THE COLLEGES : CLU Hiring Raises Questions

Two questions come to mind relative to the hiring of Joe Harper as football coach at Cal Lutheran, and neither directly involves Harper.

First, why was Cal Lutheran so quick to fill the vacancy when its former coach, Bob Shoup, has hinted about possible legal action? If Shoup goes to court and wins--and there is that possibility--the school would seem to be vulnerable to another lawsuit--by Harper.

Second, if Shoup truly does hope to return as CLU’s football coach, as he claims, then why didn’t he ask the court for a temporary injunction to block the school from hiring a new coach?

The first question was answered Thursday by Dennis Gillette, CLU’s vice president for institutional advancement. He said Cal Lutheran’s position was that it had already heard Shoup’s grievance through institutional procedures. “What happens from this point on, we’ll have to deal it with when it occurs,” he said.

The second question, only one person can answer. And Shoup, the only football coach Cal Lutheran ever had until Thursday, has been unwilling of late to make himself available for comment.

Tough to beat: Heading into their games tonight, the five Valley-area men’s junior college basketball teams have a combined record of 93-50, for a winning percentage of .650.

Throw out the 14 games in which they played each other and the percentage climbs to .687.

Three teams are ranked in the state--Antelope Valley (seventh), Valley (14th), and Moorpark (20th). All three, as well as 19-10 Glendale, should finish with 20 victories and make the state playoffs.

Valley and Antelope Valley lead the Western State and Foothill conferences, respectively, as do both schools’ women’s teams.

Last season the five teams finished 74-80 and .481.

Getting offensive: Much has been said about Valley’s scoring power, but the top offense among the area’s junior college basketball teams belongs to Antelope Valley.

The Marauders have scored in triple digits 11 times this season, including six of their past seven games. Against Desert last week, seven Antelope Valley players scored in double figures and the Marauders reached a season-high point total in a 128-105 victory.

Off court: Don’t expect Santa Monica College to win its suit against the state athletic commission, et al., that might have led to open recruiting among the state’s community colleges. In a tentative ruling that denied Santa Monica’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have returned its recruiting boundaries to 14 schools instead of two, U. S. District Judge Harry Hupp wrote that he saw “virtually no chance of success” based on the merits of Santa Monica’s constitutional claims.

Santa Monica had contended that restrictions on the school’s recruiting boundaries infringed on inner-city youths’ 13th and 14th amendment rights, which guarantee protection against involuntary servitude and provide for equal protection of the law.

Two-liners: While Harold Miner of USC, Tracy Murray of UCLA and Brian Hendrick of Cal are unquestionably the top freshman basketball players in the Pacific 10 Conference, former Notre Dame High standout Kenny Hicks is doing a solid job for Stanford. He led the Cardinal with 13 points in a 68-54 win over Washington State on Thursday. . . .

Northridge’s hopes of unseating Cal Poly Pomona in women’s basketball have been doomed by guard Bridgette Ealy’s knee injury. With Ealy in the lineup this season, CSUN would have been as strong as any team in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., including the seven-time champion Lady Broncos.

Gliding and sliding: The Cal State Northridge and Occidental men’s basketball teams headed into the weekend with identical 4-4 records in their respective conferences. But make no mistake, they are teams heading in opposite directions.

Northridge took over the role of favorite in the CCAA by opening with wins on the road at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Bakersfield. At the very least, the Matadors looked like a shoo-in to make the conference’s postseason tournament after winning their first four CCAA games.

Since then, however, CSUN has hit the skids. The Matadors had lost four in a row before Friday night’s game at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Had the CCAA tournament started on Friday, the Matadors would have been left out.

Occidental lost its first four Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games, but has rebounded to win its next four, including a narrow win over first-place Whittier on Wednesday.

Chris Anderson, Occidental’s senior center, has been the Tigers’ top player. He is averaging 20.6 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots a game.

With Anderson’s consistency and continued improvement from point guard Ethan Caldwell and forward Everett Hill, Occidental Coach Brian Newhall said the team is capable of winning its remaining four games and staking a claim to at least a share of its first SCIAC title since 1983.

“A team with an 8-4 record could tie for the championship,” Newhall said. “We’re playing a little bit more up-tempo and doing just a little bit of everything better.”