Flirting With Madness : Northridge Returns Strong Nucleus, but Will Braswell Be Back?

Seems like we’ve been here before.

Season just concluded. Team surpassed everyone’s expectations. Eyes opened around the Big Sky Conference. Strong nucleus coming back next season. Coach becoming a hot prospect for other openings.

And wasn’t it the Cal State Northridge football team that just a few months ago received a similar message: The honeymoon is over; expectations will be higher from now on.

Well, it’s the basketball team’s turn. The Matadors went 14-15 in Bobby Braswell’s first season as coach and missed the NCAA tournament by 44 seconds, losing, 82-79, to Montana in the Big Sky tournament championship game.

Next season, three of the top four scorers will be back, including guards Trenton Cross and Derrick Higgins, who carried much of the load during the stretch run this season. Most of the seniors were role players who can be replaced with guys who are already in the program, but were ineligible this season.

“It’s going to be exciting,” Braswell said. “We are still going to be a young team next year and I hope expectations aren’t too unrealistic.”

How does 20 victories and an NCAA tournament berth sound?

Seriously.

The Matadors came surprisingly close to that this season. Seven of their 15 losses were by four points or fewer. In another game, they blew a 12-point lead in the second half and lost by seven. And in another, they trailed by one with 2:51 to play before coming up empty on three consecutive possessions and losing by nine.

Give them six of those nine games and they’re 20-9.

But next season’s team will have added experience and talent that should help it in tight games, particularly playing in a conference that isn’t that strong.

Northridge loses five seniors: starting forward Keith Higgins, starting center Tom Samson, guard Gerald Rhoden, center Matt Andrews and center Rod Stinson.

There are players in the program to replace each of them.

Higgins: Mike O’Quinn, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Loyola Marymount who has been with the team all year, may not be the defender Higgins was, but he is a better scorer and a threat from three-point range. He’s also an inch taller.

Samson: Brian Hagens, a transfer from New Orleans, joined the team in January and is one of the strongest players on the team. He’s 6-7 and a scoring threat from inside as well as outside. Samson was only dangerous around the basket. Hagens will be eligible in mid-December.

Rhoden: Greg Minor, a former Canyon High star who transferred from South Plains (Texas) College, is already the best shooter in the program. He can also play point guard.

Andrews and Stinson: This is tougher. Although neither averaged more than 15 minutes, they provided depth in the middle and might be the most difficult players to replace.

Jeff Parris, a 6-5, 210-pound freshman who was ineligible by Prop. 48 this season, is more a power forward than a center. Brady Mertes played a similar role to Andrews and Stinson this season, but not as well. He will need to improve to become Hagens’ top backup.

That takes care of most of the losses to graduation without relying on any of the five incoming freshmen, each of whom is touted but may need a year to adjust to college basketball.

Carloes Harper, a 6-4 forward from Canoga Park, led Valley City Section scorers with a 28.6-point average. Markus Carr, a 6-1 point guard from Palmdale, averaged 20.3 points. Jermar Welch, a 6-6 forward from Canyon Springs, averaged 13.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and three blocks.

Carl Holmes, a 6-1 guard from Eugene, Ore., averaged 17.4 points, was most valuable player in his league and led his team to a third-place finish in the state’s top division. Brian Heinle, a 6-9 forward from Eugene, helped his team to second in the state and made the all-tournament team.

All are among the top 50 recruits on the West Coast, according to one scouting service.

The most obvious variable to Northridge’s continued improvement would be Braswell himself.

Oregon Coach Jerry Green, Braswell’s former boss, reportedly is one of the co-favorites for the Louisiana State job. Green said he has also been contacted about another job he wouldn’t identify. If Green leaves, Braswell would be a natural candidate to replace him at Oregon.

Braswell says he’d be crazy not to listen if a Pacific-10 school came calling, but he adds, “I’m very happy here.”

Strangely enough, if Braswell is looking for his best shot at coaching in the NCAA tournament next season, it’s probably not with Oregon. It’s with Northridge.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Fast Finisher

Northridge point guard Trenton Cross, above, has shown a knack for finishing the season with a flourish during his three years with the Matadors, and he’s gotten better each year.

Freshman season, 1994-95

Averaged 4.5 ppg in first 19 games, 11.2 ppg in last six.

Sophomore season, 1995-96

Averaged 7.6 ppg in first 17, 12.3 ppg in last 10.

Junior season, 1996-97

Averaged 6.6 ppg in first 18, 17.8 ppg in last 11.