LONG BEACH STATE NOTEBOOK / JASON REID : Ligament Damage Forces Cotton to Sit Awhile

Among the scenarios coaches most fear is losing a top player because of an injury during an exhibition game. Unfortunately for Long Beach State, men’s basketball Coach Seth Greenberg now has experienced it firsthand after an ankle injury suffered by sophomore guard James Cotton.

Cotton, Big West Conference freshman of the year last season, probably will miss several weeks because he severely sprained his left ankle late in the team’s 96-82 victory over the Mexican national team Friday night at The Gold Mine. Cotton, who scored a team-high 20 points, landed awkwardly after making an acrobatic layup.

“When I first saw it, I just knew it was broken,” said James Cotton Sr. “The way it was bent inward, it looked really bad.”

Initial X-rays revealed no breaks. After two subsequent examinations, Cotton learned Monday that he tore ligaments in the ankle. His ankle will be placed in a cast today and replaced on Friday with another one that he will wear two weeks, Cotton said.

Doctors want Cotton to undergo an MRI, but he can’t until the swelling around his ankle decreases. He received therapy Monday for two hours at school.

“I’m trying to take my mind off of it,” Cotton said. “We’re just going to see what happens, but it seems like it’s going to be awhile for me right now.”

Cotton, who averaged 11.4 points and 4.2 rebounds a season ago, said he would consider being a redshirt this season if sidelined more than a month.

“It would have to be an option,” Cotton said. “If I was out for that long, then the chemistry on the team would already be built. It would be tough for me to come back with all the guys having everything established.”

Cotton’s absence, no matter how brief, will have a major impact on the 49ers’ lineup. At 6 feet 6 and 205 pounds, Cotton is one of the team’s best athletes and scorers. He is expected to be the focal point of the offense.

If healthy, Cotton, the 49ers’ starting shooting guard, probably would play about 35 minutes a game. Now that those minutes must go elsewhere, the coaching staff is forced to tinker with several possible lineups, Greenberg said.

“Obviously, you don’t want these things to happen,” Greenberg said. “But it’s such a long season that these things are going to happen.

“We have some good players, and someone is going to have to step up.”

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Bumps, bruises and more: Few things come without a price, and the women’s volleyball team is already paying for winning its fourth consecutive Big West Conference championship last week.

Several key players who would have been better off resting injuries last week were unable to take a break because of the close conference race. Sophomore defensive specialist Shawnee Hayes (right knee), freshman outside hitter Kristin Harris (groin pull) and senior defensive specialist Prentice Perkins (right shoulder) all are feeling the effects of a long season.

The NCAA tournament begins Nov. 30. Based on past accomplishments, the defending national champion 49ers probably have many matches left. Understandably, Coach Brian Gimmillaro is somewhat concerned.

“These are more than nagging injuries,” said Gimmillaro, whose team is 22-5 and ranked sixth in the nation by Volleyball Monthly.

“We have some people out there who probably shouldn’t have been playing. The key to our team is movement in all facets of the game, and we have some key people limited because of health.”

Still, visiting Long Beach had enough to defeat No. 12 USC, 15-10, 15-12, 15-13, Friday.

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Problems everywhere: The season is still almost two months away, yet men’s volleyball Coach Ray Ratelle sees nothing but problems throughout his team. No matter the position, Ratelle faces tough questions.

Most coaches, however, would eagerly welcome Ratelle’s, ah, hardship.

“Our problem is that we’ve got a lot of good players,” Ratelle said. “We’ve got so many good kids with no place to play.

“We’ve got 12 solid kids. We’d like to get a set lineup, but it’s hard because so many of the kids do things so well. It’s a good problem for (the coaches) but it’s not good for the kids.”

Ratelle hopes the abundance of talent will help the 49ers regain their place among the nation’s elite programs. Long Beach won the 1991 NCAA championship and lost the ’90 title game. Last season, though, the team slipped to 13-15, 7-12 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Six newcomers, including four talented freshmen, have Ratelle feeling good, his problem notwithstanding.

“We’ll definitely be top 10,” said Ratelle, whose team opens the season Jan. 20 at the UC Santa Barbara Classic. “We’ve got a lot of kids who do certain things well, but we’ll play the kids with the most complete packages.”

Junior middle blocker Tom Hoff is the only player guaranteed a starting position. Everything else, Ratelle said, is up for grabs.

49er Notes

The men’s golf team took 13th place at the University of Texas Arlington Classic. Thomas Hunt finished with the lowest individual score (147). . . . The water polo team’s nightmarish season, wrecked by injuries and ineligibility, ended Saturday with an 8-7 loss at Pepperdine. The team finished 5-19, 0-8 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. . . . The women’s basketball team lost an exhibition game to ELK Estonia, a team from Lithuania, 75-64, Sunday. Senior center Melissa Gower scored a game-high 24 points for Long Beach. . . . The men’s basketball team did well in the early signing period (Nov. 9-16), receiving letters of intent from three players: Compton College sophomore forward Marcus Johnson (6-8), Long Beach Wilson High forward Michael Batiste (6-8) and Lynwood High forward D’Cean Bryant (6-6). . . . About 400 tickets remain for the men’s opener against Detroit Mercy in The Pyramid on Nov. 30.