomery’s new football coach, hopes to succeed where others have failed by turning the Knights into a winner in the Angelus League.

“We’re in the toughest league in the state,” he said. “I have one main goal, and that is to reach the top of the league. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and patience, but we should be able to get it done.”

Carroll, who will remain athletic director, has a history of winning. Before coming to Bishop Montgomery last year, he was an assistant coach for two seasons at the University of Nevada-Reno and helped the Wolfpack to 11-1 and 13-1 records. Before that, he was defensive coordinator for two years at Rice High School in Altair, Tex., which won back-to-back district titles.

Although Bishop Montgomery has never qualified for the Southern Section playoffs from the Angelus League--posting a 6-18 record over the last five years--Carroll believes it’s only a matter of time before the Knights join the upper echelon of Servite, Mater Dei, Bishop Amat and St. Paul.

“I think it’s a great possibility within the next few years that we will become very competitive in the Angelus League,” he said. “I would not have taken the job if I did not think the program had a chance at some point to be competitive and win the Angelus League title.”

Carroll was encouraged by the strength of Bishop Montgomery’s underclass teams last season.

Carroll, 29, takes over for Andy Szabatura, who resigned last week after coaching the Knights to a 21-29 record in five seasons.

St. Bernard forward Juno Armstrong, sidelined for more than a month because of a viral infection that settled in his right leg, made his first start since Dec. 17 in the Vikings’ 103-101 non-league basketball loss Monday night to St. Paul at Loyola Marymount University.

A three-year varsity starter and the team captain, Armstrong scored five points in his first stint of extended playing time since the Beverly Hills Tournament in the second week of the season. When he went out of the lineup, the 6-4 senior was averaging 16 points a game.

St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune said Armstrong’s condition has gradually improved.

“The leg was at its worst about two weeks ago,” McClune said. “It had atrophied. I’d say it was about 70% of its regular size. It looked as if he had been in a cast for several months.”

Armstrong’s improvement gives the Vikings hope that he can contribute in the Southern Section 5-AA playoffs, but McClune remains cautious.

“Trouble is,” he said, “he’s lost a lot of quickness.”

Torrance guard Rick Robison, leading scorer in the South Bay with a 28.1 average, had 20 points Tuesday night to lead the Tartars to a 74-60 Bay League win over Palos Verdes, four days after suffering minor injuries in a car accident.

Coach Carl Strong said Robison was riding with friends in the camper of a pickup truck Friday night when the vehicle hit a curb and flipped. The 6-foot junior suffered “bumps and bruises,” Strong said, but was able to play and help Torrance remain in a tie for second place in the league.

“It’s a miracle none were killed,” Strong said.

The Tartars and Inglewood, both 7-3 in the Bay standings, meet at 7:30 tonight at Torrance to decide sole possession of second place.

Inglewood’s star player is also hurting. Forward Harold Miner suffered a sprained ankle in the Sentinels’ 76-72 win over league leader Rolling Hills on Tuesday night and is questionable tonight.

PREP NOTES--Marc Gerhardt, the new baseball coach at South Torrance High, is looking for a coach for the Spartans’ junior varsity team. Anyone interested can call Gerhardt at 419-2565 (days) or at 540-9773 (nights and weekends). Gerhardt formerly was head baseball coach at Inglewood and Lennox and was an assistant for four years at South . . . The El Segundo soccer team leads the Camino Real League with an 8-1-1 record following 2-0 wins over former co-leader Bosco Tech on Saturday and Verbum Dei on Tuesday. Sweeper Greg Brooks and goaltender Rolic Rougsegger are the leaders of the Eagles’ defense, which has recorded four straight shutouts . . . Jennifer Stone added to her team-leading goal total with one score and goaltender Darla Cuiper recorded her 13th shutout Tuesday as the Hawthorne girls soccer team remained in first place in the Bay League with a 2-0 win over Santa Monica. The Cougars (17-1-3 overall and 8-1 in the league) are ranked seventh in the Southern Section 4-A Division.

South Bay’s Basketball Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters Records Through Tuesday’s Games

Rank, School, League: Record

1 Westchester (Metro)): 13-4

2 St. Bernard (Camino Real): 19-4

3 Rolling Hills (Bay): 18-4

4 Morningside (Ocean): 15-4

5 Carson (Pacific): 11-7

6 Inglewood (Bay): 12-7

7 Redondo (Ocean): 14-6

8 Torrance (Bay): 12-8

9 Leuzinger (Bay): 12-10

10 Gardena (Southern): 11-9