Rebound of Mandeville : Basketball Coach Waves Goodby to Baseball

Bob Mandeville would like to set the record straight.

Although he was a shortstop in the Chicago Cubs’ organization for 2 1/2 seasons and the varsity baseball coach at Notre Dame High from 1987-92, his affection for basketball always has rivaled his interest in baseball.

So, when an assistant coaching position in San Diego State’s basketball program opened two years ago, he bravely applied.

The basketball portion of his resume was a little thin: only three seasons as a high school basketball coach--none at the varsity level.

But San Diego State assistant Jim Harrick Jr., the son of UCLA Coach Jim Harrick and a long-time friend of Mandeville, persuaded Coach Tony Fuller to grant Mandeville an interview.

That was just the opening Mandeville required. He so impressed Fuller during the interview, he wound up making a radical career change.

He became San Diego State’s new restrictive earnings basketball assistant.

“I thought (Bob) was very intelligent and very bright,” Fuller said.

When Fuller replaced Tom Asbury at Pepperdine earlier this year--Asbury resigned to take over at Kansas State--he filled the Waves’ vacant full-time assistant position with the 32-year-old Mandeville.

“I’ve always enjoyed both sports, whether playing or coaching, equally well,” Mandeville said. “I think there’s a little bit more excitement involved in coaching basketball than baseball, but I enjoy them both.”

Fuller, an assistant at Pepperdine from 1982-88 and at UCLA from 1989-92, has no regrets about taking a chance on Mandeville at San Diego State.

“I expected a lot out of him, but he was a pleasant surprise,” Fuller said. “He’s very dependable and very loyal and those are qualities you want in an assistant coach. You want to know that when you need something to get done, it’s going to get done right the first time.”

The restrictive earnings position--which by NCAA rules pays a maximum of $16,500 a year--was a step back for Mandeville financially, but the 1980 graduate of Notre Dame High figured that the long-term benefits outweighed the short-term loss.

“I thought it was a great career opportunity,” Mandeville said.

“Tony was a young, dynamic coach who wasn’t too set in his ways, so I figured I’d get along with him. . . . I always liked the San Diego area, but in this profession, you can’t be too set about where you want to go.

“You have to go where the opportunities are.”

Although his job description has changed and he will be more involved with recruiting at Pepperdine than he was at San Diego State, Mandeville doesn’t expect his workload to differ.

As he points out, his pay might have been restricted at San Diego State, but his hours were not.

“All three assistants worked hard,” Mandeville said. “It didn’t matter if you were a full-time or a restricted earnings coach, you worked hard.”

Not that Mandeville is complaining. He realized that accepting a restricted earnings position was a way of “paying your dues” at the Division I level and he was pleasantly surprised that his apprenticeship lasted only two years.

“Obviously, this has happened a lot quicker than I thought it would,” he said.

“I guess you go into jobs with specific goals in mind, but it’s real hard to set definite timetables in this line of work. You just never know when things are going to happen.”

Mandeville’s first step up the Division I coaching ladder means he’s a step further away from a baseball coaching career that appeared to be his calling a few years ago. After excelling at Notre Dame as a player in both baseball--he was an All-Southern Section 4-A Division selection as a senior--and basketball--he was a second-team All-Del Rey League selection three times--Mandeville was recruited by several Pacific 10 Conference schools in baseball.

However, a desire to play both sports led him to Whitworth College, an NAIA school in Spokane, Wash., where he majored in business administration.

After graduating in 1984, Mandeville played minor league baseball for 2 1/2 years before returning to Notre Dame in the fall of 1986 as the varsity baseball coach and sophomore basketball coach.

Under Mandeville, the baseball team compiled a 109-55-4 record and was consistently one of the top teams in the region.

Although he has been following the collegiate and professional baseball careers of his former players and looking forward to attending some Pepperdine baseball games next season, Mandeville has little desire to return to the diamond.

“I’m very content and very happy with where I am now,” he said.

“I have aspirations to be a head Division I hoops coach one day, but for the next five years I just want to work with Tony and help make this university one of the top programs on the West Coast.”