Long Beach Can Get Schea Cotton--for a Hire

Schea Cotton, rated the nation’s top prep basketball recruit next season by several publications, likely will attend Long Beach State if assistant coach Clyde Vaughan is hired as the 49ers’ next head coach, Cotton’s parents said Friday.

James and Gaynell Cotton endorsed Vaughan to replace Seth Greenberg in a meeting Friday with Long Beach President Robert Maxson. Greenberg accepted the top job at South Florida on Wednesday. If Schea Cotton attends Long Beach, he would join his brother, James, now a standout sophomore guard on the team.

“We laid all of our cards out on the table,” Gaynell said. “If Clyde gets the job, it’s 90 to 95% [certain] that Schea will go to Long Beach.”

Schea, a 6-foot-5 junior forward at Bellflower St. John Bosco High, is considered among the strongest players nationally at his position. Cotton transferred to Bosco from Mater Dei, which he led to the state Division I title in 1995.

This is the first time the Cottons have spoken publicly about their plans for Schea, coveted by most major Division I programs. James, selected first-team All-Big West Conference this season, has said he would like to play with his brother. The possibility exists because James, the 1993-94 conference freshman of the year, was a medical redshirt last season.

Bill Shumard, 49er interim athletic director, said he plans to speak with the Cottons soon. Shumard has repeatedly said that Vaughan, who has been asked to join Greenberg at South Florida, is a viable candidate for the position.

However, Shumard is not prepared to make any commitments concerning the job. He would like to name a new coach during the next three weeks after consulting with his search committee and conducting interviews.