Good Hops, Though He Probably Can’t Jump

College basketball has taken its lumps in Southern California the last couple of years. But as area coaches prepared for the official opening of practice today, they gathered at the Los Angeles Athletic Club this week and showed they can always win laughs, if not ballgames.

Loyola Marymount Coach Steve Aggers told the crowd about his team’s stop in Monaco during a European tour.

“There was no bathroom in the locker room, and at halftime I saw the referee with a Heineken in his hand, talking to the head coach of the other team,” Aggers said. “I knew we were in trouble.”

The Lions won anyway.

Cal State Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell marveled at what he had heard -- Monaco?

“You know, an overseas trip for Cal State Northridge is San Francisco,” Braswell said.

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Trivia time: What former Big West Conference coach is now coaching in the Atlantic Coast Conference?

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Stroke of midnight: The tradition of “Midnight Madness” basketball practices at 12:01 a.m. on the Saturday nearest to Oct. 15 is in jeopardy.

A proposed NCAA rule change for next year would allow practices to begin at 7 p.m. on the Friday closest to the 15th, purportedly to keep students and fans off the road at late hours.

Couldn’t it just mean they’ll be out partying at midnight instead of in the gym?

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Listen carefully: Brad Holland, the former UCLA player who coaches at the University of San Diego, got in a small dig at his alma mater.

“This is my 11th year representing USD, which means I’m on my third UCLA coach,” Holland said. (Jim Harrick, Steve Lavin and Ben Howland, if you’re counting.)

Holland, mentioned as a candidate when Howland was hired, said he got a few phone calls from people with too much wax in their ears.

“They called and said, ‘Wow, that’s great, you got the job.’ And I said, ‘No, that’s Ben Howland,’ ” Holland said.

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Help wanted: Jim Saia, the former UCLA assistant now at USC, filled in for Henry Bibby, the only coach who typically sends an assistant in his place.

San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher had news for Saia.

“I went back and checked, and the last four assistant coaches who spoke here weren’t employed the next year,” Fisher said. USC couldn’t confirm that, but provided a list of assistants who have subbed for Bibby and since gone on to other jobs.

Actually, Fisher might have missed a couple. The list includes Silvey Dominguez, Dave Miller, Paul Mokeski, Damon Archibald, Kurtis Townsend and Marvin Menzies.

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Trivia answer: Seth Greenberg, formerly at Long Beach State, is in his second season at Virginia Tech, which begins play in the ACC this season.

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And finally: Thomas Shewmake, Cal State Northridge’s 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, likes the nickname “Double-Double,” presumably a nod to such performances as his 18-point, 12-rebound game against UC Riverside last season.

“He didn’t know I was calling him ‘Double-Double’ because he looked like he’d been hanging out at In-N-Out Burger too much,” Braswell said.