CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Anderson a Perfect Fit on Sneed’s Titan Team

The list of things Van Anderson can do is long.

He can fix any old Volkswagen Bug until it runs fine. He can put in new seats and make sure it gets a nice paint job.

On a basketball court, he can play intense, in-your-face defense--nothing spectacular, but most effective.

And he can tell you who cooks about the best gumbo you’ll ever taste--his mother, Sydney.

One thing Anderson cannot do well is shoot a basketball, particularly not off-balance or with a hand in his face. For a college basketball player, this can be a problem.

Anderson has scored in double figures only five times in three seasons at Cal State Fullerton, and he is averaging three points and three rebounds a game this year.

But for the past five games, Anderson has been one of the five names called at the beginning of the Titans’ games, starting at forward.

“Every team has a couple of players who will sacrifice individual glory and limelight for the best of the team,” Fullerton Coach John Sneed said. “Van’s just as happy getting two points as 10 points as long as we win. His team goals are much higher than his individual goals.”

The remarkable thing is that Anderson, a 6-foot-4 senior, is fitting in with what the team needs, as he has time after time in a tumultuous three years at Fullerton.

“When things get tough in practice or in a game, Van is always there with a pat on the back or a few words,” Sneed said.

Two seasons ago, he was a starter on a team coached by George McQuarn and led by Richard Morton and Henry Turner.

After the 1988 season, Anderson was essentially kicked off the team when McQuarn refused to let him make up school work during the summer as National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules allow.

He would have been the only returning starter for the next season, but McQuarn told him at the end of the year he would not be welcomed back because of academic deficiencies.

“I was upset because I was one of the only returning players who had played a lot,” Anderson said. “I was looking forward to that season.

“What happened hurt me. He let three or four players go to summer school, but he didn’t give me an option. I only needed three units.”

Before the 1989 season, Sneed took over after McQuarn resigned. The new coach asked Anderson to return.

“A lot of people might have thought I just needed numbers,” Sneed said. “I was short-handed. But I went after personality and athletic ability. . . .

“I knew he could help us in whatever role I placed him in. I didn’t bring him in to be a big impact player.”

Anderson was brought back as a designated substitute with no apparent prospects of starting, or so it seemed early this season. Now he is a starter again.

“It’s kind of funny I keep ending up in a starting role,” Anderson said. “I guess it’s just the chemistry of the team right now.”

Anderson played high school basketball at St. Anthony High in Long Beach, where he averaged almost 20 points a game.

He signed with Oregon State and started 13 games his freshman year. But he decided to leave, largely to be closer to his daughter, Ashley, now 5 years old and living in Long Beach.

“I wanted to be a part of her life,” Anderson said.

Football signings: The Titans have signed a 6-foot-4, 225-pound outside linebacker whom Coach Gene Murphy calls “as good a football player as we have recruited since A.J. Jenkins.”

He is Stanley Breland, a transfer from San Bernardino Valley College. Like Jenkins, who played with the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, Breland’s assignment will be to go after the quarterback.

Breland, a cousin of boxer Mark Breland, also considered Washington State and Louisiana State among other schools, Murphy said.

The Titans have signed six community college transfers to enroll for the spring semester. The sixth to sign was David Porter, a 6-3, 250-pounder offensive lineman at El Camino College who might play on the defensive line at Fullerton.

The Titans plan to sign 25 more players for the fall, including as many as 18 high school players.

Murphy, Bill Mulligan and the Luck of the Irish: UC Irvine basketball coach Bill Mulligan hasn’t had much luck this season. His team is 2-15. But in a show of coaching solidarity, Murphy showed up at Mulligan’s weekly luncheon Monday.

“I went down to tell Bill Mulligan I still love him,” Murphy said.

Besides, Murphy knows what it is like to endure a disappointing season. Does he remember when his team went 3-9?

“Which time?” Murphy said.

The Titans were 3-9 in 1982 and 1986.

Titan Notes

Titan Gym is the site of a doubleheader tonight, with the UC Irvine women playing Fullerton at 5, followed by the men’s game at 7:30. . . . Running back Mike Pringle and offensive lineman Reggie Redding have been invited to the National Football League scouting combines Jan. 31-Feb. 3 at Indianapolis, where college players are tested, timed and generally given the once-over in preparation for the draft. . . Gymnast Bill Barham, who has a 3.25 grade-point average, was academically ineligible briefly, but has regained his status by verifying some units and completing other course work, Fullerton said. . . . The women’s gymnastics team won every event against Arizona State last Friday, led by Heather Thomas, who won the all-around and the floor exercise. . . . Wade Lockett, the former Titan wide receiver, has signed to play professional football for a club in Birmingham, England, his agent said. . . . Genia Miller of the women’s basketball team has been in double figures in points and rebounds in all but two games this season.