Quizzers of Westwood Looking for Answers

With such trivial distractions as practices and games finally out of the way, let the off-season intrigue begin.

A perfectly ordinary UCLA basketball season--up-and-down regular season followed by Sweet 16 appearance--already has given way to conjecture about the job status of Coach Steve Lavin and NBA value of junior forward Jason Kapono.

One day after the Bruins were eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Missouri, a national radio show reported that DePaul officials asked UCLA for permission to speak with Lavin.

Untrue, Bruin administrators said.

At least for now.

Lavin has entertained the idea of bolting the well-chronicled pressures of UCLA for a more lucrative deal elsewhere, but he is excited about next year’s team. And the school is sweetening the terms of his buyout, which pretty much eliminates the possibility that he will be fired for the crime of leading the Bruins to six consecutive 20-victory seasons and NCAA tournament appearances.

Certainly he is safe until an athletic director is hired to replace Pete Dalis, who will resign in June. A search committee headed by Vice Chancellor Pete Blackman is expected to whittle down seven candidates to three or four finalists in the next few weeks.

Although UCLA spokesman Marc Dellins declined to confirm the candidates, sources said the list includes Dalis assistants Betsy Stephenson and Rick Purdy, along with five athletic directors at other schools: Gene Bleymaier of Boise State, Gary Walters of Princeton, Dan Guerrero of UC Irvine, Gary Cunningham of UC Santa Barbara and Rick Bay of San Diego State.

Lavin isn’t losing sleep over the identity of his next boss. He plans to take his parents to Cancun to celebrate their 50th anniversary in May, a rare break from the nonstop grind of recruiting and other off-season duties.

“The job never ends and that’s one of the challenges,” he said. “There is a lot of work to do.”

Convincing Kapono to return is at the top of the to-do list. This is the third season the school’s all-time three-point shooter has weighed jumping to the NBA, and this time the decision will be very difficult.

“I’m going to take two weeks off, then I’ll start thinking about it,” he said.

If scouts convince him he will be a first-round draft choice, he’s gone. If he gets no such guarantee, he probably will return because there are valid reasons to do so. He wants to win a championship, is cognizant of his climb through the Bruin record book and is devoted to his girlfriend, a UCLA sophomore.

Kapono’s comments after the loss indicate he associates himself with next season’s team.

“I think the reason for our Sweet 16 losses the last few years is that we just haven’t made the plays down the stretch,” he said. “We are going to have to do that to get past that hump.”

Lavin also must keep tabs on the classroom progress of freshmen Cedric Bozeman, Dijon Thompson and Andre Patterson. Despite the positive influence of fifth-year seniors Billy Knight and Rico Hines, who have already graduated, the freshmen adjusted to college work with varying degrees of success.

And there might be shuffling on the coaching staff. Jim Saia, Lavin’s top assistant and longtime close friend, will interview for the head job at Fresno State next week. Former Bruin guard Gerald Madkins was popular with players in his first season as an assistant and third assistant Patrick Sandle is a former San Francisco State teammate of Lavin.

Reflecting on the season won’t take long. Sure, the memories of seniors Matt Barnes and Dan Gadzuric stepping up in the tournament and of Knight and Hines becoming solid contributors are worth savoring.

But a 21-12 record, sixth-place Pacific 10 Conference finish, first-round exit in the conference tournament and Sweet 16 elimination was not the legacy the team wanted to leave.

Next season will begin with goals of a championship, any championship. The talent, as always, will be in place.

Returning along with Bozeman, Thompson and Patterson will be post player T.J. Cummings and point guard Ryan Walcott, giving the Bruins an athletic, experienced nucleus. Veteran guards Ray Young and Jon Crispin will be eligible and incoming freshman Evan Burns is a blue-chip prospect.

Will Kapono be in the mix? Will Saia? Lavin? And who will oversee the program from the athletic director’s office in the Morgan Center?

Answers will come during the off-season, when intrigue is often at its highest.