Player Returns to Loyola Seeking Some Calm After Storm : After Turbulent College Basketball Career, Steve Haney Tries to Keep a Low Profile as He Plays in Summer Pro League Games

It might be more fitting if Steve Haney were a pivot man, because as a basketball prodigy the 6-foot-2 guard has seemingly been at the center of a storm ever since he hit the West Coast five years ago.

Haney, a Magic Johnson protege who left the Loyola Marymount basketball team in a snit four years ago, is back at Loyola playing in the Summer Pro League, looking for a new, quieter chapter in his career after a tumultuous ending to his college days.

Haney, who wouldn’t normally stand out in a crowd, never seemed to be able to escape controversy in college. He left Loyola in Coach Paul Westhead’s first year, as the Lions were about to embark on their unprecedented run of three post-season appearances in four years. He eventually ended up at San Jose State, where for his last--and most remarkable--feat he ended up in the middle of one of the ugliest player-coach disputes in NCAA history. It seemed his college career was played to the tune of Groucho Marx’s “Hello, I must be Going.”

Haney is now back in Los Angeles--his first appearance at Loyola in four years--trying to find a future in basketball that will be less hectic than the last four years.

“It’s kinda weird,” he said of his return to Loyola. “It brought back a lot of memories, good memories as well as bad.”

Haney, who doesn’t look much older than he did as a freshman at Loyola, has been a shooting guard his entire career, but is now trying to learn the point position. Bouncing around several teams of free agents and NBA veterans, Haney is getting little playing time but is hopeful of a pro career.

“The NBA is kind of a long shot in my situation,” he admitted, “but we’ve talked to (teams in) Switzerland and France. We’ll (probably) go more that avenue.”

Haney’s situation is helped by the fact he’s represented by Magic Johnson’s former agent, Charles Tucker, in Michigan. Haney grew up in Johnson’s hometown of Lansing, Mich., followed in his footsteps as a star at Everett High School and found his way to Loyola via Johnson’s recommendation. Haney’s connections got him a spot in the summer league without the usual tryout for free agents.

Haney is taking a cautious approach to the future: “I’m hoping it’ll work out, keeping in shape. I don’t have all my eggs in one basket--pro ball is too unpredictable. Chances are I’ll be playing in Europe. That’ll be fine. If it doesn’t work out I’ll go back to San Jose and finish my degree. That’s a top priority.”

Haney’s new-found maturity has been earned. For a player to whom the game has always come easily, basketball has held some hard lessons.

As a freshman at Loyola in 1984-’85, his instant offense helped a struggling Lions team. Combining a sure jumper with a knack for finding the tiniest sliver of space to the basket, Haney had several impressive games off the bench, including 20 points in 20 minutes against Arizona at Tucson, and was promoted to the starting lineup by Coach Ed Goorjian. He went on to average 15 points and three assists as a starter and twice scored 25 points.

But the next season Goorjian was gone and Westhead was the new coach. Westhead told Haney he was unimpressed with his intensity on defense and he would be playing behind freshman Enoch Simmons. Haney, insulted that he wasn’t starting, left school in mid-December.

“One of the reasons I left was (Westhead) told me I wasn’t playing defense. Now I see them giving up 100 points a game,” Haney said with an ironic laugh. “I think it was a kind of psychological move on his behalf. People around Loyola tried hard to get me to come back. Westhead called me. I should have. I look at that stuff after practice at San Jose and laugh.”

Haney went back to Michigan, pondered his situation for a while, then turned his attention back to California. Coach Bill Berry invited him to San Jose, where he enrolled. Looking back, Haney now says, “I never really did get along with Berry.”

Haney sat out the rest of that season, red-shirted another year, then was finally back in uniform in 1987-’88. He roomed with Ricky Berry, the team star and coach’s son. In 18 games, Haney averaged 12.8 points.

