Few Marquee Names in Texaco Field : Tournament: Changed commitments, switch to pre-Christmas affect the event’s complexion.

Isiah Thomas played in this tournament. So did Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings, James Edwards, Terry Teagle, Sleepy Floyd and William Bedford.

Back then, it was known as the Cabrillo Classic, and some of the visiting coaches were Georgetown’s John Thompson, DePaul’s Ray Meyer, Indiana’s Bobby Knight, Michigan State’s Jud Heathcote and Villanova’s Rollie Massimino.

After three name changes, it is called the Texaco Star Classic, and the 15th edition of the tournament tips off at 6 tonight at the San Diego Sports Arena.

But don’t expect to recognize many of these teams or players. The first game features Lamar (5-3) against Drexel (1-6). San Diego State plays Arkansas State (5-3) at 8:30 in the second game.

“You always worry about a tournament when it doesn’t have good name recognition, but please, all of our basketball fans have to recognize what these teams have done this year,” SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg said.

He was referring to Lamar and Arkansas State’s winning records.

John Wadas, the SDSU associate athletic director who coordinates the basketball schedule, said at various times the Aztecs thought they had Georgetown, Ohio State and Oklahoma State committed to play in this year’s tournament. But for various reasons, none of the three worked out.

According to Wadas:

--Ohio State verbally committed, and things were so close to being wrapped up that Wadas sent the paperwork out. But then the Buckeyes changed coaches, and new Coach Randy Ayers wasn’t interested in the tournament. Wadas said Ohio State backed out “last January or February.”

--Georgetown expressed an interest in coming to San Diego, but the Hoyas decided to open their season with two games in Hawaii instead--at Hawaii Loa and Hawaii Pacific. Wadas said Georgetown said no in April.

-Oklahoma State was also close, but after several conversations between Wadas and Coach Eddie Sutton, the Cowboys decided to play in the Old Style Classic in Chicago, along with DePaul, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Southern Illinois. Wadas said the Cowboys dropped in midsummer. At the last moment, Lamar was added to this year’s field.

The tournament used to be the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, but SDSU moved it up a week this year so it would not be fighting for publicity with the Holiday Bowl. It will remain the weekend before Christmas for at least two years.

“Our problem we found out as we got into this year is that a number of schools have finals and have problems traveling this week,” Wadas said.

Another problem is with the scramble for television games, schools typically juggle their schedules right up until the start of the season. SDSU was supposed to play at North Carolina last season but, when the Atlantic Coast Conference-Big East challenge was organized for ESPN, the Tar Heels postponed SDSU until this season.

The Classic has become a profitable tournament for SDSU since Texaco has become a corporate sponsor. Jim Herrick, SDSU associate athletic director/business affairs, said the school lost about $2,000 on the tournament in 1988 but, when Texaco got involved to a larger extent last year, SDSU made about $29,000.

Whether this year’s field, without marquee teams, will attract many fans remains to be seen.

“It’s still a championship event and a good experience, I believe, for the athletes,” he said. “Our guys are going to be playing in a (Western Athletic Conference) tournament later on. Tournament experience is important. You need to know what it’s all about.”

As for the tournament’s future, Wadas said South Carolina is committed for next year, and Texas has agreed to participate two years from now.