Hawking Pleased With His Team’s Early Performances

It’s still early and Coach Bob Hawking is certain his Cal State Fullerton basketball team has a lot of work to do before it opens the regular season Nov. 15 at Utah.

But a couple of the expected strengths of this team--depth and versatility--were obvious Sunday when Fullerton played its first of two exhibition games at Titan Gym.

Two of Fullerton’s part-time starters last season, seniors DeVaughn Wright and Craig Whitehead, didn’t play because of sore backs. And sophomore guard Dane Plock was watching from the stands, still serving an indefinite suspension for a violation of team rules.

Even without three players who probably will fit into this season’s top 10, the team’s depth didn’t look strained in an 86-82 victory over the California All-Stars.

Nine players were in the game for 10 minutes or more, and Hawking says that’s probably going to be typical of the kind of rotation he will use this season. More quality depth makes that possible.

“We could be playing 10 or 11 guys this season,” Hawking said. “That’s the biggest difference from last year, and we’re not going to be afraid to use a variety of lineups.”

The addition of freshmen Corey Sanders and Matt Caldwell provides more strength at center, and the return of sophomore guard Kenroy Jarrett, who sat out last season because of a knee injury, will help in the backcourt.

Senior guards Chris Dade and Chris St. Clair, along with talented newcomer Ike Harmon, who had to sit out his freshman year as a Proposition 48 non-qualifer, give the team versatility.

St. Clair can play either point guard or off-guard, and Dade can move from his regular No. 2 guard spot to small forward when needed. Harmon, impressive with a 24-point performance in his first college appearance, can play either small forward or power forward.

Junior Mark Richardson started at power forward Sunday, and played a team-high 31 minutes. He had six points and nine rebounds.

“He’s been our most consistent player day in and day out in practice,” Hawking said. “He’s been shooting well and has come a long way as an offensive player since last year. And if he averages nine rebounds a game for us this season, we’ll be successful.”

The biggest problems in the first outing?

Hawking was unhappy with the 22 fouls and 22 turnovers. “We’ve still got some things to clean up defensively and some things to improve offensively,” he said.

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The NCAA playoff chances for the men’s soccer team will be on the line Saturday when the Titans play at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The Titans are tied for first with UCLA in the Southern Division of the Mountain Pacific Sports Assn. Fullerton can earn the division’s berth in the conference playoff game with a victory because of winning earlier against the Bruins. Stanford already has won the other division.

The Titans (10-8, 3-1 in conference) don’t appear to have any chance for an NCAA at-large berth if they don’t win the MPSF title. Fullerton lost to Duke, 4-1, last Friday, but came back Sunday to defeat Massachusetts, 2-1.

Just how healthy the Titans will be this weekend is a big question.

Forward Charlie Lynch was held out of the game against Duke because of a pulled hamstring, and played only the final 20 minutes against Massachusetts. Midfielder Jon Ginnaty missed both games last weekend because of a leg injury.

“We finally had settled on a team, and then we have problems again,” Coach Al Mistri said. “The story for our season has been the injuries.”

Mistri also has to be concerned about the yellow card situation for another of his top players, Duncan Oughton. Oughton has four, and one more will disqualify him and put him on the sideline for one more game. Two other players, Kris Hulgreen and Kenny Simons, also have four.

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The women’s volleyball team lost its fourth consecutive game, Saturday against UC Irvine, which puts the Titans in a precarious position in their bid to be one of eight teams to make the Big West playoffs.

The Titans are 12-14 for the season, 4-8 in the conference. They rank eighth overall before games at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Friday and at UC Santa Barbara Saturday.

The top three teams in each division qualify for the tournament, along with two wild-card teams. The conference playoffs will be Nov. 21-23 at Long Beach State.

Fullerton’s chief competition for the final playoff spot is expected to come from Utah State and Nevada, teams battling for fourth place in the other division.

“We were so busy looking at the top of the conference that the bottom of the conference caused us problems,” Coach Mary Ellen Murchison said. “The level of intensity of the teams we’ve played has picked up a lot.”

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Coming Attractions

Key games this week for Cal State Fullerton:

Men’s soccer, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 7 p.m. Saturday. With a victory, the Titans can clinch at least a share of first place in the Southern Division of the Mountain Pacific Sports Assn., and a berth in the MPSF playoff game.

Women’s volleyball, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 7 p.m. Friday, and at UC Santa Barbara at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.