CS Northridge Takes Outside Shot at Division I : Matadors: Cassidy’s team moves up and plans to put down some three-pointers.

Ten players will be donning Cal State Northridge uniforms for the first time when the Matadors make their Division I basketball debut Friday at Colorado.

Since last season, however, eight players quit, along with two assistant coaches, and two other players are academically ineligible, leaving Coach Pete Cassidy to start his 20th season with only one returner from a squad that went 12-15 in its final Division II campaign.

Not only are the Matadors starting from scratch, they couldn’t find a conference to take them in.

One of only three independents west of Kansas City, they are scheduled to play 17 of their 28 games away from home in adherence to NCAA rules, which require first- and second-year Division I programs to play two-thirds of their games on the road.

Finally, the Matadors are going Division I without the trappings. They are five scholarships shy of the maximum allowed, their recruiting budget is limited to profits from a summer camp and donations, and they play in a 3,000-seat gymnasium.

Through it all Cassidy, who is starting the final year of a three-year contract, remains undaunted.

He signed seven community college players and three local prep players: guards Martin Smith of St. Bernard High and Andre Chevalier of Cleveland High and 6-foot-8 forward Peter Micelli of Beverly Hills High.

San Jose State transfer Sean Davis, who red-shirted last season, and 6-7, 305-pound center Todd Bowser, a three-year letterman who sat out last season, round out the roster.

In a startling move, Cassidy shucked the patient offense he has preached all his career for a Loyola Marymount-style run-and-shoot game.

With only three players taller than 6-6 and the team’s strength outside shooting, Cassidy believes he has no choice.

“When you talk to Paul Westhead (former Loyola Marymount coach) and he says when the game starts you really lose control, that’s pretty tough for me to take,” Cassidy said.

“I’m really earning my salary in practice now. I’m relying on players’ instincts and judgment. I have to learn to live with their mistakes and shot selection. Things I’ve harped on for years I have to let go and say, ‘Fire it.’ ”

Kyle Kerlegan won’t need any encouragement. The transfer from Canada College in Redwood City sank 145 three-point baskets last season, the most at any amateur level in the United States.

“That’s all I really do,” said Kerlegan, who made 48.4% of his three-pointers. “It’s a little more fun than taking a charge.”

Like Kerlegan, Keith Gibbs is a left-hander with a three-point touch, but because of the recent departure of point guard Eugene Humphrey, Gibbs has had to take over the point and will not have as many scoring opportunities. Last season, he averaged 17 1/2 points and 7 1/2 rebounds a game for West Valley College in Saratoga.

In an intra-squad scrimmage, the Matador Red sank 17 three-pointers in downing the Matador White, 116-93, in three quarters.

The real test begins this weekend, though, when CSUN takes on Colorado, Colorado State and New Mexico State.

The Buffaloes run at a similar pace under first-year Coach Joe Harrington, former Cal State Long Beach coach.