COLLEGES / ALAN DROOZ : The Search Is on for ‘Hank’s House’ Banner

It is fair to say that it has not been a banner season so far for the Loyola Marymount men’s basketball team.

The Lions have been riddled with injuries and pounded by several nationally ranked opponents and take a 5-8 record into Saturday’s game against U.S. International.

And now their most evident memory of the late Hank Gathers, a 20-foot banner proclaiming the gym “Hank’s House,” is missing. The banner, which was dedicated and hung 20 feet above the floor from the south scoreboard in Gersten Pavilion in April, disappeared over Thanksgiving weekend.

At first, it was thought the banner had been taken down to be mounted, or cleaned. Now, school officials admit they don’t know where it is, and they’re dumbfounded at how it could have been removed. Several other mounted banners signifying school championships disappeared as well.

“It’s a sad commentary,” Lion Coach Jay Hillock said. “Especially because it was a group effort by the athletes and it meant a lot to them.”

The memorial was the idea of a member of the school’s water polo team. It was paid for by athletes from all the school’s sports as a tribute to Gathers and the basketball team. Gathers went into cardiac arrest during a game at Gersten Pavilion on March 4 and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

About a month later, the banner was unveiled: a white background with black lettering proclaiming “Hank’s House, Here the Lion’s Spirit Dwells,” bordered by the uniform numbers of the basketball team members. Gathers’ No. 44 was ringed in black.

The team became aware that the banner was missing after they returned from a season-opening tournament in Maui. Mike Normand, the facilities manager, said it is inexplicable how the banner was removed, or what anyone would do with it.

Game announcers for the campus radio station, KXLU-FM, have been mentioning the theft during game broadcasts and issuing a plea for the banner’s return.

Brian Berger, the station’s color commentator, said, “Isn’t that about as low as you can get?”

A case of stomach flu that is making its way through the Loyola basketball team has helped introduce a new player into the rotation.

Freshman Ross Richardson, used sparingly for the first 10 games, saw considerable action against St. Joseph on Saturday when Tom Peabody became ill. The 6-foot-6 guard from Flint, Mich., made both three-point attempts and scored nine points in 13 minutes. Richardson said later the playing time caught him by surprise--he had been averaging less than four minutes a game, mostly in mop-up situations.

Richardson was equally prolific again Monday against La Salle, coming off the bench to make four of seven shots, including three of five from three-point range, scoring 11 points in 10 minutes.

Wednesday night against Westmont, when starter Craig Holt played a minute but couldn’t continue because of flu, Richardson entered the game and made four of eight three-point shots and scored 14 points in 23 minutes.

“He’s moving up (in the rotation), yes,” Hillock said.

In the three games, Richardson made 11 of 19 shots--nine of 15 from three-point range--to lift his season scoring average to 5.3 points a game. He has made 11 of 19 three-point shots.

Rare O-fer: When Cal State Dominguez Hills guard Robert Barksdale went scoreless in the Toros’ double-overtime victory at Azusa Pacific, it broke a streak of 75 games in which he had scored. It was the first time since Jan. 30, 1988 that the senior had been shut out. It also was the first time in 60 games as a starter that Barksdale had not scored.

In his defense, Barksdale, who is playing with a sore hamstring that limits his mobility, made a solid contribution in the overtime victory: eight assists, four rebounds and only one turnover in 39 minutes.

Cool Reception: When the Dominguez Hills women’s basketball team arrived at the gym at Sonoma State on Saturday, warming up was the appropriate activity. Players said the gym was so cold that they could see their breath, and officials told them that they could play in their warm-up suits if they wanted to.

The temperature didn’t cool off the Lady Toros. They won, 61-57, behind Cheri Bullet’s 18 points and 16 rebounds. It was their second victory in a row and 10th out of 11 games.

Arms Buildup: Dominguez Hills baseball Coach George Wing, who said finding a pitching coach was his top priority for this season, has added former major league pitcher John Verhoeven to his staff.

Verhoeven, 37, a Long Beach native who played college ball at Westmont and LaVerne, broke into the major leagues in 1976 with the Angels. In 99 appearances, all in relief, the right-hander posted a 3-8 record with four saves for the Angels and Twins.

Verhoeven has worked privately with several members of the Toro staff, which will be an inexperienced group.

“I’ve wanted to get into college coaching and to start at a four-year school,” he said. “I hope the college game hasn’t changed much since I graduated in ’74.”

Verhoeven said he will emphasize working quickly and placing the ball in play.

“Most of the managers I played for had that philosophy,” he said. “To me a perfect game is nine innings pitched with no walks and nine ground-ball hits.”

Quotebook: Loyola’s Terrell Lowery on the Lions’ number of frustrating losses to ranked teams: “All the anger I’m feeling over these losses, we’re gonna turn around and take out on our conference games.”

Notes

Tricia Gibson, Loyola Marymount senior center, set a school career rebounding record when she grabbed her 592nd last week. She has moved into third place in the all-time West Coast Conference standings. Teammate Lynn Flanagan is now the Loyola career scoring leader with 1,181 points. She leads the Lions with a 17.8-point average. The Loyola women, winners of three consecutive games, close out a four-game home stand at 7:30 tonight against Wyoming. The Lions are 7-5 overall and 7-1 at home.

Sophomore guard/forward Denise Slater has quietly taken over the scoring lead for the Dominguez Hills women’s basketball team. Slater, who has led the Lady Toros in scoring five times this season, is averaging 13 points per game, ahead of Devon Akita at 12.5 and Dionne Vanlandingham at 12.4. The Lady Toros, who have already surpassed last season’s 11 victories with a 12-2 record, play in the Cal Baptist tournament today and Saturday. . . . Loyola’s Terrell Lowery, among the nation’s scoring leaders at 29.6 points a game, is moving up in the Loyola record book. Although the junior has only 13 collegiate starts, he needs two points to move past John Arndt into 20th place in Lions’ career scoring with 1,029 points. He’s also one assist from tying Enoch Simmons for second place on the all-time list with 420.