Anteaters Dust Off Freshman Okoro, Rush Him Into Action

All fall, UC Irvine basketball coaches waxed poetic about freshman forward Matt Okoro.

They talked about the size 22 shoes and the fact that he was only 17. They saw him growing into a 6-foot-8 monster who would terrorize the Big West Conference.

What they didn’t envision was playing him this season. The plan was to redshirt Okoro, let him mature and grow.

Those plans have been scrapped.

Coach Pat Douglass, feeling some urgency to win, not only suited up Okoro Wednesday against Humboldt State, he started him. It was a decision that was not arrived at easily. Douglass spent the last three weeks mulling it over. In the end, it was Okoro’s play that decided matters.

“He has become one of our best players,” Douglass said.

Talent wise, there is no doubt. Experience, well, that’s another matter.

In the best of worlds, Okoro would get a year to season those skills. But every time Marek Ondera’s back creaked, Douglass would wring his hands.

Ondera, a 6-foot-7 power forward, is the Anteaters’ best rebounder. He has played with back spasms caused by a bulged disk. The Anteaters had little else inside.

Senior Adam Stetson has been out since suffering a collapsed lung on Nov. 25. He had been at his parents home in Texas and is expected back today.

“As soon as I feel comfortable, I’m going to play,” Stetson said. “I’ll probably be ready in a week. That’s what I’m shooting for.”

Three weeks seems more realistic to Douglass.

He has also received sporadic play from his centers.

Greg Ethington, J.R. Christ and Mark Gottschalk have combined for 63 rebounds in eight games.

Ethington had a 10-point, 10-minute spurt against Loyola Marymount and 26 points in the other seven games. Christ had 18 points against Southwest Texas and 31 in the other seven games. Gottschalk has eight points in eight games and played only four minutes against Humboldt State; Okoro played 26.

“Our centers have not rebounded the way they are capable,” Douglass said.

Okoro, who is either 6-7 or 6-5 1/2 depending on which Irvine coach is talking, had seven rebounds.

“He can get seven just standing there,” Douglass said.

So Douglass is gambling that a raw Okoro can give him some power inside. By the second half against Humboldt State, Okoro was more in flow. He had eight points, including a dunk, and six rebounds.

If he can do that every game, it might be enough to make the Anteaters a contender.

“My priorities are rebounding, defense and scoring,” Okoro said.

NEW STRIKER

Jonathan Nebot, a senior from Santa Margarita High School, has committed to play soccer at Irvine.

Nebot, a forward, was named second-team All-Sea View League last season.

JOB OPENING

The hiring of Charlie Brande to coach the Anteater women’s volleyball team was a no-brainer. Yet, it does leave the Irvine athletic department with men coaching women in soccer, basketball, cross-country, track and volleyball.

It is almost certain that Brande will hire a women as an associate coach, with likely candidates being Cincinnati Coach Laura Phillips Alford and Indiana State assistant Elaine Oden.

Oden is said to be eager to return to Southern California, where she played at Irvine High School. Alford might be the top choice, but a move would be difficult since her husband is a trainer for the Cincinnati Bengals.

The hiring of Julie Swail to coach women’s water polo eases the gender question some. An athletic department committee is expected to recommend the creation of two women’s sports in January, at least one of which will have a women’s coach.

Students on the committee would prefer softball, but the likely recommendations will be golf and indoor track.

MURCHISON BACK

Mary Ellen Murchison says she will continue as Cal State Fullerton women’s volleyball coach next season.

“My contract is going to be renewed, and I feel good physically,” Murchison said. “I like the players I have coming back.”

Murchison, who completed her eighth season with the Titans, underwent surgery for breast cancer Aug. 27, but returned in time to coach the team during the regular season.

The Titans finished with a 7-22 record, 3-13 in the Big West Conference, but there were no seniors on the team and seven of the 10 players were freshmen or sophomores.

The retirement of women’s gymnastics coach Lynn Rogers and softball coach Judi Garman will leave Heizaburo Okawa as the dean of Titan coaches. He has been head fencing coach for 17 years.

Rogers’ associate head coach, Julie Knight, has been named interim coach, and she is expected to be hired on a permanent basis after the waiting period for filling state jobs has elapsed. Michelle Gromacki, an assistant for Garman for five years, had earlier been named interim head coach in softball.

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Staff writer Lon Eubanks contributed to this story.