Final Fling

This is it for Chris Dade.

When the 1997-98 season begins Saturday night at Utah, Dade will become the first four-year, full-time starter at Cal State Fullerton since Tony Neal in the early 1980s. And by the time the season ends in March, Dade should join Leon Wood, Greg Bunch, Cedric Ceballos and Bruce Bowen--all past or present NBA players--among the school’s all-time scoring leaders.

Dade ranks 12th with 1,036 points, and can move up to fourth if he matches the 444 points he scored a year ago. Wood is the leader with 1,876 points over three seasons, and Ceballos, who played for the Titans two seasons, has the best career average at 22.1 points. Dade has averaged 13 points for his career.

Dade, however, says the important thing is for the team to be successful this season.

“This could be the team that turns it around for the school,” Dade said. “I think we can do that. I know I’m going to give it my all.”

Dade, a 6-foot-2-inch guard, has kept the faith, even though the last three seasons have been a struggle.

The Titans were 7-20 when Dade was a redshirt freshman in 1994-95, and went 6-20 the next season. Fullerton finished with a 13-14 record last season after its bid for a winning season hit the skids when senior John Williams missed the final 11 games of the regular season with a hand injury.

“We were all down when John got hurt, and it took us awhile to come back from that,” Dade said.

With Williams out, the scoring burden fell on Dade. He responded by leading the team in scoring in nine of the 11 games Williams missed, and scored no fewer than 15 points in any of them. He averaged 19.5 points in that stretch and finished with a 16.4 average.

“I was always the guy pushing the ball down low to John, so it was a new experience for me to look for the shot first,” Dade said.

Dade failed to score in double figures only six times last season, and had eight games of 20 points or more.

“The big thing for me last year was that I learned more about the mental game,” Dade said. “I learned to make better decisions on the court and my shot selection was better.”

Dade’s durability has been a strength. He has started 75 of Fullerton’s 80 games in the three seasons, and has appeared in all of them.

“I’ve surprised myself from that standpoint,” Dade said. “Especially since it seems like everyone is always trying to get a piece of me.”

Dade has managed to play through several nagging injuries. The only one that required surgery was a broken bone in his left wrist from an injury during his senior season at El Camino High in San Diego. Dade played through that one too, but it kept him on the sidelines his first year at Fullerton when the team doctor decided surgery was necessary.

“I have arthritis in the wrist now, and it still bothers me at times,” he said.

While Dade does seem to get banged around a lot by aggressive defenders, opposing teams have to think twice about fouling him in crucial situations. He has made 75.3% of his free throws in his college career, and was 90 of 116 (77.6%) last season.

Dade’s shooting from the floor has improved each season, going from 37% as a redshirt freshman to 42.7% last year.

“When he was in high school, you’d have to say he was more of a scorer than a shooter,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “But he’s worked hard to improve his outside shooting, and now he’s very solid in that department too.”

Dade needs only nine three-point baskets to break the school’s career record set by Mark Hill with 145. Dade made seven of eight three-pointers in a game against UC Irvine in 1996.

Dade also has been regarded as the team’s strongest defensive player each of his three seasons, and is normally assigned to guard the opposing team’s top outside scoring threat. Sometimes Dade has given up several inches against small forwards, but still caused them problems.

“He came to us with a great defensive mentality,” Hawking said. “His high school coach put a lot of emphasis there, and so did his father, who was a junior high coach. So many kids don’t come out of high school thinking that way. They’ve always been the top scorer, and their thinking has been more geared that way. He’s improved a lot too, and become of the real solid defensive players in our league.”

Dade says he’s planning to graduate this summer.

“I’ve always been a person who struggled academically, but every year it’s gotten better,” he said. “I’ve been lucky that both of my parents have college degrees, and they’ve stayed on me to do it. The coaches have helped a lot too.”

But Dade says his life revolves around basketball now, and he hopes to play professionally next year.

“I want to be able to play someplace, either in the NBA or overseas,” he said. “That’s why this season is important to me. If I’m going to play any kind of pro basketball, I need to show I can do it this year.”