49ers’ Depth Will Be Tested

Hopes were high at Long Beach State when practice began in October because three starters and several players who were sidelined all or most of last season because of injuries were returning to the 49ers.

The injury bug, however, has already revisited Long Beach. Senior forward Lemi Williams, one of the 49ers’ top players, last week was designated as a redshirt because of stress fractures in both shins.

“The key for us is, we can’t get anyone else hurt,” said Long Beach Coach Wayne Morgan, who begins his sixth season with the 49ers. “If they do, that seriously diminishes us.

“But if we can keep everyone else we have, and some of the guys who were recuperating last year can get the rust off and continue to get better or stronger, we become a real factor.”

Long Beach is accustomed to persevering through injuries. Last season, the 49ers finished 18-13 overall and 10-6 in the Big West Conference, despite the absence of 6-foot-9 forward Rudy Williams, who averaged 12.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in 1999-2000 when the 49ers went 24-6 and earned a spot in the National Invitation Tournament. Rudy Williams red-shirted last season because of stress fractures in both legs. “We won some games last season we had no business winning and lost some we had no business losing,” Morgan said. “When you put it in perspective, I thought we had a tremendous year.”

Morgan was excited at the prospect of Lemi and Rudy Williams, who are not related, joining 6-8 center Travis Reed on a front line that would have ranked among the best in the Big West. Lemi Williams’ injury changed the equation.

“Lemi is a guy who can score from the perimeter, in the frontcourt and he was probably our best defensive player on the perimeter,” Morgan said. “That’s a huge, huge blow.”

Reed, 6-8, will be counted on to pick up some of the slack. After transferring from UCLA to Long Beach and red-shirting during 1999-2000, he was first-team all-conference last season. Reed averaged 14.5 points while shooting 56% and led the Big West with 8.7 rebounds a game. He was the first 49er to lead the conference in rebounding since Francois Wise in 1979-80.

Long Beach also has an experienced backcourt led by seniors Ron Johnson and Michael Darrett. Johnson, 6-0, averaged 8.7 points and led the conference with 2.3 steals a game. Darrett, 6-2, averaged 5.7 points and ranked second in the Big West in steals, at 1.71 a game, and assists, at 3.42.

Junior Tony Darden, 6-4, is expected to contribute immediately after averaging 15.7 points and 2.9 assists last season at Dodge City Community College in Kansas.

“He is going to be counted on heavily,” Morgan said.

Kevin Roberts, a 6-7 sophomore who averaged 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds last season, will figure in the forward rotation along with Vance Lawhorn and Tadeu Souza, both 6-8 juniors who missed last season because of knee injuries.

Anthony Davis, a 6-6 guard who averaged 18.9 points at Compton Centennial High, and Alex Graham, a 7-1 center from Redlands, are part of a freshman class that might get more playing time than expected because of Lemi Williams’ injury.

“We’re trying not to put too much pressure on the freshmen,” Morgan said. “They’re all good enough to play if we need them to, but we would like to bring them along slowly.”

Long Beach will prepare for Big West opponents with a nonconference schedule that includes home games against UNC Charlotte and USC, and road games at Stanford, Texas A&M; and Oregon. The 49ers open their season tonight in the America’s Youth Classic at Eugene, Ore.

“It’s a great tournament for us because we have to play three games in three days--the same format as the Big West tournament,” Morgan said. ‘Doing that and going to places such as Texas A&M; and Stanford will get us ready for conference.”