Titan Assistant Hawking Named Interim Coach : Basketball: Fullerton will be his first college head coaching job. He succeeds Brad Holland.

Titan assistant coach Bob Hawking was named Thursday as Cal State Fullerton’s interim basketball coach, fulfilling what he called a “lifelong dream to become a Division I head coach.”

There wasn’t a heavy emphasis on the word “interim,” but it was evident.

Athletic Director John Easterbrook, in only his third day on the job, said he thought it was important to move “as quickly as possible for the stability of the program.” He called the appointment “the best move for the university, for the basketball players and the department right now.” He also said the job would be posted “toward the end of the season,” and Hawking vowed to try to win it on a permanent basis.

Practice begins Oct. 15, and the Titans play their first regular season game Nov. 29 at home against Cal State Northridge, Hawking’s alma mater.

Hawking, 44, has been the top assistant for two years for Brad Holland, who resigned Monday to become coach at the University of San Diego. Hawking coached 14 years at Simi Valley High, and was an assistant for two years at both Pepperdine and UC Davis.

“Bob certainly has the background and training to be our basketball coach for this year,” Easterbrook said at a monthly luncheon of basketball boosters, where Hawking’s appointment was announced.

Holland, who had recommended Hawking for the job, made a brief appearance at the gathering, and said: “I’m pleased the university made this decision. His title was assistant, but he’s always been a head coach.”

Hawking said he thought it would be a “smooth transition,” and had no plans to change the the team’s style of play, although he indicated the personnel available might dictate more occasions of three-guard offense.

“I played for Denny Crum for two years at Pierce College, and we were doing the same things in Woodland Hills that John Wooden was doing over at Pauley Pavilion,” he said. “Brad and I do have some of the same basketball background.”

Hawking joked about what he called “the main differences” between him and Holland. “I’m a little older, a little more portly, and I get my golf handicap from Golf ‘n Stuff, rather than Riviera Country Club.”

Hawking said his “interim” status could be a handicap in this year’s recruiting process, but he called it a “hurdle we’ll have to get over.” Hawking said he had “been dealing with some of that anyway,” because of the uncertainty surrounding Holland’s future at Fullerton. Holland had been interviewed for the Nevada job after his first season, and his name also was mentioned in connection with the vacancy at Pepperdine this summer.

“It does give the university a little leeway to determine whether I’m good enough to assume this job on a permanent basis,” he said. “ . . . I’m the kind of person who likes to take a lemon and make it lemonade.”

Hawking said he had hoped for a quick decision. “I think the team’s morale is good now, although they were really stunned on Monday when Brad talked to them,” he said. “I’ve recruited most of the players, and I felt good that they went to John and told him they wanted me as their coach.”

Several players attended the luncheon and said they were were pleased by the decision.

“Coach Hawking knows all the players, and it will be a much better transition this way,” sophomore guard Chris St. Clair said. “I think this whole thing has brought us closer together, and maybe that will help us, too.”

Senior guard Danny Robinson said he was pleased “that there won’t be any big changes with Coach Hawking . . . I think all of us have a better outlook this season, too.”

Hawking agreed. “We’re expecting to have a whole lot better team this season,” he said. “Brad isn’t leaving the cupboard bare, by any means. And we’re not going to have to suit up assistant coaches this year to go five-on-five in practice the way we did at times last year.”

The Titans were 8-19 last season, 6-12 in the Big West Conference, after losing three players to injuries and another to academic ineligibility before the season began.

Hawking also announced the addition of two transfer players, 6-8 Dirk Rassloff from Fairleigh Dickinson and 6-6 Maurice Madison from Northeastern Illinois. Both enrolled for the start of fall classes and will be redshirts this season.

Hawking said George Fuller, who recently was hired by Holland, will become his top assistant, and George Tuttle will move into a full-time position from the restricted earnings spot on the staff.