Chapman Men Hope to Rule Road; Women’s Optimism Guarded

Chapman men’s basketball Coach Mike Bokosky’s toughest recruiting job has nothing to do with finding players to fill his roster. Bokosky says he spends more time hunting down opponents to fill the Panthers’ schedule.

As an NCAA Division III independent, Chapman lacks a conference and therefore has a difficult time finding games during January and February.

“The hardest thing is putting together a balanced schedule,” Bokosky said. “Everyone wants to play you in November and December. We could play two-thirds of our season in the first month, but I don’t want to do that.”

So Bokosky set up a schedule that is out of the ordinary. Chapman will play only seven of its 25 games at home. Including the Chapman tournament last week, the Panthers play at the Hutton Center three times before Jan. 31.

But Bokosky says he isn’t worried his team will be at a disadvantage because the Panthers are playing many of their road games at neutral sites. Chapman is entered in four tournaments other than its own.

A closer look at the Panthers and the three other Orange County small college teams:

Chapman

1995-96: 14-11

Jim Falletta, the Panthers’ leading scorer and rebounder last season, will take a seat on the bench as an assistant coach, but Chapman shouldn’t lack go-to players.

Senior guards Toby Curto, a four-year starter, and Pete Sverkos have proven offensive abilities. Curto averaged 14.6 points and Sverkos averaged 13.4 last season.

The rest of the lineup is more uncertain. Bokosky says he is looking to have a point guard, a post player and the next three best players on the court at any given time. Three new players, freshman Brady Bergeson, sophomore Brian Johnson and junior Wayemon Powell, will vie for playing time at the point, giving the Panthers flexibility they lacked last season.

Derek Mitchell, a sophomore guard, Norman Coulter, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, and Aaron Aguilera, a 6-4 senior forward, were reserve players last season and could become more than role players.

Several newcomers are expected to contribute. Corey Klinke, a 6-7 junior who played for the Panthers two seasons ago, is back after taking a year off to work. Billy Williams, a 6-6 junior who went to Kennedy High, transferred from a community college in Arizona. Mark Weitala, a 6-9 senior from Encinitas, decided to finish his college career at Chapman after taking several seasons off.

With 10 new players on a 16-man squad, Bokosky is probably going to have to do some tinkering. But he is hopeful this is the team that will earn Chapman’s first NCAA Division III playoff berth in men’s basketball.

“But I thought last year’s team was the one, that’s how naive I am,” Bokosky said. “I like our team. I like our players. I like their work ethic, but I think if you talk to any coach across the nation right now, you would hear the same thing. You never really know until you play a few games and things settle out.”

Concordia

1995-96: 20-10, 9-5 in the Golden State Athletic Conference

The Eagles were picked to finish seventh in the conference coaches’ poll largely because four outstanding players finished their eligibility. Coach Greg Marshall says center Pharoah Jones, forward Jeff Putnam, off-guard Tarik James and point guard Danny Barajas were among the best at their positions that he has coached in his seven seasons at Concordia.

Marshall is confident, however, that the Eagles will still be competitive. Guards Rick Haywood and Jamie Jaquez each averaged about 10 points last season and 6-7 forward Greg O’Hagan averaged six.

Four newcomers are expected to contribute immediately--freshmen Akrum Alrahib and Josh Giles and junior transfers Kalim Scott and Jeff Rutter.

Alrahib, a 6-6 center, averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds for Arcadia High. Giles, a guard, was a first-team All-Southern Section pick at Glendora High. He led the state in three-pointers made with 113 and helped Glendora advance to the section final, where it lost to Mater Dei.

Scott, a 6-6 forward, averaged 17 points and eight rebounds for City College of San Francisco and Rutter, a 6-3 forward from Whittier Christian, averaged 14 points for Cypress College last season.

Pacific Christian

1995-96: 14-20, 4-4 in the California Coastal Conference

The California Coastal Conference disbanded after last season, leaving PCC without many of its traditional opponents. That means the Royals, who are now an NAIA Division II independent, have a much tougher schedule than they have had before.

Fortunately for PCC, the team has been strengthened by Coach Glenn Snyder’s ability to provide some athletic scholarship money for the first time. That helped attract several strong newcomers to go with four returning starters.

Most notably the Royals have added two freshmen from Curacao, an island nation off the northwest coast of Venezuela. Axel Margaritha is a 6-10 center and Steve James is a 6-7 center/forward.

Matt Stricker, a freshman guard from Colorado, David Moriarty, a freshman forward from Visalia and Scott Williams, a sophomore who played at Southern California Christian High, also should contribute.

Charles Henderson, who averaged 21 points last season, Roger Traynham (15.2 points), Matt Prince (11.1) and Jeff Rick (10.3) are the returning starters.

SCC

1995-96: 20-12, 9-5 in the Golden State Athletic Conference

Southern California College exceeded expectations last season, tying for second in the conference with Concordia, but this season expectations are higher. The Vanguards were picked for second in the preseason conference coaches’ poll. Coach Bill Reynolds warns that with only one returning starter and three other players, he and his staff are basically starting from scratch.

“I’m a firm believer that experience helps a lot,” Reynolds said.

Even so, Reynolds is more optimistic than he has been before the last few seasons, largely because the 10 new players have a lot of talent and potential.

The addition of point guard Adam Dzierzynski, who started two seasons at Chapman before taking a year off to travel, is especially good news for SCC. Dzierzynski, a former Santa Margarita High standout, will pick up the pace of Vanguards’ offense.

Three other local standouts should also make an immediate impact. Justin McIntee, a 6-3 guard from Newport Harbor, transferred from Biola. Terence Wilborn, a 6-6 forward from Mater Dei, transferred from San Jose State and Rod Scheuerman, a 6-4 forward from Tustin High, transferred from Golden West College.

Eric Walker, a 6-4 forward and the only returning starter, averaged 13 points last season.

One team weakness is perimeter shooting and Reynolds hopes that senior Jeff Rose and Scott Davis, a transfer from Fullerton College, will help fill a void left by the graduation of all-conference forward Kevin Carlson.