1995-96 BOYS’ BASKETBALL PREVIEW : PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

ALISO NIGUEL: 7-18, 2-8 in 1994-95. Coach: Ken Goldstone (third year, 18-28). Prospects: The Wolverines are one of the taller teams in the league. Jason Mulkay, a 6-1 guard who averaged 12 points, is back, as is forward Yousof Etemadi, a 6-3 junior, and Jason Daniel, a 6-2 senior. Others are 6-0 guard Oscar Gardner and 6-6 center Jeff Munsell. Rich Bourne, Steve Evans, James Childs, Brian Barrett, Evan Katz, Eddie Lamadini, Cory Chandler and Nick Valenti are also trying to earn a starting spot.

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COSTA MESA: 8-18, 3-7 in 1994-95. Coach: Jason Ferguson (second year, 8-18). Only seven players will be on the varsity this year and all of them are guards. Returning starters are 5-11 Mike Montoya and 5-9 Donny Ongo. Josh Weeks and Bryan Leahy also return and they will be joined by three guys off the junior varsity: Jon Payne, Jason York and Carlos Correa. “We’ll be a small, transition team looking to get out and get easy shots,” Ferguson said. “Definitely, we’re a perimeter team and we’ll play aggressive man-to-man defense.” Ferguson hopes to free-up Montoya so he can take a lot of three-point shots.

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ESTANCIA: 25-4, 10-0 in 1994-95. Coach: Tim Parsel (fourth year, 55-27). Prospects: The defending league champion still appears to be in the driver’s season with starters Chris Candlish and Dane Plock. Plock, a 6-1 senior guard, averaged 10 points, four assists and four steals. Candlish, a 6-6 senior, averaged 11 points and seven rebounds. Newcomers are Nick Novak, Sam Nelson, John Maraya, Brandon Casillas, Ryan Simpson and Frough Jahid. Parsel feels the key to the season will be blending in new players and keeping Candlish and Plock out of foul trouble.

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LAGUNA BEACH: 15-11, 8-2 in 1994-95. Coach: Bret Fleming (sixth year, 71-58). Prospects: A four-guard offense is most likely in the cards for the Artists, who are expected to employ a hustling defense. The inside game figures to be a weak spot, though. Bench player Enver Soobzokov, at 6-3 the tallest player on the team, returns. Starters Ryan Satrappe and Damion Pugh combined to average 14.5 points. Others are Teo Moore, Marcus Weenig, Brandon Purdy, James Kimball, Chris Cannon, Blair Anderson, Kraigher O’Keefe and Chris Sirianni.

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LAGUNA HILLS: 12-10, 5-5 in 1994-95. Coach: Dave Brown (sixth year, 65-65). Prospects: Four starters return. Mike Scaglione, a 6-3 senior who averaged 21 points and earned all-league honors, is back, along with 5-9 senior Mike Morton, 6-0 junior Johnny Phan and 6-3 sophomore Saia Makakaufaki. Thomas Zipp, a 6-0 forward, returns. Seven others, including 6-7 senior Matt Houser, 6-4 senior Rashad Coleman and 6-2 senior Jeff Rankin could see playing time. Juniors John Bauman, Mike Brewer, Navid Shafizadeh and Sam Khatibi are top newcomers. Brown feels Scaglione could be among the county’s best.

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UNIVERSITY: 6-19, 2-8 in 1994-95. Coach: Mike Dinneen (sixth year, 44-83). Prospects: Freshman starter Fred Sears, who averaged 10.2 points and 3.5 steals, moved to Florida, but three starters and a key reserve return. Four players from the junior varsity also are vying for playing time. The team is small, with no player more than 6 feet. Eric Palmer, a 5-7 point guard, Ryan Schachter, a 5-11 guard, and Nathan Scoggin, a 6-0 guard, started last season. They combined to average 25 points. Palmer had 7.2 assists and Schachter led the team in rebounds (4.5). Dinneen hopes a tough nonleague schedule will prepare the Trojans.