RECRUITING / JEFF FELLENZER : Notre Dame Hopes to Welcome Tustin Standout Gottlieb

More than a few eyebrows were raised in February when Notre Dame football Coach Lou Holtz announced he had signed Gus Ornstein, a highly touted quarterback prospect, to a letter of intent.

Imagine that, observers mused, Notre Dame, one of the most prominent symbols of Catholicism in the United States, a Jewish kid from the Bronx.

Now, less than a year later, Tustin High basketball star Doug Gottlieb, whose father, Bob, was a college fraternity brother of Ornstein’s father, Steve, at Syracuse, might also end up in South Bend--to play basketball.

Gottlieb will announce his college choice at a news conference at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Tustin. He is expected to choose Notre Dame over UCLA, Michigan State, Virginia and Connecticut. Basketball players can sign letters during the Nov. 9-16 early signing period.

It was during important summer camps and tournaments that college coaches from coast to coast got a good look at Gottlieb. The 6-foot, 180-pound point guard was a Times all-county pick and Sea View League most valuable player as a junior after averaging 19.7 points and nine assists.

At the Nike/Las Vegas national championship tournament in July, playing for an Orange County all-star team coached by his father, Gottlieb impressed coaches such as Jim Harrick (UCLA), John MacLeod (Notre Dame), Lon Kruger (Florida) and Lute Olson (Arizona) with his point guard skills--leadership, court vision, penetrating ability and shooting touch.

“Like a coach on the floor,” said one talent evaluator.

Not surprisingly, the offers poured in. Stanford, which received an oral commitment recently from 6-9 forward Mark Seaton of Servite, might have been the favorite, except for the fact the Cardinal already has a talented young point guard in sophomore Brevin Knight.

Florida was “reluctantly eliminated,” according to Bob Gottlieb, when Kruger decided it wasn’t necessary to fly to California and join assistant coach Ron Stewart for a home visit.

Gottlieb took his first official recruiting trip to Notre Dame, Sept. 9-11, then met with the Irish coaches again at his home last Monday night. Among the topics--whether a Jewish kid could feel comfortable in a Catholic environment.

“It was addressed directly when Coach MacLeod was here,” said Bob Gottlieb, a former college head coach at Jacksonville (Fla.) and Wisconsin Milwaukee, who moved his family to Southern California when he served as an assistant at Long Beach State (1981-83).

“Every student at Notre Dame has to take two theology courses,” Doug Gottlieb said. “It’s not like they try to convert you. I talked to the guys on the team, and most of them aren’t Catholic. I also met Gus Ornstein and he loves the school.”

Bob Gottlieb admitted that, after helping his son narrow his list of schools, the most important factor in the final decision is playing time.

“We thought it was important that any school recruiting Doug make a commitment that they not recruit another point guard in the next class,” he said. “Notre Dame has made that commitment.”

Notes

If Doug Gottlieb commits to Notre Dame, UCLA will have its point guard list narrowed to three: 6-foot-1 Jason Terry of Seattle, 6-foot Brandon Loyd of Tulsa, Okla., and a longshot, 6-1 Stephon Marbury of Brooklyn, N.Y., the No. 1 guard in the country. UCLA and Arizona are the favorites for Terry, considered by coaches and scouts to be the top point guard prospect on the West Coast. He also has trips planned to Washington, Northwestern and Arizona State.

Should Terry sign with the Bruins, and Marbury stays in the East (Syracuse or Georgia Tech are likely), Arizona will probably sign either 5-11 Arthur Lee of North Hollywood High or 5-10 Eddie Shannon of West Palm Beach, Fla. Lee has narrowed his choices to Arizona and Stanford, while Shannon is deciding between Arizona and Florida.

Loyd, an outstanding shooter who is also considering Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, among others, visited UCLA earlier this month, as did 6-3 guard Lenny Holly of New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, N.M. Holly was a freshman star at Texas Tech three years ago before transferring. Arizona State and New Mexico are among the other schools in pursuit.

Add Arizona: The Wildcats have received an oral commitment from 6-10 forward A.J. Bramlett of Albuquerque, N.M.

USC Coach George Raveling was in Georgia last week for home visits with 6-9 forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim of Marietta, one of the top players in the country, and 6-10 Kenyon Jones of Savannah. Duke and Georgia Tech are among the schools actively recruiting Abdur-Rahim. Raveling also visited the home of 6-6 guard-forward Paul Pierce of Inglewood, perhaps the premier senior in the state. California Coach Todd Bozeman was in Pierce’s home Sunday. Pierce also had home visits recently from coaches at Kansas (considered the favorite), UCLA, Arizona, Oregon and Nevada Las Vegas. He plans to sign in the spring.

Besides Gottlieb, Notre Dame--which already has a commitment from 6-5 forward Gary Bell of Joliet, Ill.--is expected to receive commitments this week from 7-foot, 295-pound Phil Hickey of Wellsboro, Pa., and 6-4 Antoni Wyche of Schenectady, N.Y. . . . North Carolina received an oral commitment last week from a top forward prospect, 6-8 Antawn Jamison of Charlotte, N.C. Jamison, however, has not yet qualified academically.

Football Report: San Clemente’s Brett Samperi (6-5, 275), one of the top offensive line prospects in Southern California, is being recruited by Washington, Nebraska, Colorado, Cal, Arizona State, UCLA and USC. Samperi attended Nebraska’s summer football camp and admits he has “always liked Washington,” but added he would prefer to sign with a school closer to home . . . All in the family: UCLA may be tough to beat for two of the Southland’s best defensive back prospects, Ryan Roques (5-11, 165) of Moreno Valley Canyon Springs and Cerritos Gahr safety Corey Scott (6-4, 200). Roques, who has great speed, is the brother of UCLA freshman cornerback Aaron Roques; Scott is a cousin and former teammate of Bruin defensive backs Paul and Javelin Guidry. Besides UCLA, Scott also likes Notre Dame, Nebraska and Colorado.

Aaron Williams (6-3, 235) of Hawthorne Leuzinger, an aggressive, run-stuffing linebacker, said USC is at the top of his list right now, followed (in order) by Notre Dame, Florida State, Colorado and Arizona. Williams said he is also considering UCLA and Michigan. A teammate of Williams’, two-way lineman Ega Usu (6-5, 240), has also drawn attention from major college recruiters . . . Add USC: Defensive lineman Eboni Wilson (6-3, 250) of L.A. Jefferson told a friend recently if the Trojans didn’t offer him a scholarship, he would attend the school anyway and join the team as a walk-on.