WEST COAST CONFERENCE PREVIEW : Race Is On to Fill Void, and They Couldn’t Be Happier

The players who dominated the West Coast Conference for so long, who put it on the basketball map and created a corps of late night TV faithful around the country, are gone.

There are no players in the wings with the name recognition of Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble and Jeff Fryer at Loyola Marymount; Tom Lewis, Dexter Howard and Craig Davis at Pepperdine; Jeffty Connelly at Santa Clara or anyone named McPhee at Gonzaga.

Simply put, “The league has lost its marquee players,” Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said.

But WCC coaches and officials aren’t shedding many tears. Thanks to those players’ accomplishments over the past few years, the WCC recently landed its first television game-of-the-week package with SportsChannel.

And thanks to their departure, a tighter race is expected. Since the 1984-85 season, only one conference winner--St. Mary’s in 1988-89--has lost as many as two games. Loyola Marymount went undefeated the year before and won the title with a 13-1 mark last season.

This season, San Diego is seen as the slight favorite, in a poll of WCC sports publicists, over Loyola and Pepperdine, but the haves and have-nots are closer this season and the conference should be improved from a year ago, when half the league lost 19 or more games.

“I think 10-4 could win the league,” WCC Commissioner Michael Gilleran said. “I’ll be surprised if anybody goes 11-3. I can even see two teams tying at 10-4, and a few right behind at 9-5. I think San Diego, Loyola, Pepperdine, in any order, are a half-step ahead of the league, but the others, you could pick four through eight in any order. We’re stronger top to bottom, and this year I don’t think you can eliminate as many teams (from contention).”

Here’s how the league shapes up, minus Loyola and Pepperdine: U. SAN DIEGO 1989-90 record: 16-12 overall, 9-5 WCC. 1989-90 finish: Third.

As the only team in the league with seniors and juniors making up more than 50% of the roster, the Toreros have the most experienced squad, a coach in Hank Egan who has a proven track record with maturing teams, and several good recruits.

Returners include Pat Holbert, a 46% three-point shooter, and Wayman Strickland at the guard spots and shot-blocking center Dondi Bell. Junior Kelvin Woods started 13 games last season and Anthony Thomas four. They will split time at one forward.

To that list Egan has added swingman Michael Brown and 6-8 Reed Watson, both highly regarded transfers from Mesa Community College in Arizona and potential starters, and an assistant, Jack Avina, who was head coach at Portland for 17 years. The Toreros believe this group is ready to contend for the next two seasons. SANTA CLARA 1989-90 record: 9-19, 6-8. 1989-90 finish: Fifth.

With the only veteran true center in the league in 7-foot-1 junior Ron Reis, the Broncos should be a factor. Carroll Williams, the dean of WCC coaches starting his 28th season, is coming off a rare losing season in which the Broncos had so many injuries, there were 10 different starting combinations just at guard. There’s not a senior on the roster. Point guard Melvin Chinn and part-time starter LaCoby Phillips should provide a stable backcourt. Talented junior Rhea Taylor is a potential star at forward but has been injury prone. Though Williams is wary of freshmen, he may start forward Andy Karich, his prize recruit from Santa Ana Mater Dei.

At the start of last season, Reis was getting more publicity for his hobbies of skateboarding and Go-Karting and his announced intention of becoming a professional wrestler than for his game. Now the talk is of a future in basketball as Reis led the conference in shooting and managed to haul his (announced) 285 pounds around fast enough for 30 points and 10 rebounds against Loyola.

“If I (forecast a winner) today I’d pick Santa Clara. They’ve got the most dominating guy,” Asbury said. U. SAN FRANCISCO 1989-90 record: 8-20, 4-10. 1989-90 finish: Sixth (tie).

The Dons could be one of several sleepers in the conference, thanks to Jim Brovelli’s best recruiting class since USF reinstituted basketball. Only two key lettermen return--forward James Bell and swingman Scott McWhorter--but Brovelli figures his team will rebound better than last season’s and has better athletes.

A resurgence may depend on 6-6 Darryl Johnson, who led the nation’s junior colleges with 17 rebounds a game last season, and freshman point guard Orlando Smart, who will start. In their first exhibition against an Australian team, Johnson got 27 points and 25 rebounds. PORTLAND 1989-90 record: 11-17, 7-7. 1989-90 finish: Fourth.

Last season’s most improved team, the Pilots have three starters back and have added several big men. How ready is Coach Larry Steele? Over the summer he had corrective heart surgery on a Friday and was back to work Monday.

To go with veterans Ron Deaton, Erik Spoelstra and freshman of the year Matt Houle, Steele added three center-forwards, among them 6-9 Australian Leigh Wadeson--who was also recruited by Indiana--and Nebraska player of the year Mike Mueller. Steele also hopes for some help from 7-5 senior Greg Ritter, a 28-year-old redshirt who has played 17 minutes of organized ball. GONZAGA 1989-90 record: 8-20, 3-11. 1989-90 finish: Eighth.

The Bulldogs will have a new look, and not just because there won’t be a McPhee on the roster for the first time in a decade. Where the team has traditionally been plodding and methodical, Coach Dan Fitzgerald is injecting “quick” and “up-tempo” instead.

Two starters are back, one of them point guard Jamie Dudley, whose main target will be 6-7 forward Eric Brady, a transfer from Washington who was voted team captain even though he redshirted last season. Fitzgerald hopes for more offense from three-point shooter Jarrod Davis and a rare inner-city recruit, guard Kenny Davis from Gardena Serra. ST. MARY’S 1989-90 record: 7-20, 4-10. 1989-90 finish: Sixth (tie).

The Gaels remain a mystery in Paul Landreaux’s second go-round, because he cleaned house and stocked up on junior college transfers after inheriting a woeful team last season.

Forwards John Levitt and Eric Bamberger are among the three lettermen. Ask for a projected starting lineup if you really want to hear peals of laughter from the athletic department.