Plenty of Talent to Make a Run at the Title : Basketball: Cal State Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai has five players returning and has added three transfers and a crop of talented freshmen.

It is a question asked of Dave Yanai every October and each year his answer has been the same.

Will the Cal State Dominguez Hills basketball team be a contender for the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. title?

“Oh, yea,” the Toro coach said. “I think there is a very good chance for this team to to win the CCAA championship.”

This time, however, a twinkle came to Yanai’s eye. The Toros, who open Nov. 17 against Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, figure to be much improved from last season’s 10-17 team.

“This team has the potential to be one of the best we’ve had here,” Yanai said.

Three former starters at Division I schools have transferred to Dominguez Hills. Returning is a senior and two-year starter who played on the 1989 Toro team that advanced to the Division II Western Regionals. Two sophomores who started on last year’s up and down team are also back.

Practices have been spirited, well ahead of the progress of past teams. Even better, points out Yanai, is the freshman class, which has been pushing the veterans.

“It’s nice going into the season feeling like you have a few more bullets in the chamber,” said Yanai, who needs four victories to reach 200 for his collegiate career. The Toros have never been blessed with abundant talent, although Yanai has five 20-win seasons and two conference championships in 14 seasons as coach.

The 1990-91 team may signal a permanent upgrade, reflective of the attitude of third-year Athletic Director Dan Guerrero. Dominguez Hills has always had the smallest athletic budget in the CCAA, but that gap is narrowing because Guerrero and Associate Athletic Director Greg Bistline have embarked on an intensive fund-raising campaign. To add to their efforts, students at the university voted last year to increase tuition fees to support athletics.

For the basketball team, that means more money for scholarships, although a scholarship in the past at Dominguez Hills hasn’t been much more than books and tuition.

Two years ago Yanai split a scholarship budget of about $10,000 between 10 players. In 1992, when the Toros play at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Dominguez Hills will receive $10,000 for that game.

Yanai has an outstanding reputation as a coach, but his recruiting has been hampered because of the limited financial aid he could offer players.

Still, Keith Billingslea (Northern Arizona), Brian Jones (Cal State Long Beach) and Michael Moore (Coastal Carolina) choose to leave Division I programs to transfer to Dominguez Hills.

“Those three kids give us maturity,” Yanai said. “That’s something we didn’t have last year.”

Billingslea, who will not be eligible to play for the first seven games of the season because of transfer regulations, was a starting guard who led Northern Arizona in scoring last season despite quiting the team midway through the season. He is “a very, very fine player who will give us leadership,” Yanai said.

Jones, a junior, started three games as a freshman at Long Beach, then fell in disfavor with then coach Jim Harrington and sat on the bench during his sophomore season. The 6-foot-4 guard will probably play a swing role at Dominguez Hills. He is “very gifted physically and has improved in a lot of areas since” leaving Long Beach, according to Yanai.

The arrival of Moore, a junior, was a pleasant surprise for Yanai. The 6-7 post player from Tucson, Ariz., heard about the Dominguez Hills’ program at a basketball clinic at the University of Arizona. While visiting relatives in Manhattan Beach last winter, he watched a Toro game.

“He plays intelligently and has a very good outside game,” Yanai said.

Unlike Billingslea, Jones and Moore are immediately eligible because of a new NCAA rule. The rule allows athletes to transfer from Division I to Division II or lower and not lose any eligibility. Billingslea, who attended South Gate High, began his career at Fresno State, transferred to Harbor College and then to Northern Arizona before the move to Dominguez Hills.

Senior Robert Barksdale, a two-year starter, returns, along with sophomores Vincent Washington and Ray Bennett, both of whom were spot starters last season. Barksdale (17.5 points a game) led the team in scoring last year, followed by Bennett (12.4) and Washington (11.6).

With the influx of talent, Barksdale’s situation has become somewhat clouded.

“He has been practicing very well and is showing very positive leadership,” Yanai said.

Bennett and Washington are also fighting for starting spots, but either way they figure to see plenty of playing time.

Also returning are guard Shelton Hill and forward Norman Francis. The sophomores received plenty of playing time last season.

Redshirt freshman John Brown, a 6-2 guard who was a two-time Times’ All-Southeast selection at Montebello High, and 6-7 Cesar Uballe, an All-City Section selection at Bell High, should add depth. Guard Robert Willis, a 5-10 transfer from Long Beach City College, and 6-8 Albert Kiilehua of Leuzinger High, who sat out last season, complete the roster.

How tough will the CCAA race be now that Cal State Northridge has moved to Division I?

“I think the level of play of all the teams will be better than it was a year ago,” Yanai said.

Two seasons ago, UC Riverside became the first CCAA team to advance to the Division II finals, eventually finishing third in the nation. Last season, another conference member, Cal State Bakersfield, finished second. Is that an omen for the Toros?

“Names on paper don’t win games, but this team has a lot of potential,” Yanai said. “This is an intelligent, thinking team. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”