Fullerton’s Small Returns, Leaving Bulk Behind Him : College basketball: Bolsa Grande graduate, now 20 pounds lighter, readies for season with Titans.

Compared to the power forward-like wide body he had in high school, Cal State Fullerton guard Joe Small looks more like a turboprop these days.

The sleek, more aerodynamically designed 1990-91 model has shed 20 pounds since his senior year at Bolsa Grande and seems to be running a lot more efficiently without that carry-on baggage in the tail section.

“He always had kind of a big rear end--that’s why he was such an effective rebounder,” said Tony Lipold, Small’s high school coach. “But he’s lost that baby-fat look. His muscles are much more defined, his legs are thinner and he looks stronger.”

Two years away from home--and away from his mother’s home cooking--has made Small less bulky but more of a player. Small led state community college scorers with a 23.5 average at College of the Sequoias last season, but his lasagna-and-cornbread-meals-per-month average dipped considerably.

“Sunday dinners at my house used to be huge,” said Small, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior who will start in the Titans’ season opener at Lamar tonight. “After a while, they took their toll.”

But so did the heat in Visalia, where College of the Sequoias is located. Small, who weighed 205 when he started community college two years ago, didn’t go on any crash diets or special weight-loss programs.

He simply drank more fluids, ate a little less and gradually sweat off the pounds running around the school’s track.

“This is the best I’ve felt in a long time,” Small said. “I have more energy and more strength in my legs. I can play more minutes now because I don’t tire as quickly.”

Fullerton Coach John Sneed is counting on Small to play many minutes this season. Small is the Titan’s best outside shooter and will start on the wing, but with point guard Wayne Williams suffering from an ankle injury and backup point guard Dareck Crane academically ineligible until mid-December, Small might see some action at point guard.

Playing the point doesn’t come naturally to Small, though. Scoring points does. Growing up in Inglewood, Small led his youth league in scoring every year.

After moving to Garden Grove as a high school freshman, Small started every varsity game for three seasons at Bolsa Grande and led the Matadores in scoring every year, averaging more than 20 points in his junior and senior seasons.

He failed to meet Proposition 48 standards out of high school and enrolled at College of the Sequoias in the fall of 1988. He averaged 18 points a game off the bench as a freshman and 23.5 last season.

“It seems like I’ve always been able to shoot well,” he said.

Small was a classic gym rat. Through elementary school, junior high and high school, he says he played basketball every day except Sundays. When he wasn’t playing, he was usually watching a game.

On some game days during high school, Small would go to Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley and shoot around with teammates and friends.

“He’s obviously had a lot of practice,” Lipold said.

At Bolsa Grande, Small played virtually every position in the Matadores’ wide-open offense. He’d handle the ball, shoot it, and, because he was the team’s biggest player, he’d often play inside, posting up with his back to the basket. He also led the team in rebounding every year.

But in the past two years, Small has developed into a prototype shooting guard, one who can be deadly from three-point range and on the fast break when he pulls up for jumpers. He scored 50 points in Fullerton’s two exhibition games.

Small is expected to be one of the Titans’ leading scorers this season, but Sneed doesn’t want to place too much pressure on him.

“He’s going to have some bad nights,” Sneed said.

Sneed is also concerned about how many good nights Small’s opponents will have. Small may be a polished offensive player, but his defense is rough around the edges.

“I didn’t play defense at all in high school,” Small said. “We played mostly zone. I didn’t start playing man-to-man until junior college. I’m just learning to play defense. I’m a little behind.”

Small feels quicker since the weight loss, and that has helped his defense. But his real defensive strides have come from adjustments above the neck, not below the waist.

“You’ll find a way to score, but defense is harder because so much of it is mental,” Small said. “It takes every extra bit of energy you have.

“My junior college coach said you should never let an opponent know you’re tired, and I really took that to heart. I feel when I dropped the weight, my energy level increased, and opponents can’t tell when I’m tired.”