BIG WEST PREVIEW : Morrison Happy, Even Though He Returns at the Bottom

Oct. 15 was a happy day for Stan Morrison, which besides being his birthday is the day college basketball teams are allowed to begin practicing.

“When I blew the whistle for the first time Oct. 15, I really got chills and goosebumps like the first time when I was a high school coach,” Morrison said. “Only people who have been in coaching and then out of it can understand it.”

Morrison, who had once been a successful coach at Pacific, spent the past three years at UC Santa Barbara, working as the athletic director after he resigned at USC. He left coaching behind in 1986.

But he yearned to get back on the court, and now he has, taking over at San Jose State for Bill Berry, who was fired after a season in which 10 players walked out in a dispute with Berry. The Spartans finished with a 5-23 record, 1-17 in the Big West Conference.

The talent on his team this season might be more similar to a high school team than Morrison would like. He has two returning starters in guards Tom Desiano and Dwain Daniels, but both were reserves before the walkout.

Four players who walked out talked with Morrison about returning. Morrison considered it for about 10 days, but he decided not to allow it.

“A lot of coaches were waiting to see if I would give license to that method of solving problems,” he said.

He won’t, but he said he is helping the players transfer.

Morrison calls Ken Young, a 6-7 forward who sat out last season to concentrate on academics, “easily our best player.”

Terry Cannon, a freshman from Crenshaw High School, is likely to start at point guard.

Elsewhere on Morrison’s roster, talent is somewhat lacking. Numbers, however, are not. Morrison is carrying 19 players and says the bench will be two rows deep at home games.

Along with the new faces, the Spartans have a new arena on campus, the 4,600-seat, $36-million Recreation and Events Center.

But it will take some time before Morrison can reconstruct the program.

“It’s easily the most inexperienced team I’ve ever been around,” Morrison said. “It’s also one of the most enjoyable. There are no egos--there are no reasons to have egos.”

A look at the rest of the conference:

CAL STATE FULLERTON

1988-89 Records: 16-13, 10-8

1988-89 Conference Finish: Fourth (tie)

Cedric Ceballos has been regarded as one of the country’s best little-known players so often by now that he may cease to qualify for the honor.

A 6-foot-7, extremely athletic forward, Ceballos led the conference in scoring last season with a 21-point average and was second in rebounding, averaging nine.

Three other starters--sophomore point guard Wayne Williams, senior shooting guard Mark Hill and senior center John Sykes also return to a team that last season was picked to finish ninth in the conference, but surprised almost everyone--including Nevada Las Vegas, upsetting the Rebels. Their performance under acting Coach John Sneed helped hand Sneed a three-year contract at season’s end.

CAL STATE LONG BEACH

1988-89 Records: 13-15, 10-8

1988-89 Conference Finish: Fourth (tie)

This is the mystery team of the conference, although the talented newcomers are no secret to the coaches who competed for them. Nine of 14 players will be playing for Long Beach for the first time, and five didn’t play anywhere last year, some of them coming off redshirt years because of injuries, transfers or academics. The standouts inside are Kevin Cutler, a 6-7, 220-pound junior forward who sat out last season when he became academically ineligible after transferring from a community college, and Frankie Edwards, a sophomore out of Millikan High who was ineligible last season under Proposition 48.

Tyrone Mitchell, a senior guard, is the only returning player who will start. Troy Joseph, Kenny Jarvis and Lucious Harris are also battling for starting spotd.

“People are talking about Long Beach State and our improvement,” Coach Joe Harrington said. “The truth is, we will be improved and I’m excited about this year. We ought to be improved. We spent three years recruiting our butts off to improve and we ought to get there.”

FRESNO STATE

1988-89 Records: 15-14, 9-9

1988-89 Conference Finish: Seventh

Coach Ron Adams began his preseason comments to the media with a greeting: “It’s good to be here,” he said. There was an extra note of sincerity.

Adams’ teams won only nine games in each of his first two seasons, and he was considered on shaky ground until his team pulled out a winning record last season.

Wilbert Hooker, a guard who averaged 11 points a game as a freshman, is back, as are senior point guard Bijou Baly and part-time starting forward Pat Riddlesprigger, a sophomore. The performance of new players will be critical, particularly swingman Tod Bernard, a sophomore who was academically ineligible last season, and junior forward Chris Henderson, a transfer from DePaul who should become eligible in December.

