COLLEGE DIVISION / ARA NAJARIAN : Party Attracts a Special Guest

The usual suspects were there when Jim Milhon announced that he was retiring as Azusa Pacific’s football coach after next season.

There was his family, university President Richard Felix, Athletic Director Terry Franson, former athletic director (and current commissioner of the Golden State Athletic Conference) Cliff Hamlow and basketball Coach Bill Odell.

But one person there surprised Milhon--and visibly moved him.

It was Christian Okoye.

Milhon has coached football at Azusa Pacific since 1978 and has an 80-61-4 record. He took over a program that was nearly dropped because of budget cuts the year before and had never had consecutive winning seasons.

In his third year, Milhon began a string of seven winning seasons. In October of 1985, he took the program to a No. 3 ranking in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics national poll, and the program was successful enough to help pay for lights to be installed at the campus stadium last year.

But the brightest light in the program was Okoye.

The running back set several records at Azusa Pacific and starred in the NFL.

“He taught me to play in the NFL,” Okoye said. “If I went to USC, UCLA, etc.--they wouldn’t have let me play. I had never played before. I never saw football in Nigeria.”

What type of coaching effort was it?

Unique.

During Okoye’s first season, a large sign with a black arrow was put on the field to show Okoye which way to run.

“When Christian came in, it almost was like God said, ‘Here: Coach him,’ ” Milhon said. “If he had made the Olympic team, I wouldn’t have got the chance to coach such a fine person.”

Okoye played football at Azusa Pacific from 1984-86. Okoye came to Azusa Pacific in 1982 to compete on the Cougars’ national championship track and field team, hoping to make the Nigerian Olympic team. When he didn’t, he asked to join the football team.

Okoye rushed for a school-record 3,569 yards, averaging 6.8 yards per carry, and scored 34 touchdowns.

“One of the highlights of my career must have been going with Christian to Mobile, Ala., for the (Senior Bowl),” Milhon said. “I said to Christian, ‘I hope they let you play.’ He said ‘Coach, they are going to let me start.’

“So then the game starts, and I thought, ‘I hope he can score once. . . .’ Well, he scored four touchdowns and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs.”

The four touchdowns are a Senior Bowl record.

With the Chiefs, he went to two Pro Bowls and was the AFC player of the year in 1989. Injuries and a diminished role in the offense with Barry Word, Harvey Williams and Marcus Allen prompted Okoye to ask the Chiefs to release him in the exhibition season so he could rehabilitate his knee and be free to try to join other teams.

“The time I spent here playing (at Azusa Pacific) was better than all the years in Kansas City,” Okoye said. “In Kansas City, it was all business. Here, it was fun.

“I’m thankful for the time I was here. I think Coach prepares people for what it’s like to be out in life .

“When I think about it,” Okoye said, pausing to look at Milhon, “I just want to give back.”

Milhon will remain with Azusa Pacific as an associate professor of physical education.

*

Not surprisingly, the Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team is off to a good start.

Coach Darlene May has won more than 500 games and her teams have won every California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship and every CCAA tournament title.

This season should produce more of the same. Four starters, all seniors, have returned. The addition of point guard Bits Sirchia, who transferred from Hawaii, a Division I program, for her senior season makes the team even stronger.

The Broncos are off to an 8-2 start, including a victory over Division I Loyola Marymount last week.

Sirchia might be the key to taking the team to its fourth national championship. She played at Golden West for two seasons, transferred to Hawaii last year and chose Cal Poly Pomona when she wanted to return to the mainland.

Sirchia is 5 feet 6 and not a threat to lead the CCAA in rebounding, but she is a good shooter and a true point guard. She is among the CCAA leaders in assists, steals, three-point goals and free-throw percentage this season.

The team still revolves around senior center Mildred Conston, who is averaging 22 points and nine rebounds. The versatility of Missa Houston, Jennifer Harney and LeeAnna Hiestand take offensive pressure off Conston. Tyeast Brown has helped inside, averaging eight rebounds per game.

If there is a challenge to the Broncos, it probably will come from the team they beat in last season’s CCAA tournament final, Cal State San Bernardino.

The Coyotes (6-1) play a fast-breaking game with a harassing defense.

This style fits what might be the best backcourt in the conference: Kim Young and Tammie Beckley. Young leads the CCAA by averaging 24 points and 3.3 steals, and is second in the conference in assists with a 3.5 average. Beckley leads the conference in assists with eight per game and is averaging 13 points and 2.9 steals.