Coach Picks Perfect Time to Leave Cal Lutheran

Mike Dunlap is going Down Under at a time when his men’s basketball program at Cal Lutheran is at the top.

Cal Lutheran, 15-0, is off to its best start and is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III West Region.

The previous best was last season, when an 8-0 start helped propel the Kingsmen to a share of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. They also went 8-0 in 1983, but finished 14-16.

Barring a collapse, the Kingsmen will have their most successful season. They are only five victories away from the school-record 20 set last season, when they lost seven.

Dunlap will leave after the season to coach professionally in Adelaide, Australia.

Dunlap has been consulting with professional Australian teams for the last five years, taking a trip to do so each May. His interest was piqued by some Australian players who were on the Cal Lutheran team when he took over as coach in 1989.

Relations developed to the point that he was offered a job in August. With his wife’s approval, he accepted.

The success of this year’s squad has not prompted regrets.

“We kind of look at it as our last dance together,” Dunlap said. “We appreciate our time together more.

“We’re basically a senior-laden team, and I was upfront with them through this whole process. I’m not naive enough to think that some wouldn’t feel a little bit of a betrayal. But they know it was too good to pass up. I think they are happy for me.”

Halfway through the season, the Kingsmen haven’t missed a beat.

Senior guard Damon Ridley leads the team with an average of 20 points--he scored 42 against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday--and the Kingsmen (4-0 in SCIAC) have six players who average of 10 points or more.

Although Cal Lutheran and LaVerne tied for the SCIAC championship last season, LaVerne was the conference’s representative in the NCAA playoffs after having beaten the Kingsmen in a conference playoff game.

Cal Lutheran went to the playoffs as an at-large team and LaVerne beat the Kingsmen again in the Division III Regionals.

But the Kingsmen are not motivated by revenge.

“They know that every loss counts the same, no matter who you play,” Dunlap said.

Indeed, it was a late-season upset by Redlands that allowed LaVerne to tie for the SCIAC championship. A coin flip gave LaVerne home-court advantage for the conference playoff game, which led to LaVerne having home-court advantage in the Division III playoffs.

“We’re happy to be where we are,” Dunlap said. “But to win the SCIAC, you have to win on the road.”

*

LaVerne, which made it to the final 16 last season, was expected to be Cal Lutheran’s toughest competition. But at 6-8, things have not been going as planned.

Pomona-Pitzer has been a surprise, getting off to a 11-4 start (3-1 in SCIAC). Bill Cover, a senior forward, set the school record for points in a career before the holiday break. Phil Kelly and Brendan Fallis have been able to step up when Cover is double-teamed.

Occidental (8-6, 2-2) returns with Blair Slattery, the SCIAC player of the year, who is leading the conference in scoring at 23.8 points per game and rebounds at 13.8. Like LaVerne, Occidental has suffered from losses to graduation.

Michael Anderson and Jason Bragg, who are among the SCIAC leaders in steals and scoring, lead running Redlands. The Bulldogs use an offense similar to the one Paul Westhead ran at Loyola Marymount several years ago.

It would be a major upset if Claremont-Mudd (5-9), Caltech (8-4) or Whittier (2-13) finished in the top four in the conference.

*

Caltech is 0-4 in the SCIAC, but the Beavers have a chance to win their first conference men’s basketball game since 1985.

The Beavers have lost 56 in a row since rejoining the SCIAC at the varsity level in 1989. Their last victory was by 48-47 over LaVerne on Jan. 23, 1985. The next season, the program was dropped to the junior varsity level.

But this season, Caltech has five quality starters and took off to an 8-0 nonconference record.

“That was great scheduling,” Caltech Coach Gene Victor said with a laugh. “None of these kids came here to play basketball, but they work hard and we played some teams that were not as good as teams we see in the conference. But it’s been fun for them.”

It appears the first good shot at an upset will come at Whittier on Wednesday.