BYU-Hawaii and Dominguez Hills Court Cage Star : Vico Nomaaea, on Church Mission in Samoa, Still Thinking It Over

It is winter in the tiny Pacific island chain of Western Samoa where Vico Nomaaea of Carson has spent almost two years.

Nomaaea, a 1984 all-City basketball player from San Pedro High School, has been walking the rain forests, visiting remote villages in search of religious converts, oblivious to the speculation at home about his basketball plans.

The 6-foot-3 guard, who buried three-point shots at Cal State Dominguez Hills as often as tropical rain falls in the islands, is completing a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Visiting faraway lands on religious missions is expected of Mormon men in their late teens or early 20s.

Nomaaea’s tour ends Sept. 7 and he has two years of college eligibility remaining. It is unclear, however whether he will return to Dominguez Hills. The Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University also wants his talents. Neither school has heard from Nomaaea. In a telephone conversation he said he is not sure what the next few months will bring.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” he said from the mission house in Savaii, the main island of Western Samoa. It took a reporter two weeks to locate him. The few telephone lines into the country were interrupted by bad weather numerous times. Often it was impossible to get a line into the country, and getting Western Samoan operators to answer was frustrating.

Not much is known as to the whereabouts of Nomaaea, even by church elders. He was located on the third try at dialing the mission home, but he was not in the house. He was “out in the field” according to the house mother. Nomaaea was expected back the following Monday (the call was placed on a Thursday), and, although the quality of the phone line was weak, an appointment was made to call back at 9 a.m. local time.

Nomaaea made the appointment, but it is that kind of communication frustration that has kept college recruiters away. Nomaaea said he had not used a telephone in some time.

Winter in the Samoan Islands is very much like winter in Hawaii. The trade wind blows and it rains a bit more. Still, it is a busy time for Nomaaea, who has worked himself into a leadership position in the search for converts. As a zone leader on remote locations, he says he has converted six persons and has another three waiting.

Nomaaea, however, knew little about the interest his return is generating back home. Both Dominguez Hills and BYU-Hawaii have spoken with his parents, Willy and Rosie, who have moved several times since Vico left the mainland.

“I’d like to see him do whatever he wants, Willie Nomaaea said. “It’s his future, not mine. I’m going to sit back and see what happens.”

As a sophomore at Dominguez Hills (he sat out one season because of eligibility problems), Vico averaged 10.5 points, 3.1 assists and three rebounds a game. He is best remembered for his performance in a Western Regional playoff game when he carried a flu-riddled Toro team by sinking eight three-point shots.

But Vico, whose real name is Victor, cautioned that when he returns home he won’t be up to his old playing form immediately. He has not played basketball in quite a while and, he said, is out of shape. In addition, he’s not sure he has his head into the game, or into college, anymore.

“I’m not jumping into school,” he said. “I will miss the first few weeks anyway. I think I’ll sit out the first quarter of the year.”

Nomaaea also said that basketball has been the last thing on his mind.

“Over here the big sport is volleyball,” he said. “For two years I have touched nothing but a volleyball. I don’t know if I have my (shooting) touch now.”

He has gained from 35 to 50 pounds.

“He’s a lot thicker,” his father said. “He left at 182 pounds. Now he’s 210 or 215. I look at the pictures he sends me and I can see he has filled up. He’s not really fat, just solid.”

Vico acknowledged that he has rounded out.

“Eating Samoan food has put meat on my body,” he said. “Lots of taro and poi. All we do is eat and walk, eat and walk.”

Rumors began circulating at Dominguez Hills last fall that Nomaaea would return to the Carson campus to play his junior year for Coach Dave Yanai. Word was that Willie Nomaaea, who plays in a recreational basketball league with Yanai, had guaranteed his son’s return to a Toro uniform.

But his father was noncommittal in a phone conversation. He indicated that Vico wanted to see what Dominguez Hills has to offer.

“Most likely he’s not coming back to Dominguez Hills,” his father said. “He wants to talk to the coach, to see what the deal is.”

BYU-Hawaii, which heard about Nomaaea from a church member here on the mainland, is very interested in Nomaaea.

“A Polynesian Mormon, you bet we are interested in him,” said BYU-Hawaii Coach Chuck Hess. Hess admitted that he had not seen Nomaaea play. However, assistant Hiram Akina indicated that Nomaaea came so highly recommended that he could have a spot on the BYU-Hawaii team almost for the asking.

“We’d love for him to sit down with us and talk,” Akina said.

BYU-Hawaii lost its top player, a popular Hawaiian, to a Mormon mission, Akina said. That makes Nomaaea a prized recruit. However, the college lost contact with Nomaaea’s parents, who moved from Carson to Long Beach several months ago.

School officials seemed delighted when a reporter from California called to inquire about their interest in Nomaaea. The reporter had the new phone number for Vico’s parents.

“I got a couple of letters from them,” Vico said about BYU-Hawaii. “I’m not sure exactly what I am going to do.”

Akina said BYU-Hawaii could offer Nomaaea more than Cal State Dominguez Hills, which remains mum as to its financial plans for its former guard.

Akina said Nomaaea is entitled to a free year of tuition at any BYU campus because of the time he has served on the church’s behalf.

A stumbling block for Nomaaea’s return to Dominguez Hills has been his release date from the mission house. He is not due back in the United States until the second week of September. That would be the fourth week of classes. School officials said that would make it difficult to get Nomaaea enrolled in time to be eligible to play before January.

Akina said that problem would not exist at BYU-Hawaii, an NAIA school also affiliated with the NCAA Division II, because the campus is affiliated with the Mormon church. He said he would ask the church to cut Nomaaea’s mission short by about a month, if needed, so he could enroll at the Oahu campus in late August and be eligible to play basketball when the season begins in November.

BYU-Hawaii seems to be taking a chance on Nomaaea, and Dominguez Hills, which would like to have him back, is prepared to march ahead without him. After Dominguez Hills managed a 20-11 record and a Western Regional Division II berth last year, Yanai was asked what he would do if Nomaaea returned.

“We are recruiting as if he never comes back,” he said. “But we certainly would like to see him here.”

Yanai had a fine recruiting year, but sources at the school say the addition of Nomaaea would give the team maturity. The Toros are expected to start only one senior next year.

Said Hess: “I’ve never heard from (Nomaaea), but I would like to see him come here.”

And so Nomaaea walks the back roads of Western Samoa, looking for converts, unaware of the mounting interest on the mainland about his future.

“I’ve been kind of busy here,” he said. “It’s been a different experience. I’ve noticed that I have grown a lot physically and spiritually. I’m 23 years old and I’m getting to know myself better.”

Nomaaea indicated that he wouldn’t push basketball when he returns to Southern California.

“I might get back into the spirit when I get home. That might help me play ball again.”

The bottom line is, Vico Nomaaea has his fate in his hands. And yet, because of the difficulties in communicating in his part of the world, he is wandering the tropical islands of Western Samoa oblivious to the waiting game being played out back home.

DR, PETE BENTOVOJA / Los Angeles Times