Webber Pulls Out of Game Against Soviet Junior Team

A little more than two weeks ago, San Diego Police Athletic League Select Coach Michael Brunker had commitments from three Parade Magazine high school All-Americans to play in tonight’s all-star basketball game against the Soviet Union Junior National Team.

Now he has one.

Perhaps Brunker should send a limousine to Erik Meek’s home in Escondido along with a note to the driver: Tip-off is 7 p.m. Get him there.

Chris Webber of Detroit Country Day, the only player in the history of Michigan to be named all-state four times, pulled out of the game late Wednesday, about 12 hours before his scheduled flight to San Diego.

Two weeks ago, Cherokee Parks of Huntington Beach Marina High withdrew because of a conflict with his senior prom.

Concerning Webber, the only reason given to Brunker was that Webber’s AAU coach, Curtis Hervey, didn’t feel it was in Webber’s best interest to play in the game.

Apparently, it wasn’t in Hervey’s best interest, either. Their AAU team has a tournament in Detroit beginning Saturday. Webber had planned on leaving right after tonight’s game on an overnight flight to Detroit.

Webber didn’t inform Hervey of those plans, however, until Wednesday. Hervey has been a close friend of the Webber family for years.

Webber’s announcement did not particularly alarm Brunker--he had said all along, “I’ll believe he’s coming when he steps off the plane”--but it did come after a conference call on Tuesday between Brunker, a Times reporter and Mayce Webber, Chris’ father.

“This is not a leisure trip,” Mayce said. “(Chris has) been to California before. He’s going there to play basketball. And he’s going there because he gave his word. I always taught him if you’re going to say something, mean what you say. He said he was going to be there. He’ll be there.”

Webber and Parks were Parade All-Americans as was Meek, who is 6-feet-10. Webber, 6-9, was the national player of the year. Parks, 6-11, was the California player of the year.

Parks was replaced on the roster by Domingo Rivera, a 6-2 guard from Mt. Miguel. Webber’s spot will not be filled.

That leaves the Select with 11 San Diego County players. Only two--San Pasqual’s Meek (Duke) and Rancho Buena Vista’s Darryl Parker (UC Santa Barbara)--have been granted Division I scholarships.

And now for the bad news . . .

The Soviet team is 3-1 on its 10-city tour and has won three in a row since losing, 99-79, to a Detroit team led by Webber.

A big reason for the Soviet’s success has been the addition of 7-footer Alexander Okunski, and the steady play of 6-11 Denis Petenev.

Igor Grachev, 6-6, Anton Yudin, 6-5, and Mikhail Mikhailov, 6-8, have also done well.

Grachev had 22 points in a 126-87 rout of Iowa City on Saturday, Yudin had 21 in a 94-89 victory over Lafayette, Ind., on Monday and Petenev had 16 points and 11 rebounds in a 75-74 victory over Portland, Ore., on Wednesday.

“Apparently, they’re a well-balanced team,” Brunker said.

ROSTERS FOR TONIGHT’S GAME

SOVIET UNION JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM

Head Coach: Stanislav Eremin, Moscow

Assistants: Sergei Prygunkov, Volgograd; Alexander Matsak, Moscow

No. Player Hometown Hgt Wgt 4 Andrei Olbrecht Minsk 6-7 205 5 Anton Yudin Volgograd 6-5 198 6 Denis Petenev Alma-Ata 6-11 225 7 Vasili Karasev Leningrad 6-4 196 8 Alexander Gutorov Volgograd 6-3 180 9 Alexander Okunski Kiev 7-0 230 10 Sergei Grezin Novosibirsk 6-8 231 11 Igor Kudelin Taganrog 6-5 191 12 Vladislav Kondratov Moscow 6-8 214 13 Andrei Fetisov Leningrad 6-9 220 14 Igor Grachev Alma-Ata 6-6 209 15 Mikhail Mikhailov Leningrad 6-8 225

SAN DIEGO POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE SELECT

Head Coach: Michael Brunker, Police Athletic League

Assistant Coach: Zack Jones, Police Athletic League

No. Player High School Hgt Wgt 10 Heath McCoy El Camino 6-0 163 15 Matt de la Pena San Dieguito 6-2 163 20 Domingo Rivera Mt. Miguel 6-2 170 23 Chris Miller Fallbrook 6-3 200 24 Brad Grubaugh Rancho Buena Vista 6-3 200 32 Alphonso De La Nuez Ramona 6-2 170 33 Darryl Parker Rancho Buena Vista 6-6 190 40 Travis Knight Ramona 6-10 195 45 John Price Mission Bay 6-7 200 50 Shaun Scurry El Camino 6-5 230 52 Erik Meek San Pasqual 6-10 230