“It was a frustrating year,” he said. “I’d score 30 points against Memphis State, then come back and get 2 against Pacific.” The team was also spotty, going 14-15. Haney said Berry, who had a reputation as a screamer on the court, was becoming increasingly strident. One outside observer says Berry’s reputation wasn’t helped that year because his son appeared to be the only player who wasn’t berated during games.

Still, Haney entered his senior season optimistically, and got off to a good start. The three-point rule was in effect, and it seemed made for him. He was named to the all-tournament team at Nebraska and scored 29 points against the host Cornhuskers, and came back with another 29 against cross-town rival Santa Clara. He had another big game against New Mexico. He was averaging about 20 points and shooting 44% from three-point range when he was suddenly benched.

“I had real high hopes, and they were being fulfilled,” he said. “After the New Mexico State game (Berry) called me in the office. He said he’d heard something about my personal life he didn’t like. He wouldn’t say what it was. Then I get put on the bench for no given reason. He started a guy in front of me who was averaging 1 point.”

Haney had started 13 games, then played in three more off the bench. The team was 5-11 and Berry’s tirades were becoming so profane and personal, Haney said, that players were finding it unbearable. A sophomore, Sean Davis, told The Times he was “even scared about shooting and scared to dribble the ball.” A freshman, Damon Greer, said the team’s “confidence is totally shot.”

At that point, the entire team decided it could no longer work with Berry. The team boycotted practice and held a press conference on Jan. 17 this year to demand that Berry be removed. Citing the athletic equivalent of irreconcilable differences, the team announced it would no longer play for the veteran coach. Haney said he agreed with his teammates and was merely going to stay in the background when the chosen spokesman got cold feet. Haney read the team’s statement and found himself at the head of a rebellion that one National Collegiate Athletic Assn. official called unmatched in collegiate history. “Collectively I’ve never seen or heard of a walkout similar to this,” Rick Evrard, NCAA director of legislative services, told The Times.

The reaction was instantaneous: Berry, who had been under fire, became a sympathetic figure and 10 of the players--including Haney--who refused to go back were kicked off the team. Four returned. Berry, with one starter left, put together a pickup team made up largely of football players, and finished the schedule.

“We had a hard time telling the press because the stuff he was saying was too sickening, so off the wall,” Haney said. “It was more bizarre than anything else. The fact the whole team did what we did should tell you there was something wrong. We tried to tell the young guys, ‘Go back to the team, don’t lose your scholarships,’ but they didn’t.”

Still, Haney now says he is sorry for the way things worked out, for Berry and for his teammates, as well as personally: “To me the cause was right. What we did was right. The thing I regret was people said I had a lot to do with it. I really didn’t. (Reading the statement) was probably my biggest mistake--I became the spokesman . . . came off as the fall guy.

“I believe the coach runs the show. You can’t have players running things. I’ve always believed that. The thing is, (Berry) is a nice guy. I think it was just the coaching situation, the job pressure. All we got was negative humiliation for four years. The (pickup) team he started averaged more than we did; people said that was a great coaching job. To me, that shows he did a really bad job with us, because we had a lot of talent.”

A San Jose State official said Haney, who has a likable, somewhat impish personality, didn’t have a reputation as a troublemaker. As for Haney’s role in the uprising, “only the 10 really know what went on,” the official said.

After the season, Berry was released by San Jose and replaced by former USC Coach Stan Morrison. He remains in the San Jose area but has kept an extremely low profile. Despite numerous attempts, The Times was unable to reach Berry for comment.

There were psychological repercussions for the players as well. The players were seen as villains around campus. “There was some unusual behavior. Guys were getting in fights in the dorms, stuff like that,” Haney said. “A couple of the guys actually had to see psychologists.”

In retrospect, of course, Haney should never have left Loyola. Certainly, in the last three years under Westhead, there have been enough points to go around for everyone.

“Regret leaving? How could you not?” Haney said.

But hindsight is 20/20 and a less impetuous Haney is still focused on the future, with a wary eye. “I’ve always known people are with you when you’re going well, and not with you when you’re going bad,” he said.

And for a while the only antagonists Haney wants to face are those in opposing uniforms. It would be a nice change.