COLLEGE BASKETBALL 1995-96 : Hawking Still Has Difficult Journey : Fullerton: Former interim coach has made some progress but still has a long way to go.

Bob Hawking’s commute has gotten a lot easier since he moved from one side of the Los Angeles sprawl to the other.

Instead of driving 160 miles back and forth to work each day from Simi Valley, he now drives 12 miles round-trip from his new home in Yorba Linda.

But the road Hawking faces as Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball coach isn’t any smoother. And he’s still a long way from college basketball’s fast lane.

While interim coach, Hawking campaigned hard for the job and won it last season, taking over after Brad Holland’s late move to San Diego. Hawking says patience is one of his virtues, and it looks as though he’ll need plenty of it again this season.

Fullerton is picked to finish last in the Big West--no surprise there. After all, the only player who averaged more than 10 points last season, center Winston Peterson, completed his eligibility.

The Titans also were picked last a year ago, but they scrambled up to ninth, ahead of San Jose State, and only a game behind UC Irvine. It’s quite an accomplishment considering the Titans finished the year with one victory in their last 11 games and were hit hard by injuries late in the season.

Hawking says this team will be better. The question is whether it will have a better record than last year’s 7-20 overall mark, 5-13 in the Big West Conference.

“For one thing, we’ll be a lot quicker,” Hawking said. “And our system will try to capitalize on that. Last year we were so power-oriented with Peterson inside, but we didn’t have the support to keep other people honest. And we just weren’t that good defensively. That caused other problems.”

The Titans shot only 40.7% from the field and ranked last in the conference in rebounding margin.

The three players back with any appreciable experience are guards, and one of them, junior Chris St. Clair, remains questionable because of a knee injury that required surgery. He was forced to sit out the last four games.

“It’s still 50-50 whether he’ll be a medical redshirt this year or not,” Hawking said. “He can play up to 20% of the regular-season games before that determination has to be made. He’s been playing, but he’s been doing it with some pain.”

St. Clair (6 feet 0) was the team’s second-leading scorer with a 10-point average, playing primarily as a sixth man. But he consistently was the player the Titans would go to late in close games last season.

“He’s so competitive and has worked so hard to get this far that he might be able to do it this season, even if he can’t be 100%,” Hawking said. “He’s the kind of player who exemplifies everything we want in this program.”

The other guards, senior Chuck Overton (6-3) and sophomore Chris Dade (6-2), were starters last season, and Hawking is confident they will be stronger this season. The key will be their shooting: Overton shot 39.3% and Dade 37% last season, each averaging slightly less than 10 points.

Junior Ali Nayab and freshman Kenroy Jarrett will share the point guard position. “Ali’s maturity and understanding of our game puts him a little ahead of Kenroy now, but we know Kenroy is our point guard of the future,” Hawking said.

The players competing for the starting power forward and center positions are still untested in Division I.

Hawking has high hopes for 6-foot-5 junior transfer John Williams. The best news for the Titans lately was when the NCAA confirmed his eligibility for this season. Williams originally signed with Utah State after averaging 23 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore at Mt. San Jacinto (Tex.) College. But Williams spent only one day on the Utah State campus in 1994 before leaving because of hardship reasons. He returned home to Moreno Valley and sat out last season, then signed with Fullerton after his letter of intent with Utah State was voided.

Dirk Rassloff (6-9), a transfer from Farleigh Dickinson who sat out last season, will replace Peterson at center.

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CS Fullerton Facts and Figures

ROSTER

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No Player Pos Hgt Wgt Yr 12 Chris Dade G 6-2 195 So. 31 Andy Hinkle F 6-6 185 So. 14 Kenroy Jarrett G 5-10 155 Fr. 41 Maurice Madison G-F 6-5 190 So. 10 Ali Nayab G 5-10 160 Jr. 33 David Ng F 6-8 205 Jr. 22 Chuck Overton G 6-3 180 Sr. 15 Dirk Rassloff C 6-9 245 Jr. 42 Mark Richardson F 6-7 215 Fr. 24 Chris St. Clair G 6-0 170 Jr. 32 Brian Thomas G 6-3 175 Jr. 25 Wyki Tyson F 6-8 230 RS 34 John Williams F 6-5 220 Jr. 44 DeVaughn Wright F 6-6 215 So.

No Comment 12 9.9 points a game 31 Played 9 minutes 14 Twentynine Palms prep 41 Transfer 10 JC Transfer 33 JC Transfer 22 9.3 points a game 15 Transfer from Farleigh Dickinson 42 Indiana prep 24 Led team with 47 three-pointers 32 JC transfer 25 Transfer from Eastern Kentucky 34 Averaged 23 points in JC ranks 44 Averaged seven minutes a game

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SCHEDULE

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Date Opponent Time Nov. 28 at UCLA 7:35 Dec. 2 at CS Northridge 7:30 Dec. 5 at San Diego St. 7:00 Dec. 9 Gonzaga 7:05 Dec. 16 Loyola Marymount 7:05 Dec. 22 at San Francisco 7:00 Dec. 27 at Utah 7:30 Dec. 30 Montana 7:05 Jan. 2 San Jose St. 7:05 Jan. 4 Pacific 7:05 Jan. 8 at UC Santa Barbara 7:35 Jan. 10 at Long Beach St. 7:35 Jan. 13 UC Irvine 7:05 Jan. 18 UNLV 7:05 Jan. 20 New Mexico St. 7:05 Jan. 25 at Utah St. 7:05 Jan. 27 at Nevada 7:35 Feb. 1 Long Beach St. 7:05 Feb. 3 UC Santa Barbara 7:05 Feb. 10 at UC Irvine 7:00 Feb. 15 at New Mexico St. 7:35 Feb. 17 at UNLV 8:05 Feb. 22 Nevada 7:05 Feb. 24 Utah St. 7:05 Feb. 29 at Pacific 7:35 Mar. 3 at San Jose St. 1:00 Mar 8-10 Big West Tournament at Reno TBA

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All times Pacific and p.m. unless noted.

Coach: Bob Hawking, 2nd season at CS Fullerton, 7-20.

1994-95 Team Records: 5-13 Big West (9th), 7-20 overall.