Notebook : Sean Waters : Palmisano Is Going Places in Basketball

When Teresa Palmisano first picked up basketball as a sport, she never dreamed it would be her ticket to traveling around the world.

Palmisano has been selected to a women’s basketball team representing the Pacific 10 Conference that will leave Friday for an 11-day trip to Budapest, Hungary.

“I think this is great opportunity for me to play international ball and see another level of competition,” Palmisano said. “I’ve never been out of the United States.”

Palmisano, a 6-2 forward, had never been out of state before her senior year at Buena High. Her first excursion was a recruiting trip to visit Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

“I remember I didn’t like sitting in the same seat for five hours,” said Palmisano, who eventually signed a letter of intent with Cal.

The Pac-10 all-star team includes at least one player from each Pac-10 schools and is coached by Elwin Heiny of Oregon. Palmisano was selected after leading the Golden Bears in scoring (14 points a game) and rebounding (7.8) last season as sophomore.

The all-star team began practicing Monday at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. The team will arrive in Budapest on Saturday and will play seven games in five cities during the trip. Palmisano acknowledged that she does not know too much about the country.

“You hear about people going to London or Paris, but not Hungary,” Palmisano said. “I’m not sure how I’ll react. I know I’ll be a little scared. I think it’s scary for anyone to travel by themselves. But it’s something I want to do.”

Palmisano hopes her travel plans include a trip to Barcelona for the 1992 Summer Olympics.

“I always wanted to make the Olympic team,” she said. “I’m reaching that goal slowly and this is one of the first steps.”

Signing: Marcus Littlejohn, a swingman from Sherman Oaks CES High, committed to play basketball at Cal Lutheran on Monday. Littlejohn averaged 24.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists a game last season.

Want ads: Instead of getting a dream backfield, Ventura College Coach Phil Pasno will settle for one talented tailback to carry the offensive load this season for the Pirates.

Pasno expected to get at least one speedster from a pool of recent graduates of county high schools. John Johnson from Channel Islands High will go to Ventura, but will play baseball next season, Hueneme High grad Freddie Bradley, who has been practicing all summer with the Pirates, said he will attend Moorpark College. And Chris Lambert from Ventura High will be a walk-on at Nebraska.

“I don’t know who is going to run for us,” Pasno said. “We have one returning tailback and a bunch of fullback types. It’s going to be interesting.”

Sophomore Ryan Rapoza, who was used mostly as a return specialist last year, heads the list of four candidates. Rapoza had 1,043 all purpose yards (407 rushing, 163 receiving and 473 return yards). Paul Rezac rushed 152 times for 884 yards and 11 touchdowns for St. Bonaventure High. There are also two contenders from out of the area--Collis Seale-McConnie from London and Shawn Jackson from Detroit.

A logical choice, Tim Albrent from Ventura High, was knocked out of contention for tailback when returning quarterback Todd Paffhausen suffered a broken right hand. Now Albrent is more valuable as a quarterback for the Pirates.

Where has he heard that before?

After an impressive junior season as tailback, Albrent reluctantly moved to quarterback as a senior at Ventura High.

What the Pirates don’t lack are kickers. Albrent and Steve Blundell from Nordhoff High were among the top punters in the Southern Section. And Pasno’s choice of potential placekickers will include freshmen Ty Hewitt from Buena High, Eric Suwyn of Hueneme High and John Mogler from Thousand Oaks High.

Peaked too soon?: Shauna MacEwen of Westlake Village hoped to at least duplicate her qualifying time in the 800-meter freestyle Friday at the U. S. Senior National swim meet at USC. MacEwen fell short of that goal but accomplished another.

In her second appearance at Nationals, MacEwen timed 8:57.24 to finish a convincing third in her early afternoon heat and 14th overall. She had qualified with a time of 8:54.32 earlier this summer in the L.A. Invitational.

“To shave and taper twice in one season is really hard,” MacEwen said. “The last 200 meters were harder than it should have been.”

But MacEwen finished ahead of her friend and rival Joyce Lightfoot of Fullerton Aquatic Swim Team, who placed fifth in the heat.

“The last couple of years she’s been a step ahead of me,” MacEwen said of Lightfoot.

Correction: It was incorrectly reported last week that Mike Dunlap of Cal Lutheran coached recruit Matt Wilkins last year at Lathrop High in Lathrop, Alaska. Dunlap was an assistant basketball coach at USC before accepting his position at Cal Lutheran. Dunlap played basketball at Lathrop before graduating in 1976.