Feeling at Home in Lions’ Den : After Transferring From UCLA, Zan Mason Shoots for Stardom at Loyola

Zan Mason sat in a courtside seat at Loyola Marymount’s Gersten Pavilion, his second college basketball home, and talked about what it has been like to have three different coaches in three years.

“I’m relearning again,” he said. “It has taken me a lot longer than I thought it would to get used to the system. But you have to take into account that the coach is new, the system is new and I’m new.”

Mason’s rebirth as a player comes during his fourth year in college, a time when most players have already established themselves in a program. A few years ago, Mason would have envisioned himself starting this season for UCLA, the school he signed with after a heralded prep career at Westchester High.

But Mason’s dream of contributing to the Bruins’ legacy never panned out. After two uneventful seasons as a UCLA reserve, Mason transferred to Loyola last year to make a fresh start at a new school.

Loyola is glad he did. Starting for the first time since the 1988-89 season, his senior year at Westchester, Mason leads Loyola (3-4) in scoring and rebounding with averages of 15.9 and 8.3, respectively.

Some rustiness remains in his game, but you won’t hear any complaints from Loyola’s coaches concerning the 6-foot-6, 200-pound junior forward.

“He’s lived up to our expectations, because we realized that he had a long way to go,” said first-year Loyola Coach John Olive. “I’d be surprised if Zan felt he was playing as well as he can play right now.”

Mason doesn’t, but the fact that he is playing and contributing again on a basketball team puts a smile on his face.

“I just want to be happy and have fun playing,” he said. “If I’m having fun playing, usually I’m playing well.”

Happiness, from a basketball standpoint, eluded Mason during his two years at UCLA. He came to Westwood at a time when the Bruins boasted a wealth of talented front-court players.

As a freshman, Mason played behind senior Trevor Wilson and sophomore Don McLean. The next season, freshman Tracy Murray joined UCLA and quickly became a starter. Mason played sparingly as a sophomore, averaging three points and 2.3 rebounds a game. Ironically, the most he played that season was 18 minutes in a runaway victory over Loyola.

The frustration of sitting on the bench caused Mason to begin doubting his ability.

“The first person I blamed was myself,” he said. “I was like, ‘Am I not working hard enough? Am I not good enough?’ ”

Mason met with UCLA Coach Jim Harrick after the 1990-91 season before deciding to transfer. With Murray and McLean returning, and UCLA having signed highly regarded prep players Ed O’Bannon and Shon Tarver, Mason didn’t see much of a chance to increase his playing time.

“It didn’t seem like (Harrick) had any plans for me to be a significant contributor on the team,” Mason said. “So I just decided to leave.”

Harrick said Mason would have eventually made an impact with the Bruins if he had stayed.

“I think Zan would have been a very fine player at UCLA,” Harrick said. “He found himself (playing) behind Don McLean and Tracy Murray, two players who are in the NBA now. Then we got Ed O’Bannon. Although Ed got hurt, Zan felt that he was behind him too.

“He looked out and saw McLean and Murray and O’Bannon, and he didn’t feel there was any playing time for him. But with patience, experience and growth, he would have had a great opportunity to play here. But a lot of kids today are very impatient. If they don’t play right away, they don’t feel they are ever going to play.”

After learning that Mason intended to transfer, Harrick said he suggested that Mason redshirt at UCLA. After all, Mason would have to sit out a season at Loyola because of NCAA transfer rules, so why not do it at UCLA?

At the time, though, Mason didn’t think that redshirting at UCLA would help increase his playing time. He expected Murray and O’Bannon to return as the Bruins’ starting forwards this season. Murray, however, entered the NBA draft after his junior season. A first-round pick, Murray now plays for the Portland Trail Blazers.

“(Mason) didn’t expect Murray to go hardship,” Harrick said. “Looking at Murray and O’Bannon, he might have been right in wanting to leave. It might have been in his best interest to transfer, but we would have loved to have him.

“It’s safe to say he would have been an integral part of our team this year, and maybe a starter. He’s a good, hard-nosed player--really the type of player we need.”

Mason said he has no regrets about attending UCLA.

“I still have a lot of lifelong friends from UCLA,” he said. “It was a learning experience. Now I know what that type of basketball is like. I just took it from there and improved myself . . . I don’t have any hard feelings. (Harrick) had to decide what was best for his basketball team.”

Because he had to sit out, Mason could only practice with Loyola last season. He said getting away from basketball allowed him to concentrate on his studies and escape the pressures he had endured at UCLA.

“Last year I learned a lot about myself as a player and a person,” he said. “It gave me a chance to get my academics together, and that’s what I really needed to do because I was far better student than what I was doing at UCLA. I was thinking too much about my basketball situation.”

The redshirt season also allowed Mason to work on his game, particularly his perimeter shooting, which he acknowledged had been lacking. This season, he ranks third on Loyola with four three-point shots in eight attempts, and leads the team in field-goal shooting at 52.6% (40 of 76).

The biggest drawback for Mason last season was learning a running system that became obsolete after Jay Hillock was released as Loyola’s coach.

“It was a major change for me,” Mason said of the Lions’ old run-and-gun style.

Mason has learned another system under Olive, who slowed down Loyola’s offense and placed more emphasis on playing tough, half-court defense.

Olive said Mason struggled early with some of his coaching concepts, but has made rapid improvement since the start of practice. Mason led the Lions with 13 points and had a personal-best 12 rebounds Wednesday night in a 70-65 loss to Nevada at Gersten Pavilion.

“I think he’s in a groove right now where he’s pretty darn confident and enthusiastic,” Olive said. “I think what happened early in the first couple of weeks, he was seeing things for the first time. He wasn’t comfortable with all the things he was being asked to do.”

Mason said he still struggles at times. He has had a tendency to fade in and out of games, and he ranks second on the team with 28 turnovers, only two behind point guard Bill Mazurie.

“I don’t feel comfortable at times,” Mason said. “I might be scoring a lot or making some good plays, but I won’t feel like I’m in a rhythm. But that’s going to take a lot of time.”

Once Mason finds the rhythm, many believe he will become a consistent force for the Lions. Harrick predicted Mason would lead the West Coast Conference in rebounding.

“He’s coming,” Olive said. “Obviously from a production standpoint, he’s done a very good job. But you can’t be satisfied because Zan is a very talented player. It’s our job, and his as well, to get that talent out.”