WEST COAST CONFERENCE PREVIEW : Best of the Rest May Be Playing for Third

The name has changed, but the faces remain the same.

The West Coast Athletic Conference, after being confused for years with the Western Athletic Conference, has streamlined its title to the West Coast Conference. And please, no comments on how the WCC is no longer athletic. They’ve heard all the jokes.

The WCC’s coaches aren’t kidding when they make Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine the overwhelming favorites to battle for the first basketball title of the new decade. Their players have been on the scene, in some cases, for half of the current decade--fifth-year seniors Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble plus four-year starter Jeff Fryer at Loyola, fifth-year seniors Tom Lewis, Dexter Howard, Craig Davis and Shann Ferch at Pepperdine.

It’s no accident that a Loyola or Pepperdine player has led the conference in scoring the last seven seasons and in rebounding the last four.

That’s enough proven experience to make the other six coaches unanimously see it as a two-team race.

San Francisco’s Jim Brovelli says: “There are two teams above the pack--Pepperdine and Loyola, in either order.”

Paul Landreaux of St. Mary’s adds: “There’s no question that Loyola Marymount will be the team to beat.”

Even Tom Asbury of Pepperdine and Paul Westhead of Loyola, who don’t normally play their own fanfare, admit that if things go right, the WCC race will boil down to their home-and-home showdown in mid-February. Says Asbury: “Loyola and ourselves should be the contenders.” Says Westhead: “The (Pepperdine-Loyola) games will be crucial. Pepperdine is far better than the rest of the league. If there’s a two-team race, it’s (Loyola and Pepperdine).”

Santa Clara, which may have the biggest front line on the West Coast, is probably the closest competitor. Four other teams could challenge for the upper division. But none have the kind of talent or depth of the two Los Angeles schools. In fact, when Gathers, Kimble and Lewis--the trio that left USC after playing together as freshmen--finally graduate, some coaches believe the conference will lose some of the prestige it gained when they transferred into it.

“I think (the WCC) will drop off a little when Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine lose their outstanding players,” Gonzaga Coach Dan Fitzgerald said.

Asbury noted: “The three USC guys have done a lot for our conference. They’re good people, good representatives--and pretty darn good players.”

So, appreciate them this season. The rival coaches do--except when they have to play them.

After Loyola and Pepperdine, here is how the WCC shapes up in the order predicted by the conference’s preseason media poll:

SANTA CLARA

1988-89 Record: 20-11, 7-7

1988-89 Finish: Fifth

Starting his 20th season, Coach Carroll Williams has the kind of physical team he likes.

He will have an even bigger lineup than usual, though the best player is 6-foot-5 swingman Jeffty Connelly, yet another USC transfer.

Sophomore Melvin Chinn, who became the starting point guard as a walk-on freshman, returns along with 6-10 senior center Nils Becker. He is backed up by 6-11 senior Karl Larsen.

Ron Reis, a 7-1 sophomore, has slimmed down to 285 pounds, giving him more mobility, and Williams will also be breaking in 6-10 freshman Carl Anderson.

If Reis becomes a force, the Broncos could make it a three-team race.

ST. MARY’S

1988-89 Record: 25-5, 12-2

1988-89 Finish: First

Coach Paul Landreaux, the former El Camino College coach and UCLA assistant, takes over a team that lost all five starters after the best season in school history. But there may not be as much of a dropoff as some expect.

At the community college level, Landreaux was an adept program-builder who, like predecessor Lynn Nance, stresses defense, so there has been no culture-shock changeover.

Last season’s best reserves, 6-6 forward James Bailey and 6-4 guard Terry Burns, are starters along with talented 6-10 sophomore Eric Bamberger and point guard Mike Vontoure, last year’s backup.

The new face in the lineup is 6-7 freshman forward Demetreus Robbins, an Arizona prep star.

SAN DIEGO

1988-89 Record: 8-20, 2-12

1988-89 Finish: Seventh (tie)

The sleeper tag has been attached to Coach Hank Egan’s team. There are no returnees with overpowering statistics, but three starters are back--center Dondi Bell, swingman Craig Cottrell and guard Gylan Dottin, who was WCC co-freshman of the year--and Egan has eight lettermen in all, as well as some impressive newcomers.

The most important addition may be Arizona State transfer John Jerome, a 6-8 senior with a good outside touch. Bell, a 6-9 junior, led the WCC with 55 blocked shots last season.

Cottrell and Dottin were the leading scorers with averages of 12 points a game.

Others who saw spot starting time last season are guard Wayman Strickland and forwards Keith Colvin, Kelvin Woods and Randy Thompson.

Egan calls last season “probably the toughest I’ve ever had in coaching” but has thoughts of reversing last season’s record.

SAN FRANCISCO

1988-89 Record: 16-12, 8-6

1988-89 Finish: Fourth

While San Diego is the supposed up-and-comer, the Dons are the personal favorite of at least one observer, WCC Commissioner Michael Gilleran, to be the dark horse, despite the loss of four-year standout Mark McCathrion.

“I think they could be surprising,” Gilleran said. “They’ll be more physical than in the past, and perhaps more consistent.”

USF has two of the WCC’s best players in 6-8 senior forward Joel DeBortoli, who averaged 14 points, and senior guard Kevin Ellis.

Three-point specialist Shawn Sykes also returns, as does promising 6-6 junior swingman Scott McWhorter, who scored 34 points off the bench in an upset of Loyola last season.

Coach Jim Brovelli, breaking in five recruits and looking for a center, will experiment with the lineup.

GONZAGA

1988-89 Record: 14-14, 5-9

1988-89 Finish: Sixth

Although he has never had a losing season at Gonzaga, Coach Dan Fitzgerald could be hard-pressed this time. Despite the presence of six seniors, the only proven players are 6-5 fifth-year standout Jim McPhee, who moves from forward to guard, and point guard Mike Winger.

This is the 10th consecutive season that there’s a McPhee on the roster--older brother Bryce also took five years to exhaust his eligibility.

McPhee, who averaged 20.1 points as a junior, and Winger have the green light from three-point range and will be expected to carry the offense.

The questions are up front, where Fitzgerald has moved 6-5 senior Bret Holmdahl from guard and will try 6-8 senior Chris Delaney at center.

PORTLAND

1988-89 Record: 2-26, 2-12

1988-89 Finish: Seventh (tie)

Coach Larry Steele, who never knew what it was to lose when he starred at Kentucky and played with the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers in the ‘70s, knows now. He is 8-48 in two seasons but should have a more competitive team.

The leading scorer, with a 16-point average last season, is Josh Lowery, who returns along with point guard Erik Spoelstra, the WCC co-freshman of the year.

“It has been difficult to root for Portland in the past,” Commissioner Michael Gilleran said. “There’s a different feeling this year. Portland isn’t going to embarrass the league and is going to win some nonleague games.”

Steele will look at a host of newcomers, including 6-10 freshman Shawn Kirkeby out of Buena High School and the WCC’s most intriguing player, 7-5 junior Greg Ritter, a transfer from Tulsa who has little playing experience.