League Expansion Brews Basketball Power

To see how things have changed in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., look no further than three-time defending men’s basketball champion Cal State Bakersfield.

Bakersfield lost only one conference game last season and was regarded as a strong contender for this season’s Division II national championship.

The Roadrunners are 0-2 in conference play this season.

They opened CCAA play with losses to Cal State San Bernardino and UC Riverside at home in the new Centennial Garden Arena, which seats 10,800.

But with the CCAA expanded from seven to 12 teams this season, second-year Roadrunner Coach Henry Clark isn’t too worried about an 0-2 start.

“Most coaches talk about winning at home and splitting on the road,” Clark said. “We’ll just have to snatch a few more on the road.

“Any time you’re supposed to be one of the better teams, you’re going to get everybody’s A games.”

That expansion is also a reason many coaches are having some uncertainty. Conference play traditionally began in January, but this season’s 22-game schedule started last weekend.

And with expansion, the Roadrunners, who have five returning players and one of the best junior college transfers in Division II in 6-foot-7 forward Jamal Livingston, aren’t the only national title contenders in the CCAA.

UC Davis, last season’s national champion, came over from the disbanded Northern California Athletic Conference. Davis and Bakersfield are expected to battle for the CCAA crown.

But the CCAA is not a two-team conference.

Cal State Los Angeles and Grand Canyon also made the NCAA tournament last year and are picked by coaches to finish third and fourth, respectively.

Cal State L.A. will have a familiar face in its backcourt. Sophomore Quincy Stinson, who was an all-CCAA player as a freshman two years ago, is back after a year off to concentrate on academics.

The conference’s top returning scorer is Cal State Dominguez Hills’ Jair Fray, and Cal Poly Pomona’s Terrell Davis and Julian Hammond make the Broncos a team that could surprise.

“The one team I think will finish ahead of where they were picked is Cal Poly Pomona,” Riverside Coach John Masi said.

“But with expansion, I think a team can still win the conference at 18-4.” In fact, he said, he wouldn’t be surprised if the champion had fewer wins.

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The story in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is not who is winning, but who is missing.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Coach David Wells underwent 16 1/2 hours of surgery to remove a tumor in his throat last week and is still in intensive care.

His assistant, Ken Scalmanini has taken over.

He inherits a team with three starters from a fourth-place team.

Last year’s top two teams, first-place Pomona-Pitzer and Cal Lutheran, are strong again, as is La Verne, which has everybody back from last year’s third-place team.

All four teams have first-team All-SCIAC players, forward Mike Dulaney of Cal Lutheran, forward Kevin Gustafson of La Verne, guard Brian Smith of Claremont, and guard Vaughan Wilson of Pomona-Pitzer.

And the competition the four teams will give one another may mean the conference winner won’t have the 12-2 record Pomona-Pitzer had last season.

“After the top four, Redlands, Whittier and Occidental are a small step behind,” first-year La Verne Coach Dan Mulville said. “I think there will be more upsets, and I think 11 wins will win it.”

So far, the three teams Mulville considered a small step behind have done that.

Redlands (4-2), Occidental (3-2) and Whittier (2-2) are the only teams in the SCIAC with only two losses.

Pomona-Pitzer Coach Charlie Katsiaficas expects those teams to be near the top at the end of the season too.

“There’s more parity than ever this season,” he said. “It’s much more unclear if there even is a top half and a bottom half.”

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In the NAIA, Azusa Pacific has won six consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference titles and made it to the NAIA Division I semifinals last season. This year, however, the coach of No. 5-ranked Azusa knows repeating in 1998-99 could be harder than ever.

“Westmont and Biola have better players,” Bill Odell said. “I picked Westmont. They have a lot of good guys coming back and we have a lot of new guys.”

One thing Azusa does have is last year’s GSAC co-player of the year, point guard T.J. Walker. Walker, fellow player of the year Brian Gomes of Westmont and Jack Hartman of Biola are considered the best in the GSAC.

If early games are any indication, this may be the season Westmont and Biola knock off Azusa. Westmont, ranked No. 14, has the biggest victory among GSAC schools this season, a 54-53 victory at Division I UC Santa Barbara Nov. 21. And No. 22 Biola is off to a 7-0 start, even though Hartman has missed four games with a broken thumb and is out for at least the rest of the nonconference schedule.

Westmont hopes it can continue its early success. “The key is that Azusa gets better as the season rolls along,” Westmont Coach John Moore said. His theory? Make the most of those early chances against the defending conference champion.

Azusa will play both contenders early, at Westmont Jan. 16 and at Biola 10 days later.