This Year, McQuarn Feels Good About His Team and His Job

Some of the same guys who were partly responsible for his quitting helped talk George McQuarn out of an early retirement last winter, proving once again that basketball coaches make strange bedfellows.

Late last January McQuarn decided he no longer wanted to coach. Not just leave Cal State Fullerton, but get out of coaching, period. The pressures of a frustrating season were following him off the court, creeping into his personal life, and doing a reverse pivot with his psyche. On Jan. 29, he announced the game wouldn’t have George McQuarn to kick around anymore.

The response from the coaching community was shock and disbelief. Coaches who had gone to great lengths to beat McQuarn’s team on game nights were calling and writing to urge him to reconsider. Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian, who once had McQuarn for an assistant, called. So did UC Irvine’s Bill Mulligan.

“Don’t do it, George,” they told him. “You’re young. You’re good at what you do. Don’t do something you’ll regret later.”

Fullerton administrators, players and supporters echoed those sentiments. If McQuarn were to leave, he couldn’t say it was because he wasn’t wanted. The show of support affected him. Those around him quietly hinted that he might change his mind. Finally, 24 days after announcing he was leaving, McQuarn said he was staying.

McQuarn, 45, now admits he overreacted, and says he doesn’t regret revoking the decision to quit coaching.

“I don’t think I’m any different than 101 other guys out there who go through different frustrations with their job,” he said, “who wake up on a certain morning and say, ‘What in the hell am I doing working here? I ought to be doing something else with my life.’ I think we all go through that.

“I experienced it, I acted it out, and, because of the people here at the university and because of some very close friends of mine in the coaching profession, I was made aware that I was making a mistake.”

As a result, Fullerton Athletic Director Ed Carroll happily canceled his search for a new basketball coach. “I really thought (George) was suffering from the classic case of burnout,” Carroll said. “And once he said he was getting out of the field, it did two things. One, I think it took a burden off his chest. He got it all off. And, two, he had an opportunity to get all that input from so many people. I think he just got a different perspective on coaching and about his job.

“Suddenly, it’s just a whole new zest for coaching. I told him last year, and I feel it today, his best years of coaching are ahead of him, not behind him. I really think he would have made a serious mistake if had gone through with it.”

Of course, having the kind of talent McQuarn has entering the 1986-87 season can do wonders for one’s outlook.

The Titans limped to 16-16 record and beat UC Irvine in the first round of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. Tournament, despite doubts about the coaching situation and injuries to two of their best players.

Center Herman Webster, forward Henry Turner and guard Richard Morton--who were instrumental in holding things together in 1985-86--are back. They’ll be joined in the starting lineup by Long Beach City College transfer Derek Jones, who McQuarn thinks may be one of the biggest recruiting coups in his six years at Fullerton.

All of this has McQuarn smiling and saying mostly nice things about the players he has returned to.

“I do like my basketball team,” he said. “I don’t know if that means that this is the most talented team we’ve ever had or that this team has a chance of doing things that other teams didn’t do. I don’t know if I’m saying that all.

“I think what I’m saying is that, as a coach, I enjoy the personality of this basketball team a lot more than I’ve enjoyed some of the teams that I’ve had in the past.”

But McQuarn is facing something of a paradox. The Titans are entering the season with a “no-star” system that’s part of the personality McQuarn says he enjoys. It’s good for the work ethic he preaches. On the other hand, McQuarn knows needs a player who can exhibit star qualities when the need arises; someone who can score 25 or 30 points when needed.

“On an individual basis, I’ve had some better players coming back,” McQuarn said, “because I’ve had some kids who have accomplished some real significant things prior to their senior years--a Leon Wood, a Kevin Henderson, a Tony Neal. I think that, in order for us to be truly successful in the PCAA, somebody on our team has to emerge as a dominating player . . . a player who plays over the level of competition in the conference. We have to have that.”

Last season, when he wasn’t on crutches, senior guard Kevin Henderson was that player. This season’s vote for Most Likely to Help the Titans Succeed is Morton, a smooth, 6-foot 4-inch guard whose offensive abilities McQuarn has quietly likened to those of Leon Wood.

Morton began to emerge last season when Henderson was sidelined with a foot injury. He scored 32 points in an overtime victory over Cal State Long Beach and 24 in his next outing, an overtime loss to Utah State. But in the Titans’ next game, Morton had a little run-in with the basket support in San Jose, and suffered knee and ankle injuries that kept him out for five games. He struggled to regain his shooting touch when he returned, but McQuarn said he’s fully recovered.

“He’s practicing and playing the way he was prior to his injury,” McQuarn said. “You can see that he’s got confidence again. He feels good about himself, and he knows his body is healthy.”

McQuarn hopes most of Morton’s outside jump shots are on target, because the Titans may have trouble getting to the ones that aren’t. With a front line that stands 6-7 at each position, McQuarn admits Fullerton may be “suspect” as a rebounding team.

Webster is the closest thing the Titans have to a center. The powerfully built senior shot almost 60% from the field last season and, forced to assume a bigger role because of the injuries, averaged 10.6 points per game. This season, he’s the team captain. “He’s a man of few words,” McQuarn said, “but whatever he says, the kids listen to him.”

Turner and Jones will need to use their considerable jumping ability to help Webster on the boards. Both have offensive flash and a flair for rim-rattling dunks. Jones could emerge as a consistent scorer to complement Morton.

Junior Eugene Jackson, Senior Alexander Hamilton and Tyrone Ree, a transfer from Murray State Junior College in Oklahoma, are contending for playing time at point guard. McQuarn said the players are virtually “clones,” with similar strengths and weaknesses, but believes all are capable of meeting the needs of the position.

“We probably have better people to carry out that role than we’ve ever had since I’ve been here,” McQuarn said. “I think we can pressure some people at that position like we’ve never done before, which should make us a better defensive basketball team.” There was a trace of enthusiasm in McQuarn’s voice as he spoke. He sounded like a man who enjoys his work.