COLLEGES / ALAN DROOZ : Underclassmen Are Class of 1990-91 All-WCC Team

Don’t be surprised if West Coast Conference basketball champion Pepperdine gets little respect from the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee when seedings and opening-round games are announced Sunday.

The Waves played a tough preconference schedule, but didn’t beat any tournament-bound teams. A year ago, Loyola Marymount was nationally ranked, had an impressive nonconference record with victories over tournament-bound teams and was seeded only 13th in the 16-team Western Regional.

But at the WCC tournament, league coaches and officials were optimistic about the future, pointing to the all-underclassmen all-conference team. Has any conference ever fielded a younger team than the 10-man All-WCC squad of nine juniors and a sophomore? (An unofficial scan couldn’t uncover one.)

Among those returning will be Pepperdine guard Doug Christie, the conference player of the year, Loyola guard Terrell Lowery, who has ranked among national scoring and assist leaders all season, the WCC’s two best big men--Loyola’s Richard Petruska and Santa Clara’s Ron Reis--and Pepperdine’s two-time all-league forward Geoff Lear. The all-conference team also included Gonzaga junior Jarrod Davis, San Diego junior Kelvin Woods, San Francisco junior Tim Owens, Santa Clara junior Rhea Taylor and St. Mary’s junior Eric Bamberger. Nearly ev ery team with the exception of San Diego returns most of its lineup next season. The WCC’s top nine scorers and rebounders return.

The WCC didn’t name an all-freshman team, but could have picked an outstanding one: Pepperdine forward Dana Jones, the official conference freshman of the year; Loyola guard Ross Richardson, the nation’s third-ranked player in three-point percentage; St. Mary’s guard Darrell Daniel; Santa Clara forward Andy Karich and San Francisco guard Orlando Smart, who helped shoot down Loyola in the first round of the tournament last weekend.

In USF’s 101-93 victory, Smart played all 40 minutes, made three of four shots, scored eight points, had 13 assists and successfully navigated Loyola’s press. Several of his assists went to Tim Owens, who finished with a tourney-record 45 points.

Despite Owens’ performance, Smart was singled out by Lion Coach Jay Hillock, who said Smart “plays with amazing composure for a freshman.” USF Coach Jim Brovelli said, “One thing about Orlando is that he has great instincts . . . if he has two decisions to make he always makes the right one.”

Smart’s Loyola counterpart, Lowery, said: “Just like his name, Smart is smart. He’s a good player now and he’s going to be a great player.”

That may be bad news for Dons’ opponents, but it’s good for the WCC. After the loss of such standouts as Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble and Tom Lewis, the WCC shows signs of bouncing back from this season’s relative anonymity.

One man’s All-American team ballot as submitted to the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn.: First team--Billy Owens, Syracuse; Larry Johnson, Nevada Las Vegas; Shaquille O’Neal, Louisiana State; Jimmy Jackson, Ohio State, and Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech. Second team--Stacey Augmon, UNLV; Steve Smith, Michigan State; Todd Day, Arkansas; Eric Murdock, Providence, and Terrell Lowery, Loyola Marymount.

Player of the year--Owens. Coach of the year--Danny Nee, Nebraska.

Cal State Dominguez Hills senior guard Robert Barksdale was named to the All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball first team. The only other Toro gaining postseason honors on the men’s team is sophomore guard Raymond Bennett, who received honorable mention.

Cal Poly Pomona garnered the major awards, with Dave Bollwinkel getting coach of the year honors and senior forward Terry Ross being named most valuable player. Ross and Barksdale are joined on the first team by Dave Heckman of UC Riverside, Russell Jarvis of Cal State Bakersfield, Roger Middleton of Chapman and Stuart Thomas of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The second team has Gene Altamirano of Riverside, Chris Brooks of Cal State Los Angeles, Inglewood High graduate Andre Harrell of Pomona, Tim Knowles of Cal Poly SLO and Beau Redstone and Kenny Warren of Bakersfield. Honorable mention went to the Toros’ Bennett, Ray Burris of Bakersfield and the Riverside duo of Chris Hantgin and Anthony Jenkins.

Pomona also took most of the top women’s honors, although Darlene May shares the coach of the year award with Debi Woelke of Riverside. Pomona senior forward Stephanie Coons was named player of the year.

Dominguez Hills junior center Cheri Bullet was named to the first team, along with Coons and Debbie Wagner of Pomona, Becky Geeson of Riverside, Chris Royers of Cal Poly SLO and Jackie Saunders of Chapman.

The second team includes Jennifer Ballenger of Chapman, Kelly Connelly and Serenda Valdez of Pomona, Wendy Fleisher of Riverside and Cal State L.A.’s Lori Thompson and Kelly O’Brien. The only other Lady Toros on the team are freshman guard Karee Bonde and sophomore center Dionne Vanlandingham, both receiving honorable mention.

Anne Ibarra’s perfect earned-run average got dunked by Cal Baptist on Tuesday but the streaking Dominguez Hills softball pitcher won her fourth game in five starts as the Lady Toros improved to 8-1-1.

Ibarra had not given up an earned run all season until Cal Baptist broke through in the sixth inning Tuesday, snapping her string at a school-record 41 1/3 consecutive innings. Ibarra hung on for a 4-3 complete-game victory. Last week, the junior right-hander from Mary Star High threw both ends of a doubleheader shutout against the University of San Diego, the second game a one-hitter. Ibarra has held batters to a .131 average.

The Lady Toros play host to Regis College of Colorado at 1:30 p.m. today, then open CCAA play Saturday at home with a noon doubleheader against undefeated UC Riverside.

Stat of the Week: Opposites attract Sunday in Princeton, N.J., when Loyola’s basketball team faces defense-minded Princeton. The most points the Tigers have allowed this season is 69, to top-ranked UNLV. The least points the Lions have scored is 79. The Lions average 81 shot attempts per game, the Tigers less than 41. Loyola leads the nation in scoring at 105.4 points per game. Princeton leads the nation in defense, allowing only 48.9.

Notes

The Loyola Marymount baseball team, trying to vault back into the national rankings, plays host to Santa Clara in a three-game West Coast Conference series starting today. The Lions (13-8), who have won seven of eight games, are tied with Santa Clara at 7-4 in the WCC, in second place behind Pepperdine (6-2). Santa Clara is 9-10 overall. They play at 2:30 today and a doubleheader at noon Saturday. . . . The Dominguez Hills baseball team plays a three-game series against UC Riverside, with a 2:30 p.m. game today at Riverside and a noon doubleheader Saturday at Toro Field. . . . Loyola quietly held a one-year memorial service in the memory of Hank Gathers Monday. The hour-long service, attended by most of the basketball team, was described as upbeat and featured readings by several players.