Fay Is Among Three to Transfer From Oxnard College to Ventura

Lance Fay, Steve Amar and Andy Saint will transfer from Oxnard College to Ventura College, Pirate basketball Coach Philip Mathews said Tuesday.

“Our motto here is that we don’t like to rebuild,” Mathews said. “We like to reload.”

Fay, a 6-foot-2 guard who led the Condors in scoring last season with a 16.1 average, was an honorable mention selection on the All-Western State Conference North Division team. Fay, The Times’ Ventura County player of the year in 1992 from Buena High, was the third-leading scorer with a 17.0 average in division games.

Amar, a 6-4 forward from Santa Clara High, averaged 14.1 points and 6.5 rebounds before former Oxnard Coach Remy McCarthy expelled him from the team for disciplinary reasons. Saint, a 6-6 forward from Buena High, played sparingly.

Mathews said Fay and Saint will red-shirt next season but that Amar figures in his plans for 1993-94.

Tracy Lundy and redshirt sophomore D’Mitri Rideout will take over for Stephane Brown at shooting guard to complement point guard Joey Ramirez.

“We have some (returning) guys at off-guard,” Mathews said. “It’ll benefit him (Fay) to learn our system.”

Ventura, ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the season, finished 37-2 after losing to Columbia, 97-88, in the state championship game earlier this month.

Fay was a key player for Oxnard, which suffered through a conference season riddled with problems. The Condors were expected to challenge Ventura for the division title but finished 16-14 overall and fourth in the five-team WSC North Division at 2-6.

Among the problems were a season-ending shoulder injury to freshman point guard Chris Cole in a 54-53 loss Feb. 3 to Santa Barbara City. Three days later, sophomore center Art Wallace quit the team and Amar was kicked off. Wallace was averaging 10.7 points and 7.5 rebounds.

McCarthy resigned Feb. 22. A replacement has not yet been named.