DeLaveaga Augments Scoring

Since he played his first game for the Cal Lutheran men’s basketball team as a sophomore in 1989, guard Jeff DeLaveaga has never had difficulty scoring points.

As a sophomore, DeLaveaga led the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 with an average of 26.9 points. He had a district-leading average of 27.9 points last season.

But, to DeLaveaga, this season provided even more incentive because of the school’s move to NCAA Division III and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

“I really wanted to make this a big year, especially since we enter the SCIAC in my senior year,” he said. “We’ve been an independent the last two years and I just think that when you enter a league it gives you a chance not only to win the league, but also to make the NCAA playoffs.”

So far this season, DeLaveaga has a higher scoring average than his previous two seasons. He leads Division III in scoring with a 28.9 average and has moved into second place on the school’s all-time scoring list behind his brother, Steve, who played four seasons through 1988-89.

The Kingsmen, who are 9-9 overall, are in first place in the SCIAC with a 5-1 record. The winner of the SCIAC receives an automatic bid to the Division III playoffs.

“Physically, I did the same things I always did to prepare for the season,” he said. “But mentally, it was a lot different. I read books by people like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Pat Riley to see how they prepared for a season and that has made a big difference. I came into the season with a lot better leadership qualities, and that has helped the team.”

He has also learned that he doesn’t always have to score a lot of points for the Kingsmen to win, although he scored 47 against Azusa Pacific early in the season and 41 during Cal Lutheran’s 96-94 victory over Redlands on Saturday.

“There are times when I haven’t needed to score and I’ve tried to do other things,” DeLaveaga said. “Then there are times when I do need to score, but this year I try to recognize that a little better.”

In hopes of developing his all-around game, Coach Mike Dunlap shifted DeLaveaga to point guard at the start of the season, but it was a short-lived experiment.

“We tried it, and for us it just didn’t work out,” DeLaveaga said.

“I’m a scorer by nature, so I’m going to try to score points. But I don’t think about my scoring as much this season and I think that has helped my all-around game. And as you can see, my scoring hasn’t been affected a lot by that.”

Both DeLaveagas played in high school at San Ramon, Calif., and later at Cal Lutheran. However, Jeff played the 1986-87 season at Southern California College before redshirting in 1988-89 and transferring to Cal Lutheran for his final three seasons.

Once his senior season is over, Jeff DeLaveaga hopes to join his brother in the National Basketball League of Australia. Steve, who plays for the Nanwating Spectres, has been the league’s most valuable player the last two seasons.

“I just think my chances are better in Australia,” DeLaveaga said. “I think I can have a better long-term future.”

When Coach David Rubio resigned to become women’s volleyball coach of the University of Arizona, it ended an era at Cal State Bakersfield.

In five years at Bakersfield, Rubio guided the Roadrunners to a 120-65 record, including berths in the NCAA Division II playoffs the last four seasons and the Division II title in 1989. Bakersfield also finished third in Division II in 1990 and won the Division II West Regional title and reached the Division II Elite Eight Tournament last year.

“I will never forget my time in Bakersfield,” Rubio said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better place to start my collegiate coaching career. The community, the university, (and) the student-athletes I was privileged to coach have all been outstanding, and I can only hope that my experience at Arizona will be as enriching.”

Rubio’s worst season at Bakersfield was during his first season in 1987, when the Roadrunners went 17-15 and finished fourth in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Rubio, 32, is expected to start in late February at Arizona, which was 0-18 in the Pacific 10 Conference last year.

School officials at Bakersfield said they expect to hire a new coach by early April.

Officials from 10 schools, including nine from California, met last week at Cal State Northridge to discuss formation of an NCAA Division I-AA cost-containment football conference that would open play in 1993.

Schools attending the meeting were Cal State Long Beach, St. Mary’s, the University of San Diego, Santa Clara, Cal State Sacramento, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Davis, Southern Utah, UC Santa Barbara and Northridge.

The stumbling block toward a final agreement appears to be financial aid and scholarship restrictions for conference schools and the number of assistant coaches that will be allowed for each program.

The schools have agreed to meet again in March at Santa Clara, where they hope to finalize the name and structure of the conference.

Sophomore guard Scott Day of the Azusa Pacific men’s basketball team ended his consecutive free throw streak at 53 when he missed on his second attempt Saturday against Southern California College.