A Wave of the Future. . . : Coaching Pepperdine Basketball Team Is Fuller’s Dream Job

In 1978, Pepperdine was desperate to find a guard to complement high-scoring Ricardo Brown. Gary Colson, the Waves’ coach, was impressed with Vincennes (Ind.) Junior College’s Tony Fuller, but unsure whether the guard was willing to come to Malibu.

“The only thing he said was hello and goodby during his 48-hour visit,” said Colson, now the coach at Fresno State. “We figured he didn’t like us at all. I was shocked he still wanted to come.”

After a successful career as a player and assistant coach at Pepperdine, Tony Fuller has returned to his alma mater as the school’s basketball coach. He replaced Tom Asbury, who resigned April 12 to take over the Kansas State program.

“It’s always been my dream to coach at Pepperdine,” Fuller said. “About 16 years ago, I decided I wanted to coach and when I came here, I decided this was the place I wanted to work.”

Fuller, who played and coached under Jim Harrick at Pepperdine, is described by his mentor as a soft-spoken leader.

“Tony was a tremendous player for me,” said Harrick, who hired Fuller as an assistant when he became UCLA coach in 1988. “The thing I remember most about Fuller is that he would play for two hours and never say a word. You never knew he was around.”

Fuller came to Pepperdine after two seasons as coach at San Diego State. The Aztecs were 2-26 the season before Fuller’s arrival and finished 8-21 in 1992-93 and 12-16 last season.

“I describe him as quietly effective,” Harrick said. “He proved to be that way as an assistant and head coach.”

Fuller, 35, defends his soft-spoken mannerisms.

“Where does it say a coach has to be wild and crazy to be successful?” Fuller said. “I always manage to get my point across. We all coach and lead by personality. I’m a regular guy, nothing fancy, nothing great, nothing philosophical. I’m a guy who came up the hard way. Hopefully, my personality will shine through.”

His first move as Waves coach was to promote Marty Wilson to full-time assistant. He recently added Bob Mandeville, an assistant at San Diego State, to his staff and signed Ventura College point guard Joey Ramirez. He also hopes to sign former Notre Dame High standout Monte Marcaccini, who has been released from his commitment to Indiana.

“It was kind of an eerie feeling how many lives have been affected by this move,” Fuller said. “People thought it was an easy decision to leave San Diego State, but it wasn’t. People said I was making a lateral move and it would not help my career. They said the same thing when I left UCLA as an assistant to go to San Diego State. But I guess you have to have faith in yourself before someone else does.”

The Waves return five players, including two part-time starters, from last season’s team, which finished 19-11 and lost in overtime to Michigan, 78-74, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“He seems like a nice guy,” Pepperdine forward Clark James said. “From what people told me about him, he is a very good person and a very good coach.”

Said former Banning High standout Bryan Hill: “As a coach, he seems down to earth and easy to talk to. He expects his team to walk around in a prestigious manner and uphold the image of the school. He doesn’t want his team to be known as a bunch of knuckleheads.”

Practice for the Waves begins Oct. 15, but Fuller does not have time to sit around and enjoy the ocean view from his Malibu office. He has the Pepperdine basketball camp to run, which began its first session Sunday. He is also busy preparing for the recruiting and evaluation period that begins July 5. Fuller pointed out that the new scholarship limits from 15 in 1992 to 13 in 1994 will work to Pepperdine’s advantage.

“We’re going to be very patient and maintain high standards,” Fuller said. “I think we’re going to surprise a few people with who we get.”

Fuller hasn’t charted out offensive and defensive game plans for his team because he has never seen them play. He said his coaching philosophy is dictated by personnel.

“I think it depends on the talent you have,” Fuller said. “You need to put players in position where they can be successful. I like to be up-tempo and I like to play pressure defense. We’re going to play basic basketball with no wild free-wheeling thing. We’re going to emphasize team defense.”

Fuller, however, will have a tough time duplicating Asbury’s success. Asbury’s teams compiled a 125-59 record in six seasons, including 19-11 last season, and three NCAA tournament berths. Four starters, however, have completed their eligibility.

“People around here expect victories and we have our work cut out,” Fuller said. “We lost our top four players in terms of scoring, minutes played and leaders in every statistical category.”