Brandenberg Forced to Mix Young Team

The San Diego State men’s basketball team opens practice Tuesday afternoon, and you only need to realize two things to know that the Aztecs, as usual, begin the season as underdogs:

* The school didn’t bother putting together a preseason prospectus.

* The star transfer is parking his car in handicapped spaces. Legitimately.

There are several things the Aztecs (13-16 last season, 6-10 in the Western Athletic Conference) need to accomplish by Nov. 22, when Coach Jim Brandenburg opens his fifth season at SDSU with a game against the University of San Diego.

For starters, they need to:

Develop their young guards. Come up with a replacement for 7-foot-0 center Marty Dow. Find a team leader to replace departed guard Arthur Massey. Cure Tony Clark’s back.

Clark, the Detroit Tigers’ No. 1 pick in the June, 1990 baseball draft, transferred from the University of Arizona last winter. He is the guy who has been parking his maroon BMW in the handicapped spots around Peterson Gym. He had back surgery for a herniated disc late in the summer and has been in rehabilitation ever since. Brandenburg hopes Clark will be ready for light practice Tuesday. He then plans to start him in physical drills Nov. 1.

Otherwise, Brandenburg will spend the next month blending a young team--only two seniors--together.

“I’m really anxious to begin,” he said. “The players are anxious and so is the coaching staff.

“We think there are several areas we’ve got to deal with. We want to develop a good guard line and we really need to develop leadership at the lead guard position. And we need to improve our perimeter shooting.”

Indeed, Massey was SDSU’s best outside threat last season, and he made only 42% of his field-goal attempts.

Brandenburg figures there are at least three viable candidates to replace Dow--Marcus Banks, a 6-feet-9, 235-pound freshman from San Antonio, Tex.; Chris Davis, a 6-8 freshman from Manhattan Beach; and Neal Pollard, a 7-0 redshirt freshman who is returning from a Mormon mission.

“And Joe McNaull has gained enough weight that he can play center if need be,” Brandenburg said. “We have a lot of options.”

McNaull, who averaged five points and four rebounds a game last season as a true freshman, is up to 235 pounds, about 15 more than last year.

McNaull is one of five returning players who played a lot last season. The others are forwards Keith Balzer, Courtie Miller and Terrence Hamilton and guard Ray Barefield.

The Aztecs are excited about Virgil Smith, a 6-1 junior guard who transferred from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see,” Brandenburg said. “We don’t get to see the kids on the court (until practice opens).

“I wish that weren’t the truth. I wish I knew. It would sure help with the planning.”

SDSU ROSTER

Player Pos Ht Wt Yr Keith Balzer F 6-8 225 Sr. Marcus Banks C/F 6-9 235 Fr. Ray Barefield G 6-1 190 Jr. Bart Brandenburg G 6-0 165 Fr. Tony Clark G/F 6-8 215 So. Chris Davis F 6-8 220 Fr. Terrence Hamilton F 6-6 205 So. Mike Mattarocci F 6-8 220 Sr. Joe McNaull F/C 6-10 230 So. Courtie Miller F 6-7 215 So. John Molle G 6-5 200 Fr. Mark Pollard C 6-11 230 Jr. Neal Pollard C 7-0 275 Fr. Robert Ringo G 6-2 170 Fr. Virgil Smith G 6-1 175 Jr. Nelson Stewart F 6-7 225 Sr.

Coach: Jim Brandenburg.