Greer, San Jose St. Both Eager to Put Basketball Boycott Experience Behind

Damon Greer was on semester break Jan. 18 when he and nine other San Jose State basketball players walked out on Coach Bill Berry. Greer was on spring break when he learned Friday night that Berry had been relieved of his position by school administrators who also decided that none of the 10 boycotting players would be welcomed back.

And as far as Greer is concerned, a clean break is what is best for all parties involved.

“It’s sad that he lost his job, but things had to happen for the better,” said Greer, a freshman guard and a 1988 graduate of Cleveland High. “Things needed to happen.”

Greer and nine teammates walked away from the team complaining of “verbal abuse” and “mental cruelty” and vowed never to come back as long as Berry was coach. The 10 got their wish Friday when school administrators dismissed Berry, who completed the season and finished with a 242-244 record in 10 seasons at San Jose State.

Yet while the group succeeded in their goal, all became casualties in the process. Greer said he was not at all surprised to learn that the school decided to make the players collegiate free agents.

“They never seemed to be behind us,” said Greer, who is spending spring break at his parents’ home in Lake View Terrace. “It’s really no surprise. It’s their decision--the program was on shaky ground--and that’s what they wanted to do.”

In a press conference at the school Friday, Athletic Director Randy Hoffman announced the firing and said he was looking for a fresh start.

“The university would like to take its men’s basketball program in a different direction on and off the court,” said Hoffman, who added that a national search has begun for Berry’s successor. San Jose State finished 5-23 and was 0-12 after the player boycott.

Greer said that he began researching alternatives last November, weeks before the season started and months before the walkout.

“I started looking around long before this ever happened,” said Greer, who played in 11 games as a reserve point guard for the Spartans. “I’ve been looking at other options all along.”

Greer would not elaborate on what schools he had contacted but said that he would play at a junior college if necessary and would not be opposed to redshirting next season at a four-year school.

“Redshirting would be no problem at all,” he said. “Let’s just say that I’ve looked at other options, that it’s been taken care of beforehand.”

A National Collegiate Athletic Assn. representative said in January that the boycotting players with eligibility remaining must sit out a season after transferring to satisfy the NCAA residence requirement. It was not known Friday whether the school’s decision to release the players from their scholarships would affect this requirement.

Five of the 10 who left the team were seniors with no remaining eligibility.

Greer said that he would continue to attend class--the school honored the scholarships of the boycotting players through the completion of the spring semester.

Two other former Valley-area players affected by the firing are Sean Davis, a freshman and 1987 graduate of El Camino Real, and Kevin Logan, a 1988 Westlake graduate who redshirted last season and did not participate in the walkout.

Jan Svoboda, a senior center-forward from Glendale High, did not take part in the boycott, but he has no remaining eligibility. Davis, who lives in Los Angeles, could not be reached Friday. Logan, who was visiting his parents in Westlake Village, did not return calls.

Greer said he was unsure what Davis’s plans were but added that all of the players with eligibility started looking long ago for insurance.

“We all looked at the pros and cons of it,” Greer said. “And we said ‘Let’s do it.’ ”