UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Basheer Gets Her Wish: Lots of Playing Time

Allah-mi Basheer leads the UC Irvine women’s basketball team in scoring (16 points per game) and blocked shots (three) and is second in rebounding (eight). Her mastery of the numbers game is a credit to a high school math teacher.

Cerritos High’s Ann Dena Sjoerdsma, who also coached the girls’ basketball team, got the ball rolling when she asked a lanky sophomore if she wanted to try out for the team.

“I was really good friends with her,” Basheer said, “so I said, ‘OK.’ But I was really, really intimidated and really scared because I knew nothing about the game. Nothing at all. I was totally clueless.”

Basheer, who had played soccer and competed on the track team as a freshman, had never played basketball, never even watched an entire game. So she had good reason to be nervous when tryouts began.

“I knew that you scored two points for getting the ball through the basket and that was it,” she said. “And I embarrassed myself every day in practice.”

Still, she made the team. “Thankfully, I sat on the bench my whole sophomore year,” she said, smiling.

Basheer figured the only way to improve was to play, so she did . . . at every, and any, opportunity.

“The next summer, I played every day with all the guys at the park near my house and I learned a lot from that,” she said. “I had a personal coach who worked with me on the weekends. And I played for a couple of traveling teams.

“But you know, all that time, I wasn’t playing because I liked it. I just kept playing because everybody kept saying they could see something in me. It was like my nickname in those days was ‘Potential.’ ”

So Basheer persevered and by the time her senior season was over, the potential was manifesting itself on the court and she was named to the All-San Gabriel Valley League and All-Los Angeles Times teams.

“What we saw in high school was just the tip of the iceberg,” Irvine Coach Colleen Matsuhara said. “She was young, too, only 16 when she graduated. It was baptism-of-fire learning for her, but she’s made gigantic strides.”

Basheer was recruited by Long Beach State, Nevada and UC Santa Barbara, but chose Irvine because she thought it would offer the most playing time.

Beware what you wish for. The 6-foot-2 junior center is becoming the Anteaters’ marathon woman. She played 36 minutes during their 76-65 victory over Colorado State.

“She’s become a much more aggressive offensive player,” Matsuhara said. “She’s looking to the basket for shots she passed up last year. And she’s starting to take her turns at being a leader.”

Basheer’s late start in the game may have put her at a disadvantage at times, but it clearly hasn’t stilted her confidence.

“I haven’t reached my peak yet,” she said. “In terms of fundamentals and the mental aspect, I learn something every day. Right now, I’m working on staying on the floor on defense. I have a knack for jumping, that’s how I get the blocked shots, but I need to keep my feet and think more about playing body-up defense.

“But when it comes to scoring, I feel like I can take anybody. I don’t think anybody can stop me. My confidence is really high this year, in terms of knowing what I can do and really believing I can do it.”

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Fit to be victorious: Rod Baker’s recent impersonation of a turnstile appears to be a hit. The Irvine coach has been spinning in front of the bench as he waves players into the game in a substitution frenzy that has left the last two opponents gasping in the final minutes.

The Anteaters outscored Pepperdine, 18-6, in the final 7 minutes 12 seconds of a 75-68 victory in the consolation game of the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational. And Saturday at San Diego, they turned a seven-point halftime deficit into a 73-70 victory.

No Anteater averaged more than 29 minutes and 10 players averaged 12 or more during those two victories.

“Everybody wants to play, so it’s good for morale,” said senior forward Khalid Channell, who is averaging 17 minutes per game off the bench. “But this rotation is good because everyone is fresh and able to play at their maximum ability when they’re on the court.”

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Platooning: With the Anteaters holding the advantage at the end of the last two games and their opponents forced to foul, Baker has been using the stoppage of play to change personnel.

When the Anteaters are shooting free throws, he has the best perimeter defender, guard Zuri Williams, and the best post defender, forward Michael Tate, on the floor. When Irvine has possession, he puts in guard Chris Brown, who has made all 12 of his free-throw attempts this season, and forward Shaun Battle, who is shooting 75% from the line.

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A fresh force: Brown, the nation’s No. 1 three-point shooter last season, is shooting only 23% from the field. But the Anteaters aren’t hurting at the off-guard spot, thanks to freshman Brian Keefe.

In the last two games, the two have combined for 39 points, with Keefe contributing 13 of them.

The Anteaters went on a 12-0 run midway through the second half against San Diego Saturday night and Keefe scored eight of those points on a nifty baseline drive, a fast-break layup, a three-pointer from the wing and a free throw.

“It was nice to contribute to a win,” said Keefe, who usually says the kinds of things freshmen ought to say. “The guys made some great passes and I made some shots.

“I’m starting to feel pretty comfortable. We’re starting to play together pretty well.”

Anteater notes

Junior outside hitter Popi Edwards has been named to the All-Northwest region second team for the second consecutive year. Edwards, who led the Anteaters with a 4.15-kills-per-game average, is the first Anteater volleyball player to be named to all-region and all-conference teams two years in a row . . . Cross-country runners Todd Coulston, Ryan Gauss, Laura Monson and Karin Schick were named to Big West all-academic teams.