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SoCalHoops College News

CCAA Media Day News:
CSUSB & UC Riverside--(Oct. 27, 1999)

We were invited to attend the CCAA Media Day luncheon with the Division II coaches from the CCAA (California Collegiate Athletic Association) which was held this past Monday at the LA Athletic Club, and it's not that we didn't want to be there, but we were detained elsewhere on business (yes, we do have a life outside of basketball, much to our own chagrin. . . but that's another story). So we had to rely on the next best thing, which in this case is traditional media reports of the event. Our friends out in the Inland Empire area alerted us to two articles today which appeared in the local newspapers, specifically the San Bernardino County Sun, and even more specifically two very informative articles about two Division II two teams in the conference, Cal State San Bernardino and UC Riverside. CSUB is well entrenched in D-II, at least for now, and UC Riverside is moving up next season to D-I (possibly to the WAC or Big West), and CSUB is also making noises about possibly moving to D-I.

The full text of the two articles from the Sun can be found at the Sun's website, at this link. For the sake of archiving the information though, because we're not certain that the pages will remain at the same link location in perpetuity, we've set forth the text of each article below. If you are within the print circulation area of the San Bernardino County Sun, by all means, go out and buy the paper; spend the quarter and support the writers, because goodness knows they don't earn enough. And if you can't buy the print version, at least visit their website and support their advertisers. Without them, there wouldn't be articles such as those below.

Ok, that's the end of the shameless plug for the paper, and the proper attribution of these two stories. Again, they are written by Sun staff sportswriter Chris Wiley, and appeared in today's edition of the paper. Here they are:

Coyotes are now the hunted
After advancing to NCAA Division II Elite Eight last year, Cal State San Bernardino's men's basketball team is picked second in the CCAA.
CHRIS WILEY
San Bernardino County Sun
Published Oct. 27, 1999

LOS ANGELES Last season, the Cal State San Bernardino men's basketball team was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The Coyotes, picked to finish ninth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association coaches poll, took a bite out of most of the conference, finishing second to UC Davis with a 23-8 overall record, and a 16-6 conference mark, and making it to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

This year, the Coyotes find themselves on the other end of the hunt before the season even starts. Despite losing four starters, Cal State was picked to finish second in the coaches poll that was announced at CCAA media day Monday at the L.A. Athletic club. Too bad they can't play the season on paper, Coyote's coach Larry Reynolds said. "I wish the season could end today," said Reynolds, who is in his third year with Cal State. "When we were picked ninth last year, I went back and told the players not to put much focus on that, let's use it to show people what we're about. "After this year's picks, I'm going to go back and tell them that we've already had a great season. We don't need to play any more games."

All joking aside, Cal State is going to be hard pressed to repeat last year's performance. The Coyote's have one starter, point guard Jimmy Alapag, returning and a lot of question marks beyond that. Cal State will have to figure out how to replace the scoring of Phil Johnson, Tarron Williams and Ty Gordon. Johnson, a first team all-CCAA pick last season, led the Coyotes in scoring and was fourth in the conference, while Williams was third on the team in scoring and Gordon was fourth.

That translates to 32 points per game the Coyotes have to replace. Combine that with Cal State's newfound stature as one of the conference's top teams, and it's no wonder Reynolds is feeling like the target in a fox hunt. "It's a lot different from going into a season where no one expects you to do anything," said Reynolds, who was voted the CCAA coach of the year last season. "We're going to have to be ready to play every night.

"Part of our success last year was that nobody really thought about us until late in the season. We had an opportunity to sneak up on some people. Being picked No.2 obviously puts the spotlight on you." Alapag is expected to excel for the Coyotes as the quarterback of the offense. The 5-foot-9 senior who was third in the conference with 4.71 assists per game last season, was second on the team in scoring with 11.3 points. "We're counting on Jimmy to be a leader." Reynolds said. "He's the key to how our offense runs, and he'll have to help the new players make the transition."

Cal State women's coach Kevin Becker might resemble a mad scientist, working on a secret experiment, seeing as how he has described his team's early practices as Chemistry 101. "We've been working on different combinations the past week," said Becker, who is in his fourth season as the Coyotes' coach. "We're trying to find out who can play together.

"Finding the right ingredients won't be easy. The Coyotes, who finished 10th in the 11-team conference with a 10-17 overall record and a 5-15 conference mark, have only two players returning from last year's squad. The Coyotes are picked to finish ninth in the CCAA coaches poll. However, Becker said that while Cal State may take its lumps, it also will give some.

"I think we'll be more athletic," Becker said. "Our greatest strength is that we'll have some players who can play several positions."

UCR gears for CCAA swan song
CHRIS WILEY
San Bernardino County Sun
Published Oct. 27, 1999

LOS ANGELES This is the final season for the UC Riverside men's and women's basketball teams as members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Next season, both teams will move up to Division I and play as an independent for the 2000-01 season. "This is my 30th year in the CCAA," UCR men's coach John Masi said. "I have fond memories. I started as a player in 1969, when the conference had about five or six schools. For it to have grown the way it has is a tremendous accomplishment." UC San Diego will join the conference next season.

The UCR men's and women's teams will be ineligible to win the conference championship this season because of the move, which takes some of the pressure off, Masi said. "It's a good year for us in terms of not having to win the conference, though we'll make every attempt to do that." Masi said. "We don't have to put any pressure on our players, we just have to try to gain some experience." Masi said that because of the move to Division I, the Highlanders' recruiting is in a state of flux.

"Once we have an affiliation with a conference, then we'll be able to upgrade our recruiting," Masi siad. "Right now, a player wants to go where he can play on the Division I level and in a conference."

Being a DivisionII school, UCR hasn't been able to offer the number of scholarships DivisionI schools can, so getting the quality of athletes to compete on the Division I level is a big part of the transition, UCR women's coach Jennifer Young said. "It will take a five-year increment to get that type of money, but we're still not offering full rides." Young said. "We still don't have Division I athletes. We're trying to get them in slowly, but it's a building process, and this is the year for us to really get a foundation going for next year."

"TO BE MISSED:

Cal State San Bernardino men's coach Larry Reynolds said he will miss having the Highlanders in the conference. UCR, about 25 miles away from Cal State, was a natural rival. Also, Masi coached Reynolds when Reynolds was on the UCR freshman team in the early 1970s. Masi was an assistant when Reynolds was on the varsity squad. "It's great for them to make that move," Reynolds said. "I hate to lose the rivalry, but personally it will be a lot easier for me to enjoy UCR basketball now."

"RECRUITING WARS:

UCR isn't the only school that has to be concerned about recruiting. When the CCAA expanded from seven to 12 schools last year, it increased the competition among schools for top players. "It makes things a little tougher," Reynolds said. "But there are enough players in the region that if we do our job, we should be able to compete with both schools in the conference."

For Cal State women's coach Kevin Becker, recruiting takes on a different twist. "With men, the concern is usually where they can go to get playing time." Becker said. "Women's priorities remain education, who's got their major, where you can go after you graduate, things like that.

"With so many teams in the conference, everybody brings something different to the table. There are so many different reasons to go somewhere."