A Record Made to Be Broken : Coleman Nears USC Scoring Mark, a Step Ahead of Miner

USC forward Ron Holmes was reviewing team statistics after a game when he pulled teammate Ronnie Coleman aside.

“Man, you’re going to set a record if you keep playing like that,” Holmes said.

Then a freshman, Coleman dismissed the remark, thinking Holmes was simply trying to encourage him.

But three years later, Coleman is on the verge of becoming USC’s all-time leading scorer. Coleman, who has 1,495 points in 103 games, needs 30 more to pass Wayne Carlander, who had 1,524 in 116 games during 1982-85.

Carlander isn’t surprised that his record didn’t last long, even though John Rudometkin, who scored 1,484 points in 81 games, held the record for 23 years until Carlander broke it.

“If you look at other schools, they have several guys who’ve scored 2,000 points,” Carlander said. “So 1,500 isn’t that much.”

The record could fall during tonight’s USC-UCLA game at the Sports Arena. Coleman has played well against the Bruins, scoring a personal-best 27 points during a 17-point loss at Pauley Pavilion last season. He has averaged 19.4 points in his last five games against the Bruins.

Coleman, however, said he expects sophomore guard Harold Miner to break the scoring record next season--whoever holds it. Miner has 983 points in 44 games and could become the first 2,000-point scorer in USC history if he doesn’t leave early for the NBA.

“A lot of people are making a big thing about me breaking the scoring record, but (Miner) will probably be ready to break it around this time next year if he keeps scoring the way he’s scoring,” Coleman said.

Said Miner: “The record is not something I’m worried about. I’m happy for Ronnie because he has a chance to break the record. Hopefully, I’ll give him the ball.”

But Coleman would trade the record for a chance to play in the NCAA tournament, which USC hasn’t been in since 1985.

“Just winning this year is most important because we haven’t had a winning record since I’ve been here, and I’m a senior this year,” Coleman said. “I want my last year to be one where we win more games than we lose.”

Although the Trojans were optimistic this season after an 8-1 start, they have lost five of their first seven conference games.

So, realistically, USC’s chances of being in the NCAA tournament are slim.

“It’s been a big disappointment, not making the NCAA,” Coleman said. “You’re sitting at home watching teams that you’re better than.”

Although Coleman has been selected as USC’s most valuable player the last three seasons, he has never made the All-Pacific 10 Conference team.

“It bothers me that I didn’t make the all-conference team, but I’m just going to have to work hard to try and make it,” he said. “I think it was because the team was losing and I was a little inconsistent in games where they needed me.”

Coach George Raveling thinks Coleman might be the Pac-10’s most underrated player.

“In 30 years of coaching, as an assistant coach and a head coach, I don’t know of any player I’ve been associated with who has done more and received less accolades than Coleman has,” Raveling said.

“I guess in retrospect, the first omen of things to come was when he was a freshman and there was no doubt in my mind that he was the freshman of the year in the conference and they ended up giving it to (Washington forward Mike) Hayward, who really wasn’t a true freshman. And it’s been that way ever since. People tend to take his performance for granted.

“Every year his rebounding has gotten better and better and better. It’s a mystery to me how he’s never been all-conference. Last year he should have definitely been all-conference. But he’s gone through the conference and never gotten the accolades that he deserves.

“Only when he’s gone will people realize how valuable he’s been to USC basketball. Because, frankly, I think if you took Coleman off USC the last three or four years they’re devoid of an inside offensive game. I’m sure that he’s made life a lot easier for a lot of players at SC, and certainly for Harold.”

USC’s offense is built around Miner and Coleman. The Trojans position Miner and Coleman on the same side of the floor on many plays, with Coleman passing to Miner. If defenders converge on Miner, he usually passes off to Coleman for a layup. If Coleman is double-teamed, he passes to Miner for the shot.

A 6-foot-6, 210-pound power forward, Coleman’s inside game is his forte. He scores most of his points on turnaround shots and tip-ins. Although he usually spots opposing players two or three inches, Coleman compensates by releasing the ball at the top of his shot so that defenders have difficulty blocking it.

“His success comes in an area of the floor where he shouldn’t be that successful,” Raveling said. “Basically, Ronnie’s an illegitimate post man. Most of the time he has players two to three inches taller than he is guarding him. And he still realizes enormous success.”

One of the reasons Coleman has excelled at USC is his durability. Coleman has missed only one game because of injury in four seasons. After suffering a sprained ankle in a loss to Arizona earlier this month, he sat out the next game against Arizona State.

“When I twisted it Thursday night against Arizona, I thought it was a pain that would go away eventually, but when I got back to the hotel that night it got stiff,” Coleman said. “We didn’t play again until Sunday, so I knew I’d be ready by then. When I got out onto the court Sunday in shoot-around and went up and down the court I didn’t want to play and hurt the team by giving up dunks trying to get back on defense.”

Although Coleman is an efficient inside shooter, he is one of the worst free throw shooters in the conference. He is so erratic, in fact, that opposing fans sometimes laugh when he goes to the line. He realizes that if he were better at the line, he would probably have already broken the scoring record.

“I really don’t have a consistent procedure that I use in shooting free throws,” Coleman said. “But lately they’ve been dropping because I’ve been shooting more in practice and taking my time.”

He also realizes that he will have to improve that area of his game if he expects to play in the NBA. Even if improves tremendously at the line, however, playing pro basketball may be a long shot for Coleman. He probably is too small to play forward and he lacks the ballhandling skills necessary to play guard.

“I’m a ‘tweener,’ ” Coleman said. “I think I have to show people an outside jump shot and ballhandling. I also have to show them that I can run the floor better to be able to play in the NBA.

“But if I don’t make it in the NBA, playing in Europe would be good because I can make some good money over there.”

If Coleman plays in Europe, his older sister, Sandy, probably won’t be there to cheer for him. Coleman’s biggest fan, Sandy Coleman has become a fixture at USC games, screaming at officials as she follows them by running along the sideline.

Although Coleman used to be embarrassed by that, he accepts it now.

“I used to tell her to be quiet, but she wouldn’t listen to me,” Coleman said “That’s just the way she is. One time Raveling said one of the refs threatened to put her out of the gym. But she didn’t care because she’s going to yell and make noise anyway.

“When I’m out on the floor I don’t hear her. When I’m on the bench and she’s running up and down the sidelines I can hear her. She knows the game pretty well because she played in high school and junior college. I never do any wrong in her eyes.”

Coleman’s mother, Margaret, also attends every USC home game, but isn’t as vocal as her daughter.

Coleman, who was 13 when his father died of liver cancer in 1982 at 41, is close to his mother. He still lives with her in an Inglewood condominium.

Coleman moved out of a USC dorm after his freshman year because it was too noisy.

Coleman’s mother didn’t mind.

“He’s the perfect roommate because he’s never home,” she said.