Hawking Retains Job With Titans : Basketball: Cal State Fullerton administrators say stability was a major factor in the decision.

Bob Hawking campaigned for the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball coaching job on a platform of stability, and that’s what won it for him.

“That was an important thing to me,” Athletic Director John Easterbrook said Tuesday after he announced at a news conference that Hawking, interim coach last season, had been given a three-year contract.

It also was important to university President Milton Gordon. “Stability is the key,” Gordon said. “This will be our third permanent coach in the last five years, and it’s very difficult to build a program without stability. The system builds the team, and I think we’re in the position now of being able to do that.”

Hawking, who spent 14 years coaching Simi Valley High before he decided to move to college as a restricted earnings coach at Pepperdine, won the job over Riverside Community College Coach Bob Schermerhorn and Utah assistant Donny Daniels, a former Fullerton player and assistant.

Daniels, however, said he telephoned the school Tuesday intending to withdraw his name from consideration but learned at that point that Hawking was the choice. “Fullerton is a good opportunity, but I decided that right now I’m in a real good situation for both me and my family,” Daniels said by telephone from New York, where he is recruiting.

Hawking, 45, said he has been confident about his selection for the job that is expected to pay in the $80,000-a-year range.

“I think it was because it seemed like such a good fit for me,” he said. “I believed right from the start that it was the most logical decision.

“But it definitely has its challenges . . . the program hasn’t been successful for the last couple years. The key to establishing the program will be to bring in some quality players and have them around for four or five years.”

Hawking became interim coach when Brad Holland moved to the University of San Diego 21 days before the start of preseason practice. Fullerton was 7-20 last season, finishing ninth in the Big West after being picked last. The Titans upset Nevada Las Vegas and UC Irvine on the road early in the conference season, but injuries and illness hurt them late in the year.

Guard Chris St. Clair and forward David Frigout, both part-time starters, were hurt. Center Winston Peterson missed one game with a strep throat and another with an injured finger.

“We worked to make it respectable this past season, and in some ways we did, and in some we didn’t,” Hawking said. “But I’m here now for the long haul . . . and I think we can make it work.”

Hawking said he will work to try to build a program that will play a faster tempo on offense and be stronger on defense.

“We won’t be like Loyola (Marymount) in the days of (Hank) Gathers and (Bo) Kimble, but we won’t be Princeton either,” he said. “But we want to run. The kids we’ve recruited want to be part of that style of play, and so will the ones we’ll be recruiting.”

The returning players sent a letter to Easterbrook supporting Hawking. “He had support from all areas: the alumni, the community, the players and his coaching peers,” Easterbrook said. “The other two candidates both interviewed very well, and I think the (screening) committee came up three candidates who could get the job done.”

But Hawking already was in place. And Easterbrook said he liked Hawking’s positive attitude about the program. “He handled a difficult situation with class and cooperation,” Easterbrook said.

Two players, Frigout and Chris Dade, had indicated they might leave if Hawking were not selected. Frigout, however, may still leave to play professionally in his native France, but said he probably won’t decide for at least a week or two. “If Hawking had not gotten the job, I definitely would have left,” Frigout said. “Now I don’t know.”

Dade said he is pleased by the stability Hawking will offer. “I think the program definitely is going to improve now,” Dade said. “I think the players all feel comfortable around him and have confidence in him.”

St. Clair also said it will be a popular decision with the returning players. “I think all the players were pulling for him,” he said. “It was a tough season, but he never gave up on us.”

Hawking said he has been pleased with recruiting, and he said he didn’t feel other schools used his uncertain status against him.

Fullerton recruited two players in the early signing period: Brian Montonati, a 6-9 post player from Muskegon, Mich., and Mark Richardson, a 6-8 power forward from Ft. Wayne, Ind. Montonati averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Richardson averaged 15 points, nine rebounds.

Hawking said he expects to be able to announce at least two more commitments in the next few days.

Hawking’s hiring also ended the uncertainty for assistant coaches George Tuttle, George Fuller and the restricted earnings coach, Jeff Dunlap. Hawking said all would be retained.