Eaton Isn’t Taking His Retirement Sitting Down
Former Cypress College, UCLA and Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton is part-owner of three restaurants in Park City, Utah, where he lives with his wife, Marcie, and sons Nicolas and Douglas. He also has a radio talk show before Jazz games and is active in a foundation that supports youth activities for at-risk children.
“Retirement has been a challenge, but so far I’m picking my way through it,” said Eaton, whose 11-year NBA career ended in 1994.
He maintains a residence in Laguna Niguel but does not believe he will permanently move from Utah.
“[Utah] is a great place to live,” he said. “As much as I love California, this is home for the foreseeable future.”
Eaton’s rise from auto mechanic to the NBA’s top shot-blocker has been the subject of many stories. At Westminster High, he did not play basketball. Instead, he played water polo. Upon graduation he enrolled in mechanics’ school.
In early 1978 he was spotted by Tom Lubin, an instructor at Cypress College, while Eaton was repairing brakes on a car at a West Anaheim auto shop. Lubin, a volunteer assistant coach for the men’s basketball team, convinced Eaton, who had added six inches to his 6-foot-9 frame, to play basketball for the Chargers. Eaton went on to help Cypress win the 1980 state title.
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Lubin is still volunteering as a basketball coach, most recently at Corona Centennial High. He has also been director of a foundation for needy youth. The foundation was started in the name of former Charger assistant coach Bruce Randall, who died last year after suffering a stroke.
While at Cypress, Lubin and Randall also had a hand in developing Swen Nater, who played for the Chargers and UCLA. Nater went on to play in the old American Basketball Assn. and the NBA, where his 11-year career ended with the Lakers in 1984.
Nater lives in Seattle and works for a department store chain.
Former Charger coach Don Johnson, who retired from Cypress after the 1993-94 season as the state’s winningest community college men’s basketball coach, is an assistant at Biola.