UCI’s Mumford Looking Forward to Reunion With Massimino

Rollie Massimino’s arrival in the Big West Conference will mean a reunion with former Villanova guard Lloyd Mumford, now at UC Irvine. The two didn’t part amicably.

“I can’t believe it,” said Mumford, who transferred from Villanova after Massimino dropped him from the team last summer. “I’d like to beat him probably as bad as anybody could be beaten, on a professional level.”

Massimino was sharply criticized in Philadelphia for dismissing Mumford from the team after Mumford was arrested on suspicion of breaking into two suburban Philadelphia houses in July.

A judge later dismissed charges of criminal trespass and criminal mischief after Mumford argued that he had been looking for the home of a girlfriend who lived in the neighborhood. The judge found Mumford guilty only of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and imposed a fine.

Mumford, who led Villanova to a near-upset of North Carolina in the 1991 NCAA tournament, sat out this year as required by NCAA transfer regulations, and probably will start at point guard as a junior for Irvine next season.

“I’m happy to have a chance to play against him, look him in the eye,” Mumford said. “He called me once, but I wasn’t here. I don’t know what that was about. I never thought I’d get a chance to play against him. I didn’t think he’d ever schedule a game with us. I look forward to playing him twice a year.”