He’s Got Ventura His Way : Basketball: Phil Mathews, former UC Irvine player, receives high marks for his community college coaching.

His exploits as a player have been far overshadowed by his success as a coach, but there is at least one person who will always remember Phil Mathews as the “man who almost beat West Virginia.”

“He came off the bench to hit about six jumpers in a row and we almost upset West Virginia back there,” former UC Irvine Coach Tim Tift said. “He was incredible.”

Well, maybe not that incredible.

On Dec. 4, 1971, Irvine, then a Division II school, lost to the Mountaineers, 70-66. Mathews kept the Anteaters close down the stretch with three key baskets. He finished with seven points.

If you want to rave about Mathews’ prowess as a coach, you need not resort to fond-but-slightly-distorted memories. Just check Ventura’s record (23-1) and its spot in the state community college rankings (No. 1).

It has been a good season for the Pirates, but then “good” has become a relative term in Ventura, where Mathews has spent the last seven-plus seasons raising expectations.

Ventura’s record was 4-22 in 1984-85, the year before they hired Mathews, who was then an assistant to George McQuarn at Cal State Fullerton. The Pirates went 17-10 and won the Western State Conference title in Mathews’ first year. His second season, they were 31-4 and State champs.

His career record at Ventura is 213-51.

“Obviously, we’re tickled to death to have him,” Ventura Athletic Director Jerry Dunlap said. “The way he’s handled the program, the professionalism, we really appreciate what he’s done and what he’s doing.

“We’re winning, but the academic side is equally impressive. Phil has mentors for each student-athlete and 45 of the last 47 have graduated with A.A. degrees. I can’t tell you how much that academic progress is appreciated on campus.

“And, in eight years, we haven’t had a single dispute, and let me tell you, I’ve been an A.D. for 18 years and that’s truly remarkable.”

Tift isn’t the least bit surprised. Mathews, who remained at Irvine as Tift’s assistant for five years, moved on to the head coaching job at Santa Ana Valley High School. In his three years there, the Falcons were 52-22 and twice won the Century League title.

Tift first came to respect Mathews’ coaching ability at Irvine when he “really relied on Phil a lot,” then later as he watched Mathews’ high school teams play. But Tift knew Mathews had the right stuff when he was a part-time starting guard for the Anteaters.

“Phil was a coach’s player,” Tift said. “He knew the offense as well as anybody and he thought beyond what most players do at that level. He understood that offense was player movement, ball movement and shot selection and that really, without all three, you didn’t have an offense, you had individual play.

“A lot of guys who play basketball in college are talented, but they don’t really understand the game and they don’t know how to play the game. But Phil was the kind of player who got the most out of his abilities.”

Mathews, like most successful coaches, has gleaned much from his mentors, who happen to include some of Orange County’s most famous/infamous basketball coaches: Tift, McQuarn and Irvine Valley Coach Bill Mulligan, whom Mathews played for at Riverside City College.

“I learned the need for strict discipline from Bill at Riverside,” said Mathews, who has become a renowned taskmaster. “And, of course, I also learned a lot about the art of fast-break basketball.”

Mathews says the greatest lesson learned from the ever-intense McQuarn was to make an emotional commitment to your players.

“Working with George was a good experience for me,” he said. “It taught me what I had to do to get it done at the next level.

“The players really liked George, so it was easy for him to motivate them. Players take their cue from the head coach. If you’re intense, the players will play intense.

“I’m very focused and I want them focused. I’m totally into the game and into my players. I want them to know that I’m into the game and that I want them into the game. That’s my style and we’ve been pretty successful with it.”

While McQuarn and Mulligan have influenced Mathews’ emotional approach, it’s Tift who had the greatest impact on the cerebral aspect of the game.

“Playing for Tim was great because he has really novel ideas about the game,” Mathews said. “A lot of our offensive philosophy comes from him. I had a great time both playing and coaching for him for seven years there, and I really learned a lot.

“Coach Tift was always very well respected by his peers. We averaged close to 80 points a game when I was playing and we were in Division II. When we moved up to Division I, we didn’t have the best athletes on the floor, so we had to work for the best shot.

“People think of Coach Tift as a slow-down guy, but that wasn’t it at all. He ran a passing game and tried to take the smartest shot. We do the same thing here, but we have much better athletes here. And for us, it all starts on the defensive end of the floor.”

Actually, the Pirates are doing a pretty good job on both ends of the court. They’re scoring more than 80 points a game and allowing fewer than 65, the kinds of numbers that probably would satisfy Mulligan and McQuarn.

“We change our style according to our talent level,” Mathews said, “but we’ve got some pretty good talent right now and we lead the conference in scoring and defense, so that’s a pretty happy medium.”

The Pirates’ leading scorer is Calvin Curry, a 6-foot-6 sophomore from Compton who’s averaging 21.6 points. And the team’s leading rebounder is former Edison High standout Brandon Jessie, who is averaging 8.7 rebounds and is second in scoring (15.8).

Two of the Ventura starters are from Oxnard and Santa Paula, so Mathews is winning with a mix of players that includes local talent.

Of all the coaches who have had an influence on Mathews’ career, one stands out: Jerry Tarkanian. The former Nevada Las Vegas coach recommended Mathews to Dunlap.

“I called Lute Olsen, Tark, a number of coaches who knew the area, knew Ventura College and the community, and asked them to give me the names of good young coaches they thought would fit in,” Dunlap said. “It was Tark who gave me Phil’s name.”

There are persistent rumors that Tarkanian, who was recently fired as coach of the San Antonio Spurs, will resurface at a Southland community college and Mathews would then find himself in the unenviable position of recruiting against the Tark.

“I don’t know if Jerry’s coming back or not, but, heck, I wouldn’t mind,” Mathews said. “There’s always room for a great coach like Tark. I wouldn’t be surprised, either. Knowing Jerry, he can’t stand sitting around.

“And it sure would be great for JC basketball.”

Community college basketball is already thriving in Ventura, however. The Pirates average about 1,000 fans for home games and, by community college standards, that’s like filling the Astrodome.

Mathews said he left a successful program at Santa Ana Valley for an assistant’s position at Cal State Fullerton when he felt the time was right to step up to the next level. At the moment, he is poised to take another step, but the situation at Ventura has made him hesitant to make a move.

“I’m not even thinking about the next level right now,” he says. “I have a great job. We’ve been able to win. The community is behind the program. The administration is behind the program.

“If a Division I position opened up, it would have to be a very, very good job for me to leave Ventura.”