Boiler Room

The spacious office inside the Pyramid arena offers a glimpse of how attractive coaching men’s basketball at Long Beach State is -- or could be, under other circumstances.

Rich wood-grain furnishings abound. Across from a large desk in one corner is a 32-inch television set in a cabinet. Two black leather couches are in another corner below a window with a view of the basketball court.

Larry Reynolds, the 49ers’ coach, never had it this good on the way up.

“No, I didn’t have an office like this at San Bernardino,” Reynolds said with a chuckle. “I know I didn’t have any room for couches.”

On a recent day, Reynolds has the window blinds closed, though -- perhaps because in recent years the view of the court has been so unsightly.

A current four-game winning streak is the first sign of hope for a Long Beach State program that has been a nightmarish mess. The streak has lifted the 49ers to 7-18, a mark that so far ranks as the best in Reynolds’ three-year tenure. This, in a program that rose to national prominence in the 1970s under Jerry Tarkanian and made regular postseason appearances as recently as the early 1990s.

Reynolds, hired after turning Cal State San Bernardino into a Division II power, was put in charge of breathing life back into a gasping program.

He has won only 18 of 79 games, however.

Many observers say the 49ers should be a perennial contender in the Big West Conference, particularly with Utah State leaving after this season. Instead, they may not reach the conference tournament for the third consecutive year. Supporters are staying away from the Pyramid in droves, and discussions in Internet chat rooms center on when Reynolds will be fired.

“I don’t think any pressure from anyone on the outside can put more than what I put on myself,” said Reynolds, who spent 19 years as a player and coach at then-Division II UC Riverside. “I understand all the frustration. There’s no one more frustrated than I am.

“I know there’s criticism of me and where the program is. I can’t let that affect the way I coach these guys. If you let that distract you, then you can go in a million different directions.”

Reynolds, 52, has two years remaining on a five-year contract. Bill Shumard, Long Beach’s athletic director, says he will evaluate Reynolds after the season.

Shumard will have to decide whether to give the low-key Reynolds at least one more season with his own recruits or to pay nearly $400,000 to buy out the contract of the coach he picked to restore luster to the program.

“I wouldn’t go so strongly as to say that his job is on the line,” Shumard said recently. “You give a coach a five-year contract for a purpose.... “We’re not a pro franchise. We’re going to give him the entire year and then look at the three years that he’s done and evaluate it.”

Long Beach hasn’t had consistent success since Seth Greenberg guided the 49ers to three postseason appearances in six seasons from 1990 to 1996. Under Wayne Morgan, now the coach at Iowa State, the 49ers were 24-6 in 1999-2000 and 18-13 in 2000-01 but couldn’t maintain the pace.

“It’s a situation where it’s going to take a while to rebuild it,” said Greenberg, now the coach at Virginia Tech. “It’s not a program where you can just go get a couple of players and you’ll be back on top. It’s not a quick fix. You’re not going to be able to recruit All-Americans there.”

Only recently have the 49ers begun to rid themselves of the sloppy offensive play that has plagued them under Reynolds. They are displaying the traits that he used for five years at San Bernardino to win 110 games and reach the Division II Elite Eight -- a controlled motion offense that values each possession and a sticky, in-your-face defense.

But there are other problems as well.

The development of forward Shawn Hawkins and guard Louis Darby, two talented offensive threats, was held back after each sat out a season to shore up academics. This season, after suffering major injuries, Darby has played in only 10 games and another scoring threat, forward Anthony Coleman, has played in 12.

Recruiting, though, has been the biggest problem. None of Reynolds’ recruits has yet to distinguish himself.

The most glaring error was the failure to get point guard Bobby Brown, whom the 49ers hoped would be a walk-on for his first season, after giving a scholarship to current point guard Kevin Houston. Brown went to Cal State Fullerton instead and is second in the Big West in scoring and assists as a sophomore. Houston is only beginning to establish himself in his two seasons at Long Beach.

Jeff Oliver, who succeeded his former boss at San Bernardino, says Reynolds needs more time, pointing out that his approach can ultimately succeed at Long Beach.

“He’s very good at getting guys to buy in,” Oliver said. “When he first got there, he gets dealt with guys that didn’t care and when you bring in high school guys who see that same attitude, that’s just a bad combination....

“They’re competing harder than they have the last two years. The ball’s just not bouncing their way.”

Reynolds remained hopeful as the losses piled up, and the 49ers have repaid their coach’s faith with their longest winning streak in three years. Whether he gets to stay in his cushy office may hinge on beating out Riverside for the last Big West tournament berth, a feat whose chances seemed remote only weeks ago.

If he is worried about his fate after the season, he isn’t showing it.

“I would love to be [back], but that’s something beyond my control,” Reynolds said. “It’s something that’s decided in another office than this one.

“I just know we need to get better and we need to play better.”

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Heady Company

In his bid to return Long Beach State to its former winning ways, third-season 49er Coach Larry Reynolds has joined an illustrious group of men who have guided the program. A selection of past Long Beach coaches, with their record at the school, including league titles won:

*--* Seasons W L Pct. Titles JERRY TARKANIAN 5 (1968-73) 122 20 859 4 LUTE OLSON 1 (1973-74) 24 2 923 1 TEX WINTER 5 (1978-83) 78 69 531 0 SETH GREENBERG 6 (1990-96) 105 70 600 1 WAYNE MORGAN 6 (1996-2002) 91 84 520 1

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