CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK / LON EUBANKS : Will Hoop Fever Chill Titan Fans Again?

Cal State Fullerton wasn’t exactly a basketball hotbed last season. The men’s team (8-19) had the worst record since 1981, when the Titans were 4-23. The women were 5-22. And both teams were eighth in the Big West Conference.

Not exactly the kinds of performances that would create excitement about this season.

However, both coaches are encouraged by preseason practices and are eager to see what their teams will do against other teams. The start of the regular season, however, still is more than two weeks away for both teams, although the men’s team will play an exhibition game Nov. 17 against Blue and Gold Fleet.

Bob Hawking, who moved up from an assistant’s spot to the head coaching position on a one-year interim basis when Brad Holland switched to the University of San Diego, says he’s been putting a heavy emphasis on conditioning and is pleased by the players’ response.

“We’re doing a lot of running,” Hawking said. “We expect to play with a little quicker tempo this season, and so that’s important. We never want to fail because the other team has out-conditioned us.”

Hawking said he’s been especially pleased with the practice performances of senior guard James French and senior center Winston Peterson, two of the three returning starters.

“French has been playing extremely well,” Hawking said. “His maturity, intelligence on the court and all-around athletic ability are very important to us. He’s a solid Big West-level player.”

French is set to go to the off-guard position full time after sharing time at the point position last season.

Hawking says Peterson has been consistent on offense, and has shown continued improvement on defense. Peterson, who is 6 feet 6 and 235 pounds, was the team’s leading scorer last year with an average of 15.3 points. “What he gives up in height, he makes up for in bulk,” Hawking said. “He’s hard to guard.”

David Frigout, a 6-9 junior, is the other returning regular. “He’s been remarkably improved,” Hawking said. “Everything was new for him last year when he came here from France. He’s one year advanced now, and we expect him to be a force for us. He’s learning a lot every day, and he knows now the game is a lot more physical than it was in Europe.”

Senior Fred Amos, among others, is in contention for one of the inside starting spots, but Hawking is toying more and more with the idea of a three-guard offense. French would be at one of those spots, and the other two guards would come from a group that includes community college-transfers Chuck Overton and Ali Nayab along with redshirt freshman Chris Dade, who was out last season with an injury, and sophomore Chris St. Clair.

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Deborah Ayres, in her third year as coach of the women’s team, would have had all five starters back from last season if Shefonda Colbert had not been declared academically ineligible. Regardless, Ayres definitely expects the Titans to be improved this season.

“We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made this fall,” she said. “We feel the loss of Colbert, and we’re still missing the 6-2 to 6-5 woman in the middle. But I think we’ll be in better condition that we’ve been in the past, too.”

Ayres shifted Shayla Bradshaw from the point to off-guard. “We’re going to need her to score more,” Ayres said. “And we feel she will be able to get the ball to our inside players better from there. We need to get more scoring from inside, too.”

Kim Cram also has moved from guard to forward.

Senior forward Autumn Hollyfield also is back after leading the nation with a .381 three-point shooting percentage. She led the team in scoring last year with an average of 17.9 points. Bradshaw averaged 16.3.

Seniors Tara Nowling and Koko Lahanas again are expected to share time at center.

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Fullerton finished 23rd in the nation in wrestling last season, but Coach Ardeshir Asgari faces a major rebuilding effort this season after five athletes who had qualified for the NCAA championships in the past completed their eligibility.

The losses include four-time NCAA qualifiers Laszlo Molnar at 167 pounds and Jeff Maes at 126. Molnar was second in the NCAAs last year. Dwayne Buth and Kenny Workman, who also were NCAA qualifiers last year, are gone, as is Christian Holiday, who qualified in 1993 but failed to do so last season.

Asgari, however, is confident his team can bounce back after a strong recruiting year.

“I think we had a good year from that standpoint, and that should help us a lot,” Asgari said.

The incoming freshmen include Darryl Christian, a California state champion at Canyon High, and two-time Colorado state champion, Kent Argenbright. The freshman class also includes George Mercado, Thomas Montoya and Dan Lewis. All three were state runners-up in California.

“It’s going to take a while for them to get going, but by the end of the season they should be fine,” Asgari said.

The Titans open their season Saturday at home with matches against UC Davis and Embry-Riddle. Fullerton also will be the host for the All California Open tournament Sunday.

Titan Notes

Coach John Elders said he expects Heather Killeen to run in Saturday’s NCAA Region 8 cross-country championships at Tucson, despite her recent bout with bronchitis at the Big West meet. “She’s still not back to full strength because of the bronchitis, but she’s determined to give it her best effort,” Elders said. Killeen was fourth in the conference meet despite the illness. . . . The Fullerton women’s volleyball team has a chance for its first victory of the season when the Titans play at Utah State on Friday and Saturday. Fullerton is 0-25 and 0-14 in the conference. Utah State is 1-26 and 0-16 in conference play. . . . The Fullerton men’s soccer team moved up to No. 14 this week in Soccer America’s rankings. Indiana, which was upset by Fullerton in the UCLA tournament 10 days ago, has regained its No. 1 position. The Titans close their regular season today at Loyola Marymount and will learn Monday if they will be get an at-large berth to the NCAA playoffs.