Meetings Don’t Clear Up Status of Titan Football

Cal State Fullerton President Milton A. Gordon eased Titan football players’ concerns about the future of their scholarships Monday, but the future of the program--for next week and next season--remained in doubt.

Team representatives met with Gordon for an hour Monday afternoon, then the entire team met with Athletic Director Bill Shumard for two hours Monday evening.

Team spokesman Robert Bedford, a senior tight end, said players voted not to speak to the press about the situation. Asked if the Titans would play Saturday at Southwestern Louisiana--they earlier threatened to boycott the game--he said, “No comment.”

Shumard, who had kept reporters apprised of the situation after the first two meetings, held a third meeting, for about an hour, with Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy and several assistants. Confusion then began to set in.

Shumard left without talking to reporters. Murphy said he “had nothing to say, but we’re going to practice tomorrow.” Sports information director Mel Franks said he “didn’t know what was going to happen until tomorrow--but that implies that something could happen.”

Gordon said players wanted to know whether the program would remain Division I-A, drop to I-AA or be eliminated.

“But I told them I’d establish a timetable, and I’ll wait until the end of November or early December to make the decision,” Gordon said. “Division I-AA could have a future, but I’m still looking at it.”

Another possible scenario that is being discussed, according to sources, is dropping football and then bringing it back at a lower level at a later date. That way, those underclassmen who want to transfer to another Division I-A program can do so without losing a year of eligibility.

Whatever happens, Shumard said Monday afternoon, players’ scholarships “will be guaranteed for as long as they’re here (and have eligibility and remain in good academic standing), whether we’re I-A, I-AA or the program is dropped.”

Players apparently must make one decision by today to ensure that’s the case. Assistant coaches phoned players later Monday and said if they were at practice today, their scholarships would not be affected. But if they were not at practice, they would not be considered part of the program.

Shumard said several players expressed desire to keep the program at the I-A level, even though Fullerton doesn’t have the financial resources to be competitive.

“I understand their concerns, but those are programmatic decisions made at a higher level, and we all have to respect that,” he said.

Asked if he had any doubts that the Titans would play Saturday’s game, Shumard said, “Not from my standpoint.”

Crossed signals: A miscommunication between Titan cross-country Coach John Elders, a school administrator and the Big West Conference office has cost Steve Frisone a redshirt season, but the men’s team will be the better for it.

Frisone, the team’s top runner in 1991, was taking this season off from competition to experiment with training techniques and save his senior season for 1993, when it appeared the Titans would be even stronger.

Elders wasn’t sure if Frisone could compete unattached in meets, so he had Lee Gilbert, faculty athletic representative, check with the conference office, which said he could run.

But the Big West apparently wasn’t informed that Frisone wanted to run in meets with other college runners. NCAA rules state that if a college runner competes in a meet that has collegiate scoring, he is charged with a season of competition.

Frisone raced in the Sept. 26 UC Riverside Invitational, where he placed second, and another coach expressed surprise to Elders that Frisone was running. A second rule check revealed the error.

“We asked if he could compete in meets as an open athlete, and they (Big West office) didn’t take it as college competition,” Elders said. “We either asked the right question and got the wrong answer or asked the wrong question and got the right answer.”

Frisone will have an abbreviated senior season, but he has already had an impact. He placed second in Saturday’s tri-meet against UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Long Beach and will improve the Titans’ chances of winning their first conference title Oct. 31.

“It was a tough lesson, but we’re focusing on how much better it makes us this year rather than next year,” Elders said. “With him on the team, I think we’re the favorite to win the conference.”

Doubleheader delight: Titan soccer Coach Al Mistri loves the new Mountain Pacific Soccer Federation, but he was somewhat concerned with the conference scheduling format, which bunches matches on Fridays and Sundays.

“It’s like asking a football team to play on Friday and then come back and play Sunday,” Mistri said.

But Fullerton, despite nagging injuries that slowed several starters, handled the grueling schedule with ease this past weekend, defeating Cal State Northridge, 1-0, Friday and UC Santa Barbara, 5-0, Sunday, both on the road.

Mistri credited the contributions of several reserves--including Mark Vaught and J.B. McCormack, who both scored goals Sunday--for helping Fullerton (9-2) garner its highest ranking (No. 6) in the Far West Region poll since 1982.

Titan Notes

The Fullerton football team, which has lost 24 of 45 fumbles this season, is on pace to break the NCAA record for fumbles set by Texas Southern in 1977. Texas Southern lost 39 of 68 fumbles that season. Three Titan fumbles have been returned for touchdowns, and 10 of their opponents’ 23 scoring “drives” this season have been 36 yards or less. . . . Fullerton’s next football opponent, Southwestern Louisiana, lost to San Jose State, 38-13, on Sept. 19. The Titans lost to San Jose State, 49-3, Saturday. . . . Fullerton ranks last in the Big West in total offense (225.3 yards per game), passing offense (44.7) and scoring (8.0) but is first in the conference in rushing offense (180.7). . . . Sophomore point guard Lianne Ishikawa, who started 24 of 28 games and averaged 2.6 points and a team-leading 3.7 assists last season, asked to be released from her scholarship, first-year women’s basketball Coach Deborah Ayres said. Ishikawa’s departure means the Titans will have no returning starters in 1992-93.