End to Irvine’s Season Is Anticlimactic

It was a season that should have been played in Anaheim Stadium.

You’ve got to feel sorry for fans who root for the Angels and Anteaters, the high expectations before the season, the false hope during the season and the inevitable letdown in the end.

Mark Langston flat on his back at home plate in the Kingdome; Kevin Simmons with a towel over his head on the bench in the Lawlor Events Center. What’s worse, having Luis Sojo or San Jose State end your season?

UC Irvine accomplished much during the 1995-96 season. The Anteaters won more games (15) than they had in eight seasons, more Big West games (11) than they had in a decade and their second-place finish in the conference equaled their best ever. They also became the first team in 21 years to beat St. John’s in its Joe Lapchick Memorial tournament.

Rod Baker was named conference coach of the year. Raimonds Miglinieks led the nation in assists and was selected Big West player of the year. Simmons and Brian Keefe were second-team all-conference picks and Clay McKnight made the all-freshman team.

But the Anteaters lost four of their last six regular-season games and the chance for the team’s first conference championship in the process. Then they were dumped out of the Big West tournament Saturday night by San Jose State. So nobody went home smiling.

“I think going into this season we expected big things from this team,” Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said. “I felt we could compete for the conference championship and vie for postseason play. Obviously, we didn’t get either accomplished, so I would say that’s disappointing. Right now, I’m most disappointed for the players, especially the seniors.

“It’s difficult to say [if we reached our goals] this year. We don’t set goals [for number of victories] at the start of the season. But first and foremost, we set the ledger the right way this season. We got some wins.”

Baker and his players did not attend San Jose’s overtime victory over Utah State in the tournament final Sunday, choosing to wait at the hotel until their early evening flight back to Orange County. Maybe it was too painful to watch two teams they had beaten three times this season playing for the NCAA berth they so coveted.

Clearly, Irvine had as much talent as any team in the Big West and the postseason honors prove it. They had one of the best point guards in the country in Miglinieks, one of the best forwards in the conference in Simmons and two outside shooters--Keefe and McKnight--who combined to shoot 44% from three-point range in Big West play.

The Anteaters’ 11-7 conference record was a marked improvement over the three-, four-, four- and six-victory seasons in Baker’s first four seasons at Irvine, but was it an underachievement nonetheless?

“Certainly, this season showed evidence of a learning curve,” Guerrero said. “We felt we had to give Rod a little bit of time to sort things out and this season was much more successful than his first couple of years. But the winning record isn’t the issue as much as getting the maximum out of your team.

“That’s what you expect of any coach, given the constraints of their situation. That could range anywhere from someone like [Irvine coach] Vince O’Boyle finishing in third place in cross-country with no scholarships to a team that’s competing for a national championship.”

After the victory over St. John’s in the second game of the season, Irvine’s brightest moments came at home in the Bren Center, where the Anteaters were 10-2, their best home record in eight years. For the first time in Baker’s tenure, the facility was close to capacity on most nights during the second half of the conference season.

“This team did accomplish some things that we haven’t seen for a while,” Guerrero said. “They packed the place and provided the excitement that got the students involved again. And they found out they could compete for the championship in this league.”

Which, of course, isn’t saying all that much. Big West representative San Jose State is taking 12 victories against Division I competition into its NCAA tournament game against Kentucky.

Still, by Irvine’s recent standards, the season was a rousing success, even if it didn’t feature a feel-good ending.

And life after Miglinieks? Despite the loss of the school’s all-time assist leader, as well as inside force Shaun Battle and inspirational leader Michael Tate, the Anteaters have a good nucleus to build around. Returning next year will be forward Paul Foster, who started the last seven games and averaged 12 points and seven rebounds in those starts, Keefe, Simmons and McKnight.