COLLEGE DIVISION / ARA NAJARIAN : Riverside to Have Story of Its Own to Tell Others

William Wilson doesn’t remember what it’s like to go to the NCAA’s Division II championship tournament. Despite being a fifth-year senior on UC Riverside’s basketball team, he’s still too young.

But Wilson, a guard, remembers all the stories he heard about it as a freshman in 1990. The 1989 Riverside team finished third in the tournament.

“All the guys from the year before would talk about it and we expected to be back. Well, we finally are going back, and I can’t tell you how good it feels,” Wilson said after Riverside’s West Regional victory over Seattle Pacific on Saturday.

Riverside hasn’t returned because just over the Grapevine Bakersfield built a little dynasty at its Cal State school. Bakersfield has been to the “Elite Eight” each year since 1989 and won the last two NCAA championships.

“We’ve had good teams, and beat Bakersfield in conference (play), but they always won the regional. Obviously this year is different,” Wilson said.

It is different because Bakersfield was upset by Cal State L.A. in the first round.

Riverside, 24-5 and ranked No. 6, might have what it takes to assume Bakersfield’s role--if only for this year.

A solid offense is bolstered by one of the nation’s best defenses. Riverside is ranked third in the nation in defense, allowing opponents a shooting percentage of 40% and 62 points per game. Riverside also scores 77 points per game and makes nearly 48% of its shots.

That translated into becoming champions of Division II’s strongest region, so don’t be surprised if Riverside keeps the National Championship trophy in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. for the third consecutive year.

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Darlene May, who retired from Cal Poly Pomona as the winningest women’s basketball coach in Division II history, has responded well to treatments for the breast cancer that forced her to quit before this past season.

Now she is looking for financial help for a bone-marrow transplant procedure.

The procedure, which would be performed by doctors at the City of Hope, costs $75,000. It would remove all her bone marrow, give her high doses of chemotherapy, and then replace the marrow over a six-week span.

A fund has been established by Cal Poly Pomona’s athletic department to help offset the costs. Donations may be addressed: Cal Poly Associates--May Surgery Fund, Cal Poly Pomona Athletics, 3801 W. Temple Ave., Pomona, 91768.

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By finishing 18-12, the Cal State L.A. men’s basketball team had its most successful season since 1959, when it won 20 games. The Golden Eagles’ upset of Bakersfield in the West Regional marked the first NCAA playoff victory since then and their first appearance since 1974. It was also the first victory at Bakersfield since 1985.

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College Division Notes

Tom Marshall, the first-year men’s basketball coach at Cal Poly Pomona, finally won his 200th game before the season ended. Pomona was 15-11 this season and Marshall is 200-113 overall.

John Masi of UC Riverside was named the CCAA coach of the year in men’s basketball and Eric Langford of Grand Canyon was named the CCAA men’s player of the year. . . . In CCAA women’s basketball, Van Girard of Cal State Dominguez Hills was named coach of the year and Faye Hagan of Dominguez Hills was named the player of the year. . . . In Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball, Paul LaMott of Cal Lutheran was the men’s player of the year and Leslie Ferguson of Redlands was named the women’s player of the year.