Match-Up Zone Isn’t for Sanders

The most colorful player in college basketball has to be Cal State Fullerton freshman center Corey Sanders.

Not necessarily because of his antics, but because of his fabrics.

Sanders plays with an orange sock on his left leg, pulled all the way up to the knee, and a blue sock resting just below the calf on his right leg.

“I guess it’s a Michigan thing,” Titan guard Chris Dade said.

Sanders went to Everett High School in Lansing, Mich., which hoopologists will recognize as the school that produced Magic Johnson. Now Everett can lay claim to the most notable hosiery in the NCAA.

“The socks are for all my close family and friends I’ve got back in Michigan,” Sanders said. “It was already decided before I even came out here that I was going to do something like that. I had to represent back home.”

He’s representing, all right. For all of its great hoops heritage, Michigan also holds a dubious claim to some of the worst fashion sense in the 48 contiguous states. Players from Michigan have shown up with some of the loudest outfits in recent NBA drafts, from the red zoot-suited Jalen Rose in the 1994 draft to the mint green get-up Maurice Taylor wore when he stepped to the stage in June.

Chris Webber has his clothier pick out all his suits because, as he says, “I’m from Detroit.” No other explanation necessary.

In this case, it’s not Sanders’ fault that the school colors are orange and blue.

“I tried to use team colors and use team spirit, just look at it from a positive outlook,” Sanders said.

He could have displayed his spirit with some of those striped socks, like players used to wear in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. But Sanders went for the full-fledged, Technicolor option.

“That’s Corey,” Titan assistant coach George Fuller said. “That’s his personality. He’s a free-spirited kid, very bright. He’s just one of those self-expression-type kids.”

Sanders was wearing standard high school student attire when he first caught Fuller’s eye. A 6-11 kid can draw a recruiter’s attention no matter what he’s wearing.

Sanders was a three-time honor roll student in high school, but his grades had dipped so his father held him off the team. That didn’t stop Fuller, who was at a game to scout a player on the opposing team.

“I saw [Sanders] walking around,” Fuller said. “I asked the coach who he was. He told me. I asked if he could play. He said, ‘Yeah, he’s pretty good.’ ”

So Fuller chatted with Sanders.

“He just said, “How would you like playing for Cal State Fullerton?”’ Sanders said. “I was like, ‘Cal State Who?’ ”

Over time they learned about each other. Fuller saw a few tapes of Sanders in action. Although Sanders was and is skinny, Fuller saw some things he liked.

“He ran well, could catch the ball, had a decent touch,” Fuller said. “He had a lot of skills that most big men don’t have. He had great potential.”

Sanders came to visit Fullerton, but he didn’t need to see the campus to confirm what he already knew. “I wanted to be in a warm-weather climate,” Sanders said.

Even though he’s far from his family, the sunshine keeps him going even when he’s down.

As an assistant coach told him, “You could be back home in the snow,” Sanders said. “You’ve got finals, just look at the sun. Smile. Be happy. That’s the way I look at life now, out here in California. I could be at home, freezing.”

He was in good spirits as he said this, even though Cal State Fullerton had just lost to UCLA, 120-91.

It still was an accomplishment for Sanders. Who would have thought he would ever play in Pauley Pavilion?

“”I always have a smile on my face,” Sanders said. “I’m always hyped, ready to go.”

“Corey’s always doing something every day to spice up our life,” Dade said. “One day he’ll come in rapping, another day he’ll come in with skinny bikini shorts on. He’s a funny person like that. He keeps the humor on the team.”

He hasn’t made too many contributions on the court in his freshman season, averaging 3.4 points and 3.7 rebounds in 16 minutes per game.

“He hasn’t even been playing basketball that long, the game is relatively new to him,” Fuller said. “He’s going to get better and better.”

Those orange and blue socks already make him impossible to ignore.