San Jose St. Starts Long Climb Back

With Nevada Las Vegas again representing the northern-most in basketball quality, the big news in the Big West can be found at the southern end of the standings.

There’s a new worst team in the conference.

And its name isn’t San Jose State.

That final score on the Bren Center scoreboard Thursday night--San Jose 75, UC Irvine 69--is for real. The basketball program that all but gave itself the death penalty last season is not only fogging the mirror, but has a pulse beating strong enough now to beat once-decent teams on their home court.

If this evening meant more heartburn for Irvine’s Bill Mulligan, whose incredible shrinking team is now 2-9, it meant history for San Jose.

For the first time since last Jan. 3, the Spartans won a conference game--ending a streak of 17 consecutive Big West defeats.

For the first time since Jan. 14 of 1988, the Spartans won a conference game on the road--ending a 16-game streak.

And for the first time since the 1987-88 season, the Spartans can look down in the conference standings and see another face staring back.

At 4-7, San Jose has become a genuine success story in this season in college basketball.

About this time last year, the San Jose program was rocked by mutiny, with 10 players staging a midseason walkout and demanding the removal of then-head coach Bill Berry. Berry stayed, long enough, at least, to finish 5-23 with a patchwork roster of football players and team managers. But soon after the season, he, too, was gone and former USC Coach Stan Morrison enlisted to build anew.

If the cupboard inherited by Morrison wasn’t entirely bare, it certainly gave new meaning to the term San Jose spartan. Only three players made the transition from spring to fall and when four of the Gang of Ten petitioned to rejoin the team this October, Morrison decided to veto it and damn the consequences.

“I did it for two reasons,” Morrison says. “First, I did it in the best interest of the (four) players. I didn’t want them to be saddled with 10 tons of bricks--’Oh, he’s one of those guys.’ At least this way, each of them can continue their college experience without that hanging over them.

“Secondly, I couldn’t give credence to that kind of action. You don’t walk away. That doesn’t solve the problem. If you have a problem with a coach, that’s why schools have a campus ombudsman.”

What Morrison was left with was a collection of guards as slow as they are small and a crazy quilt of postmen candidates.

One, in fact, actually, was a post man. His name is Kenne Young. Last year, he worked for the United Parcel Service. This year, Morrison calls him his best player.

“Of our five postmen,” Morrison says, “none of them played last year. Three didn’t even practice.

“One guy had a full-time job with UPS. One guy was a redshirt walk-on. Two guys were Prop. 48 kids (academically ineligible). And the other played in high school last year--and was not a starter.”

Morrison says he likes a challenge and sincerely wanted to get back into coaching, but does anybody really miss anything this much?

“A friend of mine--who shall go nameless--saw a few of our first practices and knew our schedule,” Morrison said. “He told me, ‘You can’t win a game. Are you ready for this?’ ”

Morrison wasn’t sure. And for four games, neither were the Spartans, whose 0-4 start stretched the team’s losing streak to 21 over two seasons. The school record, 22, seemed destined to fall.

But on Dec. 11, San Jose stunned TCU, 70-69, and then came back with back-to-back victories over Santa Clara and Idaho State. Three victories in a row--and a reason to believe.

“We’re like an expansion team,” Morrison says with a grin. “We have a few guys we picked up on waivers--and a few guys still on injured reserve.”

Thursday’s victory at the Bren Center was typical of the new San Jose style--which, in itself, is anti-style. The Spartans don’t do anything particularly well except work up a sweat. But against Irvine, that was more than enough.

“You have to play--and we played,” Morrison said, groping for any kind of compliment for the troops. “We played hard for 40 minutes. We didn’t play technically well for 40 minutes, but we played hard.

“I’m happy for the players. They deserved something to keep their heads up. . . . Right now, the big thing is just to win a game. At home, on the road, in my backyard--it’s a big deal, whenever we win.”

Morrison estimates the rebuilding project will take “three to four years,” so patience will have to be a San Jose virtue. But, already, the Spartans have matched their Big West victory total of last season and last place, at least temporarily, has been vacated.

Do they know how to play in San Jose?

They’re getting there, they’re getting there.