CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Titans Feast on Leftover Recruits

The football players everyone else wants are often the players the Cal State Fullerton program can’t get. So Titan Coach Gene Murphy’s staff works to find the quality players other schools pass on or overlook, for whatever reason.

“We’ve made a living on people nobody else wanted,” said assistant coach Jim Chaney, who coordinates the Titans’ recruiting.

This year, the Titans have signed two players who missed much of their senior season with shoulder injuries.

One, Mike Simmons of Bellflower High School, is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound quarterback who passed for 1,700 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior.

“I was getting full attention from the Pac-10 universities, from Washington--also from Iowa and Utah, Hawaii and UCLA,” Simmons said.

But when he reinjured his shoulder early last season and missed most of his team’s games, the schools that had been recruiting him backed off.

“I guess they didn’t want to invest their time to get me rehabilitated,” Simmons said.

Then Fullerton moved in.

“We think he’s going to be a great player,” Chaney said. “Other people (stopped recruiting) him because of his shoulder. But the injury isn’t to his throwing arm. It’s to his other arm.”

A condition of Simmons’ scholarship offer was that he undergo shoulder surgery before coming to Fullerton, Chaney said. Simmons said he will undergo surgery in the next two weeks and, after a four-month rehabilitation, he hopes to be ready when fall practice begins in August.

“I think as soon as I get past this shoulder problem I’ll be right up there,” Simmons said. “I think I’ll break the records set by the quarterback they just had (Dan Speltz).”

The other player recovering from a shoulder injury is outside linebacker Ben Drati of Los Angeles High School.

“We’ve talked to the doctors and they say he’s going to be fine,” Chaney said. “Both kids have questionable medical histories, but their character is so good and their work habits are so good that we think they’ll do well.”

By the way, here are the names of a few former Titans whom Chaney says no other school wanted: James Pruitt, Daren Gilbert, Ricky Calhoun and A.J. Jenkins.

Genia Miller scored 43 points on Saturday against 16th-ranked Hawaii, breaking her school record of 38 points.

But when the Big West Conference chose a women’s player of the week, it selected Fresno State’s Simone Srubek.

And as often happens when the player of the week is announced, there were a few differences of opinion.

In three games last week, Srubek had 79 points, 44 rebounds and 21 blocked shots.

In two games, Miller had 64 points and 40 rebounds.

“Well, it’s one of those things. I was surprised,” Fullerton Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah said. “I just think 43 points . . . I’m not saying I don’t think Simone shouldn’t have gotten it. I’m just not very good at questioning when one my players doesn’t get what I think they should get.”

The award is chosen by a Big West committee, said Jody McRoberts, assistant commissioner. If the vote is not unanimous, co-players of the week are often named.

“It’s tough to pick the player of the week,” McRoberts said. “Definitely, we get complaints.”

One added note: Miller already had received the honor twice, and Srubek was a first-time recipient.

Tom Parada, the basketball team’s star bench-warmer, will be featured soon on ESPN. Actually it is Cedric Ceballos who will be the subject of a story tentatively scheduled to air at halftime of the Big East game Monday night. But Parada, the Titans’ 5-foot-6, 130-pound, last-man-off-the-bench, will get some air time with his imitation of Dick Vitale--ranting and raving about Ceballos, of course.

Titan Notes

Fullerton’s best hitter in the first 10 games has been second baseman Mate Borgogno, who is batting .450. He has 18 hits in 40 at-bats with one home run and 11 runs batted in. He is also three-for-five in stolen bases. . . . Volleyball signings: Debbie Quam (Mission Viejo High School), Becky Howlett (Rangeview HS, Aurora, Colo.), Michelle Paul (Alemany HS).. . . Additional football signings: Wide receiver Terrance Campbell of Banning High, a brother of Olympic hurdler Tonie Campbell, and cornerback Joseph Vaughn of Sylmar High. . . . The men’s gymnastics team has a 7-16 record, but is ranked ninth nationally. That’s because gymnastics rankings are based on average team score. . . . Basketball player Jill Matyuch has been selected to the regional GTE Academic All-American team, making her one of 40 players who will be considered for the national team.