UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / ROBYN NORWOOD : Channell Worth the Wait, Baker Says

During UC Irvine’s first 21 games this season, Khalid Channell made it onto the court between the warm-ups and the handshakes only three times.

Of the season’s first 850 minutes, Channell played 14.

Then came the week Coach Rod Baker decided to give the sophomore walk-on forward a chance to play. Now Baker’s a little sheepish that he didn’t do it earlier.

“About two weeks ago, I noticed that I really couldn’t come up with another reason not to play him,” Baker said. “It’s interesting, there are guys who are like him who do the things they are supposed to and eliminate the reasons why you can’t play them. Then there are other guys who don’t do the things they are supposed to (in order to) continue playing or get better.

“(Channell) is never late, he’s always where he’s supposed to be, he has always wanted to help out. He gets bigger and stronger, he pays attention, he tries to do what you want from a basketball standpoint.”

And suddenly, he plays.

Against San Jose State last week, Channell got in the game early and did well enough to stay in. He finished with eight points in 28 minutes as Irvine managed only its sixth victory of the season--a victory that could put the Anteaters in the Big West Conference tournament.

“He helped us get a win,” Baker said. “We don’t have a lot of ‘em and he helped us get a win. That’s a contribution a few guys (who play more) have not made.”

In the last three games, he has become a regular substitute, adding four points in 17 minutes against Pacific and scoring 10 points in 20 minutes against Cal State Long Beach on Monday.

He is averaging 4.5 points, which makes him the third-leading scorer off the bench, ahead of four players--Elzie Love, Todd Whitehead, Uzoma Obiekea and Craig Marshall--who have started at different times.

“Here’s a guy who just waited his turn, and when he got it he was determined make the best of it,” Baker said. “Here’s what he had hoped and wished and dreamed for, and when he got it he wanted to do something with it, as opposed to just have it.”

On a team whose players seem split between shooters who are too timid and those who will try most any shot that strikes them, Channell has struck a nice balance, and plays with surprising self-assurance for someone once stuck near the end of the bench.

“Every game, I’m geared up to go in and do the best I can with my ability,” Channell said. When he finally got his chance, Channell said, “I figured I’d play hard.”

Channell beams when he thinks about the San Jose State game. Was it fun? “Extremely,” he says. As much as he has wanted to play, he knew he had to wait for his time. Earlier this season, Baker even apologized to him that he wasn’t playing more, telling him “Hang on. You’ll get your chance.”

“Basically, I knew my role on the team,” Channell said. “I figured I’d work hard in practice. I was waiting for the time I could show what I’d learned in practice, and show the talent I have as a walk-on.”

Channell is one of the academic standouts of the team. A biological sciences major, he is a member of the campus-wide honors program and hopes to be either a doctor or a biology professor.

Instead of jelling in the closing weeks of the season, as the Anteaters did last year, this team is becoming more and more fragmented--especially offensively. Look closely and you can tell that it is hardly a team of best friends.

“There might be attitude problems, and certain players not liking other players,” Channell said. “But the most important thing is the team concept. If you don’t trust the guy next to you, there’s no way you can win.

“We got it together last year and beat UC Santa Barbara, and we definitely have more talent. We’re trying to get it together now.”

The two games Keith Stewart missed last week were the result of an NCAA penalty for briefly falling below the 12-unit course work minimum for eligibility. Stewart dropped a course that caused him to fall below the minimum, but he was able to rescind his decision.

Vince O’Boyle keeps running into old friends who are painful for him to see--former Anteaters who left for other schools after Irvine’s men’s track and cross-country programs were slated for discontinuation last year before receiving a reprieve.

He has seen Mark Kalic of UC Santa Barbara, Dustin James and Desiree Bracey of USC, and Shelly Tochluk of UCLA.

“That’s not easy for me,” said O’Boyle, Irvine’s director of track and field and cross-country. “It’s like seeing a friend you haven’t seen for a long time. They’re still a friend, but they’re not a part of your family anymore. That’s hard.”