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He May Be in No-Win Situation at Arizona State : Schermerhorn Replaces Patterson as Interim Coach of the Dismal Wildcats

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<i> Times Staff Writer</i>

UC Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan got a call from an old friend Sunday morning. An old friend who sounded a little different.

Bob Schermerhorn, who was Mulligan’s assistant at Irvine for three seasons, was named interim coach at Arizona State Saturday when Steve Patterson resigned under pressure.

“He didn’t sound as happy-go-lucky as usual,” Mulligan said, laughing.

Schermerhorn, 44, has been a Sun Devil assistant for two years. He was selected ahead of two-year assistant Frank Arnold, former head coach at Brigham Young and Hawaii.

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The Sun Devils lost to California, 73-63, in Schermerhorn’s debut Saturday.

“Yeah, I’m feeling a little pressure,” Schermerhorn said, “but what the hell? I’ll dance with these guys for eight games and see how it goes.”

The prospects are not great. Arizona State is 10-10 overall, 3-8 in Pacific 10 Conference play and has lost eight of its last 11 games.

Point guard Terence Wheeler, the Sun Devils’ leading scorer, is out for the season with a knee injury and starting power forward Mark Beck broke his wrist last week.

“I’d say I was an outside candidate for the job,” Schermerhorn said. “The administration here is under a lot of pressure to hire a name coach . . . a Larry Brown or a Jim Valvano. And that’s the direction they’re going to go, especially if we go 1-7 like we’re supposed to.

“Right now, the players like me, the administration likes me and the public doesn’t know me. But if we get hot and win the Pac-10 tournament, or if we beat Arizona. . . . “

It doesn’t seem likely Schermerhorn will be Arizona State’s head coach next season, but the team’s performance the rest of the year could help in his bids for coaching jobs at Cal State Fullerton and Chapman College.

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“The people there like him and the kids love him,” Mulligan said. “He might not get the job at Arizona State, but this ought to give his career a big boost.”

Schermerhorn was named Orange League coach of the year twice during a four-year stint at Anaheim’s Canyon High School. He also coached at Chaffey College and was 68-42 in four seasons at Southern Utah State.

Schermerhorn, who played at Orange Coast College, said he would love to return to Southern California, unless, of course, he gets the Sun Devil job.

“I’d love to come home,” he said. “And I think I could do a good job there. Heck, if I recruited Orange County kids to come to Cedar City, Utah, I think I could get them to play at Fullerton or Chapman.”

Southern Utah State, with four California community college transfers in the starting lineup, was 22-5 in Schermerhorn’s last season as coach.

He has applied for both the Fullerton and Chapman positions and says he is eager to talk with administrators at both schools about “their resources and the direction they’re headed.”

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“Right now, I just want to get with the players and practice,” he said. “Saturday was the longest day. I didn’t find out until 11 in the morning. It’s been hectic, but it’s a great opportunity.”

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