The Colleges : Dedication Pays Off for Ass’ad and Cal State Northridge Soccer Recruits

Marwan Ass’ad, soccer coach at Cal State Northridge, is in a rather enviable position.

While most of his colleagues are scrambling to sign recruits to letters of intent this week, Ass’ad is poor enough that he can afford to relax a little.

Northridge, like many schools on the West Coast, has few soccer scholarships to offer, and Ass’ad intends to distribute his limited resources close to home.

“We had a lot of redshirts and freshmen on the team last season who were paying their own way,” Ass’ad said. “I’m going to take care of those guys first because they’ve been dedicated to us.”

Ass’ad said more than a half dozen recruits from Valley-area schools are interested in attending Northridge, but he is uncertain how many of them eventually will sign.

“Everybody wants you to pay for them to come, but I say if they want to come, OK, then when they prove themselves I’ll pay,” Ass’ad said.

Northridge, with as many as six freshmen in its starting lineup, advanced to the Division II championship game last season and finished with an 18-8 record. Ass’ad expects CSUN’s tradition of fielding strong teams to draw a number of top prospects even if they have to pay their own way. Teddy Davila of Reseda and Jerry Miller of Hart already have made oral commitments.

“I think if I was a soccer player from the Valley I’d come to Northridge and take the risk,” Ass’ad said.

Sporting family: When Teddy Davila signs a letter of intent, he will join his older brother, Terry, on the Northridge soccer team. Their father, Tony, is coach of the CSUN women’s tennis team.

Groundskeeper: Listen to Joey Kane, a pitcher for Valley College, describe teammate Tim DeGrasse, who has a 7-0 record this season.

“He just seems to do a great job,” said Kane, who also played with DeGrasse at Notre Dame High. “He’s the main guy on the mound.”

In more ways than one.

DeGrasse, a sophomore right-hander, is the designated groundskeeper for the mound area at Valley. He has raked, shoveled and watered the dirt for the entire season.

Rain forced the cancellation of two scheduled home starts earlier this season, but today DeGrasse finally gets a start on the mound he has manicured so well when Valley (23-6-1, 8-4 in the Western State Conference) plays host to Ventura (22-8, 10-3), which is in first place in the WSC.

However, DeGrasse has looked good this season regardless of where he has pitched, which is in sharp contrast to last season when he finished 3-8.

“Last year was a learning experience,” DeGrasse said. “Instead of just trying to beat the batter, I was thinking too much about my mechanics.”

Lights, camera, action: There’s nothing unusual about football players running passing patterns or blocking drills on the football field at Valley College. Rarely, however, does Coach Chuck Ferrero yell “cut,” between drills or have his players do retakes in order to get a better camera angle.

An exception is occuring this week for the filming of a television commercial. The actors--wearing full uniforms, shoulder pads and helmets--are using the main field, while Ferrero conducts spring football practice on an adjoining field.

New teammates: Shanan Rosenberg and Percy Fisher, high school basketball recruits signed by Northridge on Wednesday, played against each other in the West Catholic Athletic League in the San Francisco area.

Rosenberg, a 6-8 forward, averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds a game for second-place St. Francis and Fisher, a 6-7 forward, averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds for league-champion Riordan, which annually fields one of the state’s best high school teams.

Add Mata-hoops: Pete Cassidy, CSUN’s basketball coach, likes his point guard to be a coach-on-the-floor type. He seems to have found one in Al Jackson, a 6-1 guard from West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif., who signed a letter of intent Wednesday.

Jackson, who helped guide West Valley to a 24-6 record in 1988, sat out last season while finishing his associate of arts degree.

How did he spend the extra time off?

By coaching junior varsity basketball at a local high school.

Said Cassidy: “He’s strong, tough, has good leadership qualities, plays good defense and handles the ball well. I think he’s exactly what we need.”

Staff writers Mike Hiserman, Ralph Nichols, Gary Klein and Sam Farmer contributed to this notebook.