Medal-Heavy Rudic Replaces Vargas as U.S. National Water Polo Coach

John Vargas, who recently withdrew his name from contention for the job, has been replaced by Ratko Rudic as coach of the U.S. men’s national team.

Rudic, who coached Yugoslavia and Italy to Olympic gold medals, will work for U.S. Water Polo full time and also be national program director with Guy Baker, who will return as coach of the women’s national team.

Vargas, a longtime coach at Corona del Mar High who was a member of the committee that recommended Rudic for the job, said he wanted to spend more time at home and with his high school teams.

“Coaching at the national level is a huge commitment in time,” he said. “There was a lot of traveling in the last year, and I was away from home a lot. They also changed the parameters of the job. I wanted to continue coaching at Corona del Mar.”

The U.S. team finished sixth under Vargas at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Vargas also was an assistant coach at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Rudic guided Yugoslavia to Olympic gold medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He also coached Italy to the gold medal in 1992 and the bronze in ’96.

JURISPRUDENCE

The attorney who formerly represented the guardian of Villa Park student Martin Iti filed a petition Tuesday that seeks to give the attorney custody of the teenage boy.

Attorney Ronald E. Lais filed the petition in Orange County Superior Court in hopes that Iti, a 6-foot-11 basketball player, will be taken from the residence of Courtney Rosegreen of Orange and placed temporarily with Lais.

A hearing is expected in about 30 days, Lais said.

Lais said he would like Iti eventually to reside with another family while he completes his education at Villa Park.

Lais, who last week filed a child abuse report with local law enforcement agencies against Rosegreen, represented Rosegreen last summer in a custody battle against Iti’s Australian mother.

BASKETBALL

Two basketball players at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga are planning to transfer to Cal State Fullerton and play next season for the Titan men’s team, Chaffey Coach Nerses Kopalyan said.

The players are 6-foot-10 forward Pape Sow and 6-4 guard Franck Essis. Sow is from Dakar, Senegal, and is a friend of current Titan player Babacar Camara. Essis played at Canarcie High in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“Essis is averaging about 22 points and seven rebounds a game for us this season,” Kopalyan said. “He’s 220 pounds and is very strong and physical. Pape is averaging about 12 points a game, but he’s had some problems with his back this season.”

Chaffey has an 11-8 record.

The Fullerton men’s basketball program has been restricted from giving athletic aid to community college transfers under terms of its NCAA probation, but that penalty is scheduled to be lifted after Nov. 30.

Chris Alexander, a senior at L.A. Price High, signed with Fullerton during the early signing period.

SOCCER

Cal State Fullerton’s Duncan Oughton, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation player of the year in men’s soccer last season, has been selected to play in the Umbro Select All-Star Classic in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Feb. 1-4.

The event features the nation’s top male and female college seniors.

Oughton set a Titan school record for goals with 41 in his career.

FACILITIES

An expansion of Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gym has been approved and construction is expected to begin in May, according to Jay Bond, the university’s associate vice president for facilities management.

The expansion will add another gymnasium and more faculty offices and meeting rooms. It also will add about 1,000 bleacher seats to the main gymnasium, increasing capacity to about 4,500.

The cost of the project is estimated at $18 million, Bond said. He said the university will begin taking bids this spring.

SWIMMING

Bruce Hopping of Laguna Beach will receive the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Assn. trophy March 23 at the group’s national convention in College Station, Texas.

The honor is presented each year in recognition of a contribution to swimming.

Topping, 79, founded the Kalos Kagathos Foundation, which has organized and funded international aquatic symposiums and foreign exchanges between high school students and coaches from more than 26 countries.

BASEBALL

The Orange County NewsChannel cable station will televise 15 Cal State Fullerton baseball games live this season. The station will carry two games from the Titans’ first weekend series at home against Stanford on Feb. 2 and Feb. 4.