NEVADA LAS VEGAS

1988-89 Records: 29-8, 16-2

1988-89 Conference Finish: First

Even Jerry Tarkanian, usually loathe to admit his team’s excellence, concedes that this team is special.

Assuming center David Butler and forward Moses Scurry can regain their academic eligibility by December as expected, the only key player lost from the team that upset Arizona in making it to the final eight of the NCAA tournament last season is forward George Ackles, out with a broken wrist. And added to the mix is forward Larry Johnson, the 6-foot-7 Odessa (Tex.) College transfer who has, for the time being, relegated forward Stacey Augmon, the Big West player of the year last season, to second billing on the team.

“This team has better talent than our Final Four team,” Tarkanian said, referring to the Rebels’ 1987 team. “But our Final Four team had perfect chemistry.”

The Rebels, with Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt in the backcourt, are the preseason No. 1 team by the Associated Press.

“I don’t know if we should be No. 1,” Tarkanian said. “I think that after Dec. 17 (when Butler and Scurry should become eligible), we are right there with the best teams, like Syracuse, Georgetown and LSU.”

NEW MEXICO STATE

1988-89 Records: 21-11, 12-6

1988-89 Conference Finish: Second

The Aggies are still smarting over being left out of the NCAA tournament last season despite finishing second to UNLV and winning 21 games. A nonconference schedule that was perceived to be weak probably was the reason.

This season, with very little experience, the Aggies shouldn’t be expected to contend.

Senior forwards James Anderson and Keith Hill are the only starters back. Guard William Benjamin should also contribute. Otherwise, Coach Neil McCarthy is counting on starters to emerge from among a group of community college transfers--guard Randy Brown, forwards Michael New and Rick Fluckey, center Jason Trask and swingman Reggie Jordan.

PACIFIC

1988-89 Records: 7-21, 3-15

1988-89 Conference Finish: Ninth

The Tigers made progress last season in Coach Bob Thomason’s first year, but still are just a notch ahead of San Jose State in the conference.

“We should be a much improved team this season, but we need to develop our team confidence and you can only do that by winning games,” Thomason said.

Pacific has five starters back, but newcomers may replace some of them. Key players are junior center Don Lyttle, sophomore guard Dell Demps and community college transfer Anthony Woods, a point guard. Rich Ressa, another community college transfer, is likely to start at small forward.

UC IRVINE

1988-89 Records: 12-17, 8-10

1988-89 Conference Finish: Eighth

As always, Coach Bill Mulligan gets to the point. “Our biggest problem last year was that we averaged 82 points per game and our opponents averaged 86, plus shot 51% from the floor,” he said. “We are going to have to straighten that out.”

Mulligan abandoned the Anteaters’ impersonation of Loyola Marymount last season, and says that this year Irvine will try to become better defensively.

Mulligan says Ricky Butler, the 6-7, 255-pound center, is much improved, and that Irvine will go to him more. Other returning starters are senior guard Rod Palmer and junior forward Jeff Herdman, who led the nation in three-point percentage last year before a late slump.

Mulligan says he is committed this year to playing shooting guard Justin Anderson, instead of pulling him when he starts cold. Rob Doktorczyk, a senior forward, is the likely other starter, with senior Mike Labat as sixth man.

UC SANTA BARBARA

1988-89 Records: 21-9, 11-7

1988-89 Conference Finish: Third

Guard Carrick DeHart is finally a senior after starting 87 of 89 games his first three seasons, and forward Eric McArthur, who led the conference in rebounding and blocked shots although he is just 6-6, is also back. Paul Johnson and Mike Elliott are the other likely starters in the backcourt, with Gary Gray joining McArthur inside.

The Gauchos lost inside player Mike Doyle, who shared the scoring lead with DeHart with a 16-point average, when he decided to leave school last spring. Coach Jerry Pimm’s preseason concern has been finding a point guard. DeHart may move over to the position, and Elliott is another of five candidates.

UTAH STATE

1988-89 Records: 12-16, 10-8

1988-89 Conference Finish: Fourth (tie)

The Aggies were the last conference team other than UNLV to play in the NCAA tournament, making it in 1988 after winning the Big West tournament. After a disappointing season last year, Coach Kohn Smith is starting over.

There is only one senior on the roster, and 70% of last season’s scoring is gone, including Reid Newey, who was second in the conference. Kendal Youngblood, a guard who was the Big West freshman of the year last season, is the top returner. Also back: forward Darrel White, the only senior. Guard Albert Chappell, who had become a freshman starter late in the season before injuring his knee, returned to practice only last week.