In NCAA Afterglow, Future Looks Bright

Enough of the past.

Enough about Michael Abraham, the Cal State Northridge women’s basketball coach charged with trafficking crack cocaine in November. Presumably, he will be convicted or acquitted before next season, but either way his days at Northridge were numbered months ago.

Enough about Paul Bubb and Judith Brame, Northridge athletic administrators forced to resign in the wake of Abraham’s arrest.

Enough about guard Edniesha Curry getting slighted for Big Sky Conference player of the year honors despite Northridge becoming only the second team outside the state of Montana to represent the conference in the NCAA tournament.

Enough about the tears, togetherness and toughness of a Matador team that overcame humiliation and uncertainty to win the Big Sky regular-season and tournament championships.

The players, fresh off an inspiring effort in their first NCAA tournament game that nearly resulted in an upset over No. 2-seeded Colorado State, want to talk basketball.

They want to focus on their future.

“We’re tired of all the questions about what happened before the season,” said Jamilah Jones, a junior guard and captain. “We have moved way beyond that.”

Consider the page turned. This remarkable season, a 21-8 record capped by a stirring performance that had Northridge leading Colorado State until the final four minutes, will be reflected upon with a mix of fondness and melancholy.

But the Matadors all believe better times lie ahead.

Reason No. 1 for optimism is there are no seniors on the roster. Every player returns, including Curry, a two-time All-Big Sky guard. Also back will be Coach Frozena Jerro, who last week was given the job on a permanent basis.

The team is versatile and deep. Nine players scored in the 71-59 loss to Colorado State, eight had rebounds and seven had steals.

Guards are the Matadors’ strength, with playmaking point Tina Greer, strong defender Natalia Jonas, lightning-quick LaShaunda Fowler and Belgian import Daphne Verrept complementing Curry and Jones.

At forward, they bring back two savvy players who consistently rebound and score, Lynda Amari and Neda Milic.

And although Northridge is not dominant in the post, vastly improved Keisha Harris, steady Viveca Lof and talented freshman Leah Rice hold their own.

There is room for improvement. Jerro can bring in three players to fill roster spots vacated by two reserves who quit and 6-4 center Maja Muzurovic, a junior who missed all season and most of last season with a knee injury. Muzurovic said this week she probably will not play again.

A powerful center and a deadeye perimeter shooter would be nice, but such talent is hard to find.

Recruiting ground to a halt after Abraham’s arrest. However, with a rejuvenated program and her own status secure, Jerro should be able to attract top players.

Not that the players are overly concerned about it.

“We don’t even need anybody else,” Greer said. “We are going nowhere but up.”

For a road map to the heights the program could attain, Northridge needs look no farther than Colorado State.

The Rams were a mediocre Western Athletic Conference outfit until winning the conference title and qualifying for the NCAA tournament in 1996. The following summer Moby Arena underwent a $3.5 million renovation, including all new seating, three new scoreboards and remodeled locker rooms and meeting areas.

The improvements were engineered by Colorado State administrators through a full-scale capital drive, drawing on several sources of funding.

Success begets success. The Rams are nationally ranked and home attendance has shot through the roof, increasing from under 10,000 in 1994-95 to more than 80,000 this season.

Could Northridge be the next women’s basketball power? The talent is in place and so is the coach. There is no reason the Matadors can’t dominate the Big Sky the way Montana did for two decades.

Marketing the team and getting fans to games will be a task Northridge administrators ought to relish. The Matadors are fun to watch, as anyone who stayed awake long enough to see the live telecast of the late-night battle against Colorado State can attest.

Sam Jankovich, Northridge’s interim athletic director, turned the athletics program at Miami into a national power in the 1980s. He knows a spark when he sees one.

“As I followed our women’s basketball team, I began to believe in it the way the players and coaches obviously did,” he said. “This is the start of something positive. This team embodied self-esteem, focus and purpose.

“The example set by Coach Fro and her team will do more for this university than anything I can think of to get us moving forward.”