BIG-TIME FEELING IN SMALL SETTING

The program doesn’t exist as far as the NCAA postseason is concerned. But for Jason Hartman, Portland State provided everything necessary to bring his basketball game back to life.

As a dissatisfied reserve at Washington two years ago, Hartman felt part of his identity dissolve with each passing day. He quit before it disappeared altogether, then sought somewhere he could become whole again.

Portland State, a program with a crash-burn-rebuild identity a lot like Hartman’s, was an ideal fit.

Never mind that home games are played in a gym no bigger than the one Hartman played in while earning consecutive Ventura County player of the year awards at Thousand Oaks High.

Only two years after resurrecting a program dormant since 1981, Portland State (13-8, 8-2 in conference play) is leading the Big Sky Conference.

Only a year after abandoning a scholarship to a Pac-10 school, Hartman, a burly 6-foot-7 junior forward, leads the Vikings with a 20.1 scoring average.

“I never thought about how new they were,” Hartman said. “You are in a league. It’s college basketball. The players are on the same page with the coaches. This is a great situation.”

Viking Coach Ritchie McKay is the main reason Hartman transferred to Portland State. McKay was an assistant at Washington during Hartman’s freshman season. One of McKay’s first recruits upon taking the job at Portland State was Brian Towne, another disgruntled Husky.

Meanwhile, Hartman was becoming increasingly disenchanted at Washington. Although he averaged 8.5 points and shot 46.3% in 20 minutes a game as a freshman in 1994-95, his playing time decreased the following year and he averaged 7.1 points.

Hartman had 14 points and 11 rebounds in 19 minutes of the first game of the 1996-97 season, but it was clear that once again he was playing behind Mark Sanford. After the game, Hartman went to Coach Bob Bender and quit.

After considering Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount and Cal State Northridge, Hartman transferred to Portland State and joined McKay and Towne. Ineligible because he transferred during the season, Hartman watched the fledgling Vikings take lumps, then win seven of their last 12 games to finish 9-17.

“Having to sit out was really tough on me,” he said. “At the beginning, I kind of doubted leaving Washington. I absolutely hated watching the team give 100% but fall short. I wanted to be a part of it.

“Coach McKay wanted to put together a team that competed, and we did. This year, he’s been telling us since the spring that we have as talented a team as there is in the conference.”

Apparently, that talk is more than hyperbole. The Vikings are 10-1 at home, including an 83-75 victory over Northridge in which Hartman scored 33 points.

He eclipsed that performance by scoring 38 on 13-of-16 shooting in a victory over Cal State Sacramento last week and is averaging 22 points in Big Sky games.

Always a good perimeter shooter--he’s made 46 of 101 three-point shots--Hartman is able to post up and give an inside presence he couldn’t provide in the Pac-10.

“The Big Sky centers are only 6-8 or so, and one of the keys for me is to get inside,” he said. “At Washington, I was more of a one-dimensional scorer from the perimeter.”

Regardless of their record, the Vikings are ineligible for the NCAA and National Invitation tournaments because new programs must serve a probationary period. Portland State cannot even compete in the Big Sky tournament.

Next season, the Vikings will be eligible for the postseason. Hartman is comfortable waiting.

“Of course we’d like to have a shot, but we knew the situation and are pointing to next year,” he said. “All we can do is go out and play the best we can in every regular-season game and be satisfied with that.”

On Saturday, Hartman will play his first game at Northridge, a school his parents urged him to consider after he left Washington.

“I was the only one who thought it was a good decision to come to Portland State,” Hartman said. “My parents wanted me to go to Loyola Marymount out of high school. When I decided on Washington, they were hesitant, then they got totally behind it. So when I decided to leave, they said it was a bad choice.”

The move hasn’t put Hartman behind academically--he should graduate in December. And it allowed him to fulfill his potential on the court, even if fewer than 1,000 fans are on hand to watch him do it.

“I like playing in our little gym,” Hartman said. “It’s loud and the fans are right on top of you. I prefer the smaller gym.”

He’ll feel right at home at Northridge, which rivals Portland State for the Big Sky’s most-humble surroundings.

“I’m looking forward to playing [at Northridge] and seeing my family and some friends,” Hartman said. “I feel like I’m playing the way I was back in my T.O. High days. It feels nice.”