Coaching Choice Disappoints Aztec Boosters : College basketball: Radio executive, most backers prefer Tarkanian over Fuller.

It is as if somebody let the air out of the basketball. The air of anticipation, and the aura of Jerry Tarkanian, has faded out of town.

Reaction to San Diego State’s hiring of Tony Fuller as basketball coach was swift Thursday--and much of it was not very positive for SDSU.

Boosters complained, several season ticket orders were canceled and the CEO of the broadcast group that owns the radio station that broadcasts Aztec games blasted the school for its decision.

Although nobody begrudged Fuller the opportunity, about the only people who spoke out in favor of him were, predictably, SDSU professors.

Otherwise . . .

“When you have cancer, you don’t take two aspirin,” John Lynch, chairman and CEO of Noble Broadcast Group, said of the beleaguered Aztec program. “That’s kind of what I liken this remedy to.”

Lynch was the most outspoken. The Noble Broadcast Group owns radio station XTRA, which broadcasts Aztec games.

“Obviously, I’ll do everything I can to support Fuller in his quest to build the program,” Lynch said. “But I’m extremely disappointed. I feel like if it wasn’t going to happen with Tarkanian, it should have never been brought up as a viable option.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn the program around and support all of San Diego State athletics, and I’m left with having to carry a miserable product on the air. Now, it will be a long, slow rebuilding process.

“This is not going to be a quality offering, and I’m going to have a long discussion with Dr. Miller.”

When asked if he was thinking of attempting to get out of the final two years of his station’s contract with SDSU, Lynch said: “I wouldn’t say that, but I’m not going to go out of my way on conflicts. If we run (an SDSU) game at midnight, nobody is going to care.”

XTRA is also the flagship station on the Kings hockey network. There were about 12 Kings/Aztecs conflicts this winter in which the Aztecs were carried late at night on a tape-delayed basis.

“I think we’ve been a good partner for (SDSU),” Lynch said. “And I expect a commitment of excellence out of them, and I don’t think it’s been given.

“I was prepared under Tarkanian that there wouldn’t be conflicts--we would find (ways) to either run their games live or find mutually agreeable alternatives.”

Vickie Larson, SDSU ticket manager, said that, of 250 deposits for new season ticket orders, 60 had been canceled by Thursday morning.

“Some people are really disappointed, and others, I think, had jumped on the bandwagon,” Larson said.

The 250 deposits--most of which have come after the season--are for people who did not hold season tickets last season. It is significant because two years ago, SDSU received only 67 new orders for season tickets for the entire season , according to Larson.

Last season, a ticket drive by boosters called the “Full Court Press” netted 775 total new orders. As a result, the season ticket base in 1991-1992 was 1,898--the second-largest season ticket sale in school history.

But the Aztecs still averaged fewer than 3,000 per game. And for now, interest doesn’t seem much higher.

“I’m just disappointed,” said Bill Cowling, president of Dixieline Lumber--a long-time SDSU corporate sponsor. “I would rather see Tarkanian come in here and bring excitement to the campus and to San Diego. I know the followers here at the company are greatly disappointed.

“But the two guys who probably swung the boat, (SDSU Athletic Director Fred) Miller and (SDSU President Tom) Day, you’ve got to give them respect. They know what they’re doing.”

Cowling said a friend of his had offered $2,500 to SDSU if Tarkanian were hired and added that the friend was disappointed in the decision.

“He called me and said, ‘I just saved $2,500 every year,’ ” Cowling said. “He said, ‘Dammit, I’m disappointed. We can’t seem to do anything to excite that campus.’ ”

In general, interest in SDSU basketball has rarely been as high as it has been in the past month, when it seemed realistic that Tarkanian would take over the SDSU program.

But it seemed that the interest nearly evaporated overnight. Cowling said that, by 10:30 a.m. Thursday, he had received at least six calls from friends of his who were sorry that Tarkanian would not be coaching at SDSU.

“They were all disappointed,” said Cowling, whose company contributes $50,000 annually to SDSU athletics.

Bill Hicks, area manager of Texaco, was reluctant to comment, saying it was a “lose-lose” situation to do so. Two weeks ago, Hicks said he was in favor of Tarkanian after wavering.

“All I can say is that a decision has been made, we’re going to go with it and hopefully turn things around next year,” he said.

Hicks said that from what he has read and heard, Fuller is a good choice.

“I’m sure Fuller’s got some (recruits) in his hip pocket he’s going to steer this way,” Hicks said. “I’m excited about a new season.”

Many SDSU professors, though, are simply pleased that the controversial Tarkanian is out of the running.

“There was a strong feeling that they did not want to be associated with Tarkanian, rightly or wrongly, because of his background,” said Charles Stewart, an SDSU chemistry professor and chairman of the university’s faculty senate. “I think it would have been a mistake.”

Stewart, who said he is a football season-ticket holder and has been attending SDSU football games since the Don Coryell years at SDSU in the early 1970s, said Fuller will be a good choice.

“It’s hard at this point to see how he’s going to work out,” Stewart said. “My own personal feeling is that it sounds like a good choice.”

Roger Cunniff, an SDSU history professor who wrote an anti-Tarkanian opinion piece in The Times several weeks ago, also said he was happy SDSU went with Fuller.

“I’m obviously very happy,” Cunniff said. “The rest of my colleagues whom I’ve spoken with think President Day didn’t make the mistake.

“This new coach looks like the kind of coach we should get. Someone to start from scratch, and let’s see what he can do. It seems like his priorities are in order.”

Cunniff said that he was against Tarkanian from the beginning, but that he became further agitated when Tarkanian criticized Nevada Las Vegas President Robert Maxson.

“For President Day to hire him would have meant that we cared about nothing more than a winning basketball team,” Cunniff said.

Day could not be reached for comment Thursday. Throughout the search for a new coach, Day refused to comment on any personnel, including Tarkanian.

And in the end, his thoughts remain as mysterious as they have for the past month.

“I can’t believe the whole process went on as long as it did,” Lynch said. “If it wasn’t going to happen, I don’t understand why that wasn’t said a month ago by (President) Day. . . .

“It’s a real disappointing chapter in the whole San Diego State athletic program.”