Wilson Will Be Excluded From Romar’s New Staff

Out with the old, in with the new.

That’s the agenda of Pepperdine basketball Coach Lorenzo Romar, who has selected three assistants to replace the staff of Marty Wilson, Carl Strong and Jon Wheeler.

Pepperdine is not expected to make a formal announcement of the hirings until Thursday.

But sources said Darwin Cook, Kenny Ammann and an unidentified third assistant have been chosen by Romar. The new staff will be introduced to Pepperdine’s players at a team meeting this morning.

Romar, in his fourth season as a UCLA assistant, declined to identify his staff. Romar was named the Waves’ coach last month. He succeeds Tony Fuller, who resigned Jan. 20.

Wilson, who could not be reached for comment, served as interim coach following Fuller’s resignation. Wilson’s departure ends a long association with Pepperdine. The former Simi Valley High standout played for the Waves from 1984-89 and he was a coach in Malibu for the past six seasons.

Romar, 37, said he strongly considered hiring Wilson, 29, but had his own people in mind.

“That’s what it came down to,” Romar said. “Nothing against Marty. He has done a great job under adverse circumstances. It’s just something I’ve run through my mind 1,000 times--who I would want to bring with me when I became a head coach.”

Cook and Ammann were both Southern California high school standouts who enjoyed successful collegiate playing careers.

Cook starred at Crenshaw High and Portland University, and later played for the New Jersey Nets. He was an assistant at Nevada Las Vegas under Rollie Massimino.

Ammann played at Huntington Beach Edison High before playing a season each at Cal State Bakersfield and Rancho Santiago College. He played his last two collegiate seasons at Stanford and helped the Cardinal win the National Invitation Tournament as a senior in 1991.

Most recently he was a junior college assistant at Canada in Redwood City. Before that he was an assistant at San Jose State.