A Wave of Consent for Romar

Pepperdine Athletic Director Wayne Wright said Tuesday that he won’t stand in first-year Coach Lorenzo Romar’s way if the former UCLA assistant is interested in the Bruin head coaching job.

But Wright also emphasized that UCLA has not yet asked for permission to talk to Romar, and that his first wish is for Romar to stay at Pepperdine.

“I’m not ever going to stand in the way of somebody’s career choice,” said Wright, who lured Romar to Pepperdine last winter with a three-year contract.

“But it’s early, and this is an issue we probably won’t have to deal with until springtime. Let’s wait and see what materializes.”

Wright said he and Romar have already discussed speculation about Romar’s potential candidacy to replace the fired Jim Harrick in Westwood. UCLA Athletic Director Peter T. Dalis is in the early stages of his search, and Steve Lavin will run the team on an interim basis for the rest of the season.

Dalis has said he “hopes” Romar is a candidate, but that, with Romar having left UCLA only after last season, he isn’t sure if the timing is right.

Romar, who could not be reached Tuesday, has said that it’s too soon in his Pepperdine tenure to think about leaving.

A major emotional issue for Romar could be his sense of responsibility to the three players who transferred to Pepperdine this off-season--Tommy Prince, Jelani Gardner, and especially omm’A Givens, who left UCLA to follow Romar.

But Wright said he would understand if Romar seriously considered taking over the Bruin program, which Romar has always said was a dream of his. Romar grew up in Los Angeles and spent four seasons under Harrick at UCLA.

“We’ve had a lot of great coaches here, [baseball coach] Andy Lopez, [basketball coach Tom] Asbury and Harrick, who have moved on, and I’ve never stood in their way,” Wright said.

Meanwhile, sources close to Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery, another possible top candidate, said Tuesday that it is growing increasingly unlikely that he will pursue the UCLA opening, especially after the recent signing of the 6-foot-10 Collins twins, Jason and Jarron, from Harvard Westlake High.