Hawking Tries to Build a Basketball Family

The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team begins preseason practice this weekend, and Coach Bob Hawking is hopeful the Titans are on the road to better things.

As far as Hawking is concerned, there already has been one big improvement: he has shed the “interim” title of last year. But many of the concerns that never were solved last season linger into a new season, even though some of the personnel has changed.

“I think we’ll do things better than we did a year ago . . . at least I hope we will,” Hawking said. “I definitely think we’ll be a better team. I just don’t know if we’ll be able to see it in the won-loss record.”

The Titans were 7-20 last season, and the bottom line was that Fullerton didn’t shoot well and didn’t rebound well. And the Titans didn’t handle the ball as well as you would expect from a team that had three guards in the lineup most of the time. Hawking is the first to acknowledge those weaknesses.

Fullerton shot only .407 from the floor, and its rebound margin was the worst among Big West Conference teams.

Hawking hopes the new season also will bring a new outlook.

“We’re going to put a lot of emphasis on developing more of a family feeling on this team,” Hawking said. “I think team chemistry is important, and we’ll try to work on that in the preseason.”

Hawking has no doubt the returning players are well ahead of a year ago from a conditioning standpoint. Hawking and his assistants have put an emphasis on that in the off-season.

“We’ve worked a lot on trying to improve everyone’s endurance,” Hawking said.

Hawking pointed to DeVaughn Wright, a 6-6 sophomore forward from Mater Dei, as a player who appears stronger physically. “He’s made great strides in the conditioning program,” Hawking said. “I think he may surprise some people this year because of that.”

*

Hawking is again considering a possible three-guard alignment since the perimeter players are the most experienced. Guards Chris Dade and Chuck Overton started a year ago and Chris St. Clair showed promise as a part-time starter and sixth man.

St. Clair’s status, however, remains uncertain because of a knee injury late last season that required surgery.

“We’ll keep him out of the two exhibition games in November to give him as much time as possible to get back into it,” Hawking said. “And it is possible that he could be redshirted if it appears that he needs more time.”

Freshman guard Kenroy Jarrett and junior Ali Nayab, who was a redshirt last season, will compete for the starting point guard spot. Dirk Rassloff, a 6-9 transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson who sat out last season, is expected to replace Winston Peterson at center.

“Since Jarrett is a freshman, this will be a jump for him, so we’ll just have to see how he does,” Hawking said.

Hawking likes the idea of having a pure point guard at the start. A year ago, senior Danny Robinson was ineligible during the first semester, Nayab was injured and senior James French moved into the role, even though he was more suited to be the shooting guard. Faced with those added playmaking responsibilities, French’s shooting suffered much of the season.

The women’s team also faces some major rebuilding in the preseason after the loss of national scoring leader Koko Lahanas. Guard Shayla Bradshaw, who averaged 17.6 points as a junior, is the top player returning.

Coach Debbie Ayres has several promising newcomers, however. A key will be finding a point guard to replace Marissa Frial. Kim Cram, a part-time starter at forward last season, also returns, and Kari Kron, a 6-2 center, will be back after spending last year as a redshirt freshman because of a back injury.

*

The baseball team finished fall practice Saturday, and Coach Augie Garrido came away convinced that “there’s going to be a lot of good competition for several jobs” when the team begins regular preseason workouts in January.

The two positions regarded as most uncertain are left field and second base, but there were good efforts among players competing for those spots during the two weeks.

Sophomore outfielder Steve Chatham, who impressed Garrido with his consistency in the workouts, is competing with senior Skip Kiil, along with others, to replace Tony Miranda in left field.

Leading candidates to replace Joe Fraser at second base are Kris Didion, a freshman All-American last year at Tulane, and another transfer, junior Jerome Alviso.

Alviso has been invited to Olympic team tryouts in Homestead, Fla., Oct. 26, along with outfielder Mark Kotsay and catcher Brian Loyd.

Titan Notes

The women’s volleyball team is 6-12 for the season but still winless in seven Big West Conference matches. Freshman Rocky Titen leads the team in two categories: blocks, with eight solos and 37 assists, and hitting percentage, with a .224 average. Heather Bassett leads in kills with an average of 3.7 per game. . . . Julie Knight has been promoted from assistant to associate head coach of the women’s gymnastics team. . . . Coach Al Mistri regards this weekend’s two men’s soccer games as “very important” to the success of the season. Both Mountain Pacific League games are on the road. The Titans play at Nevada Las Vegas Friday and at New Mexico Sunday. Fullerton (8-4) is 2-1 in conference play. Matt Bradbury continues to lead the team in scoring with eight goals and eight assists.