Gymnastics Pulls Off a Recruiting Coup

While the men’s soccer team made its improbable run through the NCAA tournament and the men’s basketball team kept busy introducing themselves to each other, assistant gymnastics coach Julie Knight was quietly helping put together one of the school’s best recruiting classes during her first effort.

The Titans signed two gymnasts during the early signing period in November--and beat UCLA on both of them.

“Julie Knight made the difference,” Coach Lynn Rodgers said. “She has such a phenomenal reputation in the club programs.”

Knight, Rodgers’ first All-American gymnast at Fullerton in the late 1970s, wasn’t even hired until September and, two months later, pulled off a coup by signing Christy Lutz from Oceanside High over a whirlwind five-day period.

Fullerton received an unsolicited videotape from Lutz, who was unaware of the early signing period, on Nov. 12.

The tape hit Knight’s desk about 9 a.m. and, after viewing it, Knight knew she had a find. Within three hours, Knight had Lutz’s complete academic transcript faxed by the Oceanside guidance counselor.

Once Knight confirmed that Lutz had the grades and Scholastic Aptitude Test results to be eligible for the early-signing period, she went to work. Knight watched Lutz work out on a Monday, had her visit Fullerton on a Tuesday and had her signed that night.

UCLA and several other big-time schools joined in the recruiting once they also received tapes from Lutz, but it was too late.

“It worked out great for both of us,” Knight said of Lutz, who finished fifth at the 1993 Level 10 Nationals and was a member of the Junior Olympic National Team. “She’s a very gifted athlete.”

The other gymnast signed by Fullerton is Michele Lotta, from Marymount High in Los Angeles.

“She can make a big difference in our program here,” Knight said. “She trains very hard and wants to get better. She’s a very strong all-around athlete--she doesn’t have one event where she’s strongest.”

Lotta, who participated in the Level 9 National Championships three years in a row, came to Fullerton partly because she was impressed with Knight’s background with Huntington Beach’s Southern California Acro Team (SCATS), the oldest club team in the nation.

“That made a difference with these athletes,” Knight said.

Knight coached at SCATS from 1977 until her arrival at Fullerton in September. Because the recruiting period started in July, she was forced to hit the ground running.

“There were days when I thought we weren’t going to sign anybody,” Knight said.

As for her first few months as a college coach, Knight said her experience confirms she made the right decision.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s a big change. The biggest is working with more mature athletes who have opinions about their training. The athletes are a little less inhibited.”

As for the recruiting, no problem. In less than four months Knight has beaten UCLA on two gymnasts.

“It’s a big-time accomplishment,” said Rodgers, who called it “one of my best recruiting classes ever.”

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In the aftermath of the Titans’ 80-62 season-opening loss Saturday at Wyoming, guard Greg Vernon said the team ran into one big problem on the high plains.

“It’s hard to breathe out here, man,” he said. “The air is thin.”

No surprises there. Wyoming’s Arena-Auditorium is 7,220 feet above sea level, the highest college basketball arena in the nation.

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Wyoming’s Queint Higgins had a few nice things to say about Fullerton even though the Titans were picked during the preseason to finish 10th in the Big West Conference.

“They have a nice team,” Higgins said. “With so many (community college) guys, they have to learn how to work with each other. It’s a small team, but good.”

Higgins sounded a little more sincere than Wyoming Coach Joby Wright, who said after the game he would be “surprised and disappointed” if the Titans don’t win 20 games this year.

Nothing like a school’s first-year coach putting a ridiculous spin on an early-season game to make himself look good to alumni.

When asked about Wright’s statement, Fullerton Coach Brad Holland had no comment.

Our comment: Fullerton has won 20 or more games only twice in its 33-year basketball history. Apparently, Wright has already inhaled too much of that thin air.

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The women’s basketball team, which is 1-2 after losing Saturday at Fresno State, has two weeks off before hosting Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 18.

“Our job over the next two weeks is to learn from our previous games and prepare for our upcoming games,” Coach Deborah Ayres said.

As for the break in the schedule, Ayres said former assistant Julie Kearney did this year’s schedule.

Titan Notes

Forward Todd Satalowich, one of only two returning players, came back to basketball practice this week. Satalowich has been out since the preseason with a sprained toe and bunions. . . . The first college baseball poll is out and, according to a new publication called “College Sports,” Fullerton is ranked third.