Titans Take a Chance on Holland : College basketball: Former Laker makes jump from assistant’s position at UCLA to his first head coaching job.

Cal State Fullerton, catching what it hopes will be a rising star, named UCLA assistant Brad Holland as its head basketball coach Wednesday.

Holland, 35, has never been a head coach at any level, and his entire coaching experience consists of the four years he spent on Jim Harrick’s staff at UCLA.

But the former UCLA and Laker player says he believes he’s prepared for the challenge of leading a mid-sized Division I program over the .500 mark at which it has been stuck in recent years.

“I’ve never called a timeout or made a substitution, but with my basketball background I think I’ll quickly learn the ins and outs of being a head coach,” said Holland, who replaced John Sneed and will be the sixth Titan coach in Fullerton basketball history.

“Certainly, that’s something I lack now, but I think I’m ready to tackle this level. I see this as a sleeping giant of a program that can finish in the top half of its conference (Big West) and have a chance for postseason play.”

Holland, who was a finalist for the Loyola Marymount job that went to John Olive, was one of two interviewed for the Fullerton post. The other was Dick Kuchen, the former California coach who recently completed his sixth year at Yale.

Three other long-time head coaches--UC Riverside’s John Masi, Biola’s Dave Holmquist and Mater Dei High School’s Gary McKnight--were among the seven finalists at Fullerton, as was second-year Idaho Coach Larry Eustachy.

But in Titan Athletic Director Bill Shumard, Holland had an ally who not only empathized with Holland’s situation but seemed more than willing to roll the dice with an unproven and inexperienced candidate.

Shumard, after all, spent only three years as a USC athletic administrator before becoming Fullerton athletic director in August. He admitted the school took a big chance hiring him but called the hiring of Holland “a safer gamble” because of Holland’s background.

“The fact that Brad had no head-coaching experience came up a lot (in the search process) but I heard equally as much that people aren’t born as head coaches,” Shumard said. “Every great coach gets an opportunity at one point.

“I just looked for attributes that I think will make him a good head coach--integrity, determination, knowledge of the game and a passion for excellence. Those are evident in his life.”

Holland, a football and basketball standout at Crescenta Valley High School and a four-year letterman at UCLA, signed a three-year contract at a base salary of $70,000 a year.

A Fullerton booster group will augment that with $10,000 a year, and with a shoe contract and income from summer basketball camps, Holland’s total compensation package should be in the $90,000-$100,000 range. He’ll also receive a car.

Holland said he probably wouldn’t assemble a staff for at least another week but added that current Titan assistant Mike Bokosky will be considered. He’ll officially start at Fullerton May 1 but seemed to make an immediate impact during a team meeting Wednesday afternoon.

“I like him,” Titan forward Bruce Bowen said. “The things he said at the meeting, it was like, ‘I’m not going to take no bull from no one. If you want to play here, play hard and I won’t have any problems.’ I don’t think anyone’s going to challenge him. It seems like he can turn things around.”

Three starters--Bowen, point guard Aaron Sunderland and center Sean Williams--return from a 1991-92 team that went 12-16 and experienced some dissension at times during the season.

But Holland sees potential.

“When I look at our team, I see a nucleus of seniors that is quite talented,” Holland said. “I say that from experience because they almost beat us last season.”

The Titans gave the second-ranked Bruins a scare in December before losing, 86-80. Holland will return to Pauley Pavilion Dec. 30 when Fullerton plays UCLA, and by then, he’ll have seen how the other half lives.

It’s not exactly a riches to rags story, but going from UCLA to Fullerton is like trading a Cadillac for a Honda Civic. The budget-conscious Titans are economy class all the way.

“The biggest adjustment is financial,” said UC Irvine Coach Rod Baker, previously an assistant at Seton Hall. “You can’t say you didn’t have money to recruit before, but now that’s a problem. At UCLA, you do things a certain way because money is not an issue, but now you have to watch how you spend.

“Your kids aren’t going to eat steak and stay in suites on the road, but if there isn’t enough money in the budget to do certain things, you have to go out and raise it.”

Holland acknowledged that making such a transition “might be frustrating for a time because I was so spoiled at UCLA,” he said. “But that’s part of the job.

“Fund-raising will be a significant part of it. I think a strength I have is dealing with the community, but the greatest way to produce resources is to win games. All schools have budget restraints, but we can work within those parameters to have a quality program.”

Known as a scrappy, sharp-shooting guard during his playing days, Holland was a member of the Lakers’ 1980 NBA championship team, but his pro career was cut short by a knee injury in 1982. An academic All-American during his senior year at UCLA, Holland spent several years in private business and worked as a broadcaster for Prime Ticket from 1985-88.

He may not have much coaching experience, but Holland has played for several outstanding coaches, including Gary Cunningham, Pat Riley and Don Nelson. And while some might consider leaving tradition-rich UCLA for Fullerton a step down, Holland said it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“The No. 1 change is I’m a head coach,” Holland said. “I’ve moved 18 inches over on the bench. I’ll be the one making the substitutions and calling timeouts. I’ll be the one who decides our personality on the floor.”

* FEELING SLIGHTED: Gary McKnight may prefer remaining at Mater Dei, but he still would have liked an interview for the Titan job. C9