His Biggest Rebound Yet

Few players follow a bouncing basketball better than Damian Cantrell.

When a shot is missed, the 6-foot-6 University of San Francisco forward springs into action with the single-minded attitude that every rebound belongs to him. Offensive rebounds. Defensive rebounds. Rebounds arching far from his grasp.

But a medical rebound?

That was something Cantrell wasn’t sure he could pull off this season.

After returning from a tournament at Purdue in mid-December, Cantrell developed a sore throat that progressively became worse. Tests revealed he had contracted mononucleosis.

Knowing he couldn’t redshirt because he had already played in eight games, Cantrell wondered if his senior season and college career had come to an end.

“I tried not to dwell on the subject,” he said. “I couldn’t cry over it.”

They would have been wasted tears. Cantrell, an Oxnard native and former standout at Santa Clara High and Ventura College, returned to the San Francisco lineup Jan. 22 after missing eight games.

Although he lost some weight--dipping from 224 pounds to 208--he didn’t lose his form. In his first game back, he grabbed 10 rebounds against Santa Clara. Since then, he has averaged 12.4 rebounds in five games, including a career-high 19 last Friday against Portland.

Entering the Dons’ game at Pepperdine tonight, Cantrell leads the West Coast Conference with rebounding averages of 10.7 overall and 12.0 in WCC play. He has recorded double-doubles in points and rebounds in three of his past four games and tops the WCC with six double-doubles.

Imagine what Cantrell would be doing if he were at full strength?

“He’s only about 85%,” San Francisco Coach Phil Mathews said. “Mono drains you. I think he’s on his way back. Each day he gets stronger and stronger.”

Since his return, Cantrell has battled fatigue as well as the effect the layoff had on his timing.

“When I first came back, I was missing layups,” he said. “There were little things I couldn’t perform. Now I’m starting to get into the groove of things.”

Cantrell is on pace to become the first WCC player to average double figures in rebounding since Darryl Johnson of San Francisco in the 1991-92 season. His 150 rebounds are split evenly between offense and defense.

Mathews says desire sets Cantrell apart from his peers.

“He wants the ball more than anyone else,” said Mathews, who has coached Cantrell the past two seasons and in the 1994-95 season at Ventura College.

Said Cantrell: “I anticipate [a rebound] by the angle of the shot and where it’s going to bounce off the rim. I’ve got a little vertical [leap], but it’s just being able to cover more ground by jumping from side to side.”

Cantrell’s methods often lead to collisions with other players.

“It’s got its bumps and bruises,” he said. “But it’s not like it’s intentional. I’m just being active.”

Far from a one-dimensional player, Cantrell averages 10.4 points--third-best on the team--and is a physical post defender.

Cantrell made an impression on Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar after he guarded St. Mary’s 7-3, 345-pound Brad Millard in the WCC tournament final last season. St. Mary’s won, but Cantrell stood his ground despite being at a disadvantage by nine inches and more than 100 pounds.

“Millard was trying to get position on Cantrell and he couldn’t move him,” Romar recalled. “It was amazing.”

Cantrell, who was 5-11 until starting a growth spurt in his junior year of high school, didn’t play varsity basketball until he was a senior at Santa Clara. He helped the Saints reach the Southern Section Division IV-A championship game, where they lost to Verbum Dei, 71-65.

The following fall, Cantrell and one of Verbum Dei’s guards, Jamal Cobbs, became teammates at Ventura College.

Cantrell and Cobbs have been friends ever since and now start at San Francisco. They are part of a close-knit foursome that includes Hakeem Ward and Gerald Zimmerman, who also played on consecutive state championship teams at Ventura before following Mathews to San Francisco.

“We all go out and have our laughs,” Cantrell said.

So far, though, San Francisco’s season has been more tragedy than comedy. The Dons (13-9, 4-6 in WCC) were preseason favorites to win the WCC title, but they entered the week in sixth place. Injury and illness to key players have contributed to the team’s struggles.

Zimmerman, a starting guard last season, is taking a redshirt year after undergoing knee surgery before the season. M.J. Nodilo, another starting guard, did not play until last month because of a stress fracture.

Cantrell chalks up the setbacks to the “casualties of life” and says he expects the Dons to be a factor in the WCC tournament starting Feb. 28 at Santa Clara University. The winner earns a berth in the NCAA tournament.

“That’s what counts,” he said.

In the meantime, Cantrell is looking forward to playing before family and friends this weekend. After facing Pepperdine, San Francisco plays at Loyola Marymount on Saturday night.

Cantrell sat out both games against the WCC’s Los Angeles-area teams last month at San Francisco, a fact not lost on Romar. Pepperdine rallied in the second half for a 63-58 victory over the Dons.

“I think his play inspires his teammates,” Romar said. “He makes them a dangerous team.”

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Ventura Connection

Updates on other San Francisco players who helped Ventura College win state titles in 1995 and 1996, with comments from Coach Phil Mathews:

* Hakeem Ward, 6-6, Sr.--The physical forward leads the Dons with a 17.1 scoring average, including a WCC-best 19.5 points in conference games. Ward would be the first San Francisco player since Quentin Dailey in 1982 to finish first in conference scoring. He was selected WCC player of the week for the second time in three weeks after averaging 26.5 points and 8.5 rebounds and shooting 71.9% in games last weekend against Portland and Gonzaga.

Mathews: “He’s been phenomenal. He’s unstoppable in the paint. He knows that he has to put us on his back, and he’s done that.”

* Jamal Cobbs, 5-9, Sr.--Quick and experienced, Cobbs continues to perform efficiently at point guard. He has a team-high 84 assists with only 37 turnovers in 22 games. On the downside, he’s averaging only 6.1 points and his three-point shooting has fallen off since last season, when he made 52.3%.

Mathews: “He’s been up and down. We had to sit him down a couple of games to get his focus back, but he has a very good assist-to-turnover ratio.”

* Gerald Zimmerman, 6-6, Sr.--Zimmerman was expected to return at shooting guard after averaging 10.1 points as a junior, but surgery on his right knee before the season forced him to redshirt. He has one season of eligibility remaining.

Mathews: “He’s one of the best shooters and best athletes on the team. It has really hurt us not having him.”