Hawking Hits Bottom, Quits at Fullerton

Bob Hawking on Wednesday announced his resignation as Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball coach effective at the end of the season. He called it a decision based on “the bottom line.”

The bottom line for Hawking was his team’s 8-15 record this season--with four regular-season games remaining--and a 59-99 record since he took over in 1994-95 after Brad Holland resigned to become coach at San Diego.

“College athletics is a bottom-line business, and in evaluating what we’ve done over six years it was apparent that we haven’t accomplished what everyone expected us to accomplish,” Hawking said.

Hawking, 50, was in the final year of a two-year contract renewal, and his job appeared to be in jeopardy after the Titans lost their seventh consecutive game last week. Hawking, however, said the decision to resign was his own.

“It was clear from the start of the year that this was a very important year for us to do well, and I understood that,” Hawking said. “You’ve got to win more than you lose. I knew that when I took the job six years ago.”

Athletic Director John Easterbrook said the school will go through normal hiring procedures in seeking a replacement for Hawking.

“It was better at this time that I make this move,” Hawking said. “It gives the university the opportunity of looking at some new blood. Nobody wanted to win more than myself and our players, but we didn’t get it done, and that’s the penalty.”

The only name that emerged immediately in speculation about Hawking’s replacement was Utah assistant Donny Daniels, a former Titan player and assistant coach. Daniels was a candidate for the job when Hawking was hired, but Daniels said he withdrew his name from consideration the same day Hawking was named.

Hawking, who coached at Simi Valley High for 14 years, said he hopes to remain in coaching. He was an assistant at Pepperdine and UC Davis before becoming an assistant at Fullerton under Holland. “I’ll see what opportunities present themselves,” he said.

Hawking told his players of the decision Wednesday afternoon, and they stood behind him when he made the announcement at a press conference in Titan Gym.

“I tried to keep the pressure off the players,” Hawking said. “We went through this two years ago [in the last year of a contract], but we were able to finish that season strong.”

Senior forward Ike Harmon, the Titans’ leading scorer and rebounder, expressed surprise about Hawking’s decision.

“It’s hard to see people hurt like this,” Harmon said. “I’ve been around him for three years and I don’t think it was entirely his decision. Quitting is not his way of doing things. I guess we could have been better this season, but injuries and the probation put a damper on the season.”

Fullerton’s hopes suffered a setback before the season when highly regarded recruit Patrick Ceresa of Sweden failed to qualify academically. Then center Matt Caldwell injured his left shoulder, had surgery Jan. 4 and was sidelined the rest of the season.

The Titans also weren’t allowed to play exhibition games this season as part of a four-year NCAA penalty handed down in April for alleged rule violations during the time Holland was coach. Fullerton also was restricted from recruiting community college players for three years.

“Had we not had to deal with four years of an NCAA investigation, things would have been different,” Hawking said. “There’s a lot of negative recruiting in today’s world, and it’s hard to deal with that.”

Fullerton has been struggling since an 84-82 loss at North Texas in late January. Before that, the Titans had won three consecutive games and seven of 10. But after the loss to North Texas, Fullerton was beaten at home by Pacific and Long Beach State, then lost on the road to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Losses at home last week to Santa Barbara and Cal Poly left Fullerton in last place in the Big West Conference’s Western Division and in danger of missing the postseason tournament for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Hawking Era

The year-by-year record of the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team under Coach Bob Hawking (above):

*--*

Overall Big West Big West Year Record Record Tournament 1994-95 7-20 5-13 Lost in first round 1995-96 6-20 5-13 Didn’t qualify 1996-97 13-14 6-10 Lost in first round 1997-98 12-16 6-10 Lost in semifinal 1998-99 13-14 7-9 Lost in first round 1999-2000 * 8-15 3-9

*--*

* with four games remaining in regular season