Night Moves

It’s 10 o’clock at night. Does anyone know where Dan Galvanoni is?

Vince knows. He’s the custodian at Moorpark College, the one with the keys to the gym.

He’s the guy Galvanoni shrewdly befriended after the former Capistrano Valley High star transferred from Nevada a few months ago.

For Galvanoni, who never tires of shooting a basketball, there haven’t been many contacts on campus more important.

“He’s a gym rat,” Moorpark Coach Remy McCarthy said. “He goes in there sometimes late at night and does his shooting, without bothering anyone.

“If he were a species, you’d consider him nocturnal.”

Whatever he’s classified, one thing is certain: Galvanoni can flat out play.

The 6-foot-3 sophomore guard is the undisputed catalyst for a Moorpark team that is 23-7 and riding a five-game winning streak going into a first-round Southern California Regional playoff game against Southwestern (14-15) at 7 tonight at Moorpark.

He leads the Raiders with a 17.9 scoring average and led the Western State Conference with 101 three-point baskets--not bad for someone who played point guard until this season.

Galvanoni’s intensity set the tone early and the Raiders reaped the benefits, tying Oxnard for first place in the WSC Northern Division and securing the No. 5 seeding for the regional.

“I didn’t come here to screw around,” Galvanoni said. “I came here to win league.”

And because he badly wanted out of Nevada. And because Moorpark was the first school he saw in a junior college directory. And because he wanted to be closer to home, but not too close.

At Capistrano Valley, he was a Times’ Orange County second-team selection his senior season in 1996-97, but it was hardly free of setbacks.

Galvanoni battled mononucleosis between his junior and senior years and broke a finger on his right (shooting) hand his senior season, but still averaged 17.4 points. He played with the finger taped and with his sights on a Division I scholarship.

But because of his poor academic performance, only Nevada and Wyoming made offers. Galvanoni chose Reno over Laramie, a decision he soon came to regret.

After spending his first season at Nevada as a redshirt, Galvanoni stuck around for four games last season before leaving.

“I didn’t like it there,” Galvanoni said. “It wasn’t just basketball, but the whole atmosphere.

“We used to have this book [at Nevada] that listed all the junior colleges in California. Me and my roommate were [upset] after practice one day and I said, ‘I’m going to call somebody.’ I called Moorpark and left a message.”

McCarthy, who doesn’t hear from Division I players every day, seized the opportunity. The Raiders were expected to do well this season and Galvanoni could lift them to a higher level.

It turned out just as expected.

“More than anything,” McCarthy said, “he came in here and worked so darn hard that if the other guys didn’t work hard, they’d be embarrassed.”

Galvanoni said he benefited from the move as much as the Raiders did.

He and fiancee Ashley Williams, a former All-Big West volleyball player at Nevada, are born-again Christians who plan to marry after they finish college. The two share their Simi Valley apartment with Antonio Whitlock, a freshman forward with the Raiders from Loara High.

Whitlock’s older brother, Tes, and Galvanoni are longtime friends. Tes Whitlock was one of Orange County’s all-time best high school players, scoring a county-record 68 points in a game for Loara in 1990. He later excelled at Hawaii.

Galvanoni and Tes Whitlock often danced to the beat of their own drums. But that’s changed. Galvanoni said Whitlock also found religion and helped him strengthen his faith.

“Tes came and stayed with me [last] summer,” Galvanoni said. “I saw such a big change in him. . . . People kept telling me about Christ. I started reading the Bible. I felt something happening, like a whole new feeling.”

Which he hopes to enhance with new surroundings next season. Several Division I programs, including Drake and Providence, are recruiting Galvanoni.

Until then, the guy who was known in high school for his ability to drive and penetrate will keep honing his shooting touch.

“I have to make at least 200 shots a day,” Galvanoni said. “I treat this like it’s a job.”