SoCalHoops College News

More On SDSU:  Coach Trenkle
& Team Prospects--(Nov. 15, 1998)

The following is actually a collection of several articles, all of them culled from the pages of the San Diego Union-Tribune, which this year, unlike last, has just incredibly in-depth coverage of the San Diego State Aztecs.  If you haven't visited their site, you should do so; even if you haven't, you should immediately run out and buy a copy of the paper, because they've dramatically improved their college and prep coverage. Very informative.

The question surprised Fred Trenkle, and that it came up in the first few homes he visited this recruiting season threw San Diego State's men's basketball coach for a loss of words. Which is like saying Brando suddenly forgot how to act. "It was amazing," said Trenkle. "That's the first time it has happened since I've been here, the first time someone asked me about the status of my contract. I know the situation here. I know what I was asked to do when I got here. That was to graduate kids and keep them out of trouble and do the very best we could until we got the arena. By God, if I didn't follow that from A to Z, nobody did."

The Aztecs on Saturday afternoon at 4 in Cox Arena open their fifth season under Trenkle, against Nevada, and it is not a stretch to say this is a critical year for everyone involved. SDSU is about to begin its second season under the roof of its on-campus, facility and the promise of a roster defined by eight true freshmen has inspired what is traditionally, at best, an indifferent basketball community in terms of support.

You can make an argument -- a good one, in fact -- that no Division I basketball coach the past four seasons has done more with less than Trenkle. There were some tremendous coaching jobs in the West last season, from Rick Majerus at Utah to Mike Montgomery at Stanford to Bob Bender at Washington. But if you base the evaluation on talent alone, on what kind of ability a team had the potential to show up with each night, a 13-15 finish by SDSU was amazing. The Aztecs had eight able bodies for most games and a few had no business playing such crucial roles at this level.

"I have never walked off the floor and felt myself and my assistants had been outcoached," said Trenkle. "I'm sorry. I haven't. Now, we've been out-talented a heck of a lot of times, but to say we weren't prepared and that the other guy made us look bad . . . no way." The talent part is expected to change with this current group of newcomers, nine strong and all bringing ability to the court. But it is also continuity that some school officials seek for the program, an ability to keep players in uniform for the duration of their careers. Trenkle has done what no SDSU coach could in the 1980s, which is graduate players. He has run a clean program without the kind of embarrassing citizenship problems that have at times soiled the football team's image.

But nine players have left in four years, whether for academic troubles or by transferring to another program or for other personal reasons. There are few programs nationally without some sort of attrition, but the feeling is that unless the majority of players remain Aztecs until their eligibility expires, the team will struggle to move forward.   "I think the challenge is to keep this team together through the first year and have everyone want to come back," said SDSU athletic director Rick Bay. "It's a young team. They're going to have their ups and downs and lose their share of games. But if they're exciting and somewhat capture the imagination of the general public and the promise is still there at the end of the season, it will have been a successful year."

Translation: There is no magic number in terms of wins, but it is vital that the Aztecs put more people in the seats. Trenkle said that during his 10 years at Southern Idaho Junior College, where he compiled a 329-34 record, he worked on one-year contracts. Trenkle has two years remaining on his current SDSU deal and Bay has said he won't discuss the option of an extension until season's end. "Fred and I have discussed it, and that's how we will handle it," said Bay. "We will wait."

If there is such a thing as an impressive 51-61 record, it is Trenkle's at SDSU. You can't overstate how important talented youngsters hold the facility in which their college careers will play out, and recruiting to Peterson Gym and the Sports Arena was a tough sell.  Examples fly off those letters of intent that were never signed. There was Torraye Braggs and Terrell Woods, two stocky post men who could jump and had a nastiness to their play, talents who could have been All-WAC picks at SDSU. The two made their recruiting visit here together. Braggs went to Xavier, Woods to Oregon State. There was Pedrag Materic, a 6-6 shooting guard who backed up Ray Allen at Connecticut as a freshman before transferring. He was just about to commit to the Aztecs when he took a recruiting trip to Alabama-Birmingham. Bye-bye, Pedrag. There were more. Other factors -- academic requirements being one -- played a factor, but no one could deny the joke that was SDSU's home facility.

"I know Fred couldn't recruit anyone to Peterson Gym," said Bay. "Heck, if I would have seen my office before I was recruited here, I wouldn't have come. Seriously. I was actually on board when I saw it. If it hadn't been totally demeaning, I would have quit on the spot."

Trenkle has offered scholarships to 11 players since Cox Arena opened. Ten have accepted, including a junior college guard the team will sign in the next several days.

SDSU scored 104 points in an exhibition against High Five America last week, but that wasn't the most impressive number to come out of that game. Nor was it the 48 rebounds SDSU pulled down, or the 32 assists, or the field-goal percentage of 64. It was 2,068 . . . the number of people who showed up.

You can sense curiosity, even excitement among those watching. SDSU was last invited to the NCAA Tournament in 1985 and there are, believe it or not, several faithful starving for another March trip. It likely won't happen this year. Talent makes up for many mistakes, but you can't hide this much youth. Still, it is a different team and perhaps a different Trenkle. The past images are as clear as daylight. An early whistle. A bad shot. A silly foul. The jacket coming off. The face turning red. The hollering. The pacing.

"If he didn't think we could be better players, he wouldn't yell," said senior guard Matt Watts. "That's what I have to get through to the freshmen. If you play through it, you get better. As long as he is hollering, I feel fine. If he stops, I'll get worried, because then maybe he doesn't think I can become a better player."

He won't stop, but he might temper his demeanor a bit. Improved skill allows for that. High Five in the second half last week went to a four-guard lineup against what was a bigger SDSU side. Trenkle in years past would have immediately countered with a few guards. But he didn't. He waited. He allowed the Aztecs to play through it and they did. Easily, in fact.

Trenkle last year could have been afforded 10 more timeouts per half and would have used all 10. If not for the mandatory ones, he might not have opted to stop play but for a few times against High Five. "Hey, when you start the Breeders' Cup an 80-1 shot and the horse loses, are you going to say the guy was a terrible trainer?" asked Trenkle. "Talent can take you to the top. These kids are going to get better and we'll eventually have an extremely good basketball team here. We make kids better. You can be a great player and go places where you'll never get better.

"I don't know what stability is and I don't think you need a five-year or 10-year contract to have it. I guess it would be nice to have one, but it doesn't bother me not to. We want to win here. I want us at the top of the conference, but with kids who want to graduate, be good citizens and get better on the court.

"We're not going to cut corners and recruit a bunch of criminals. We've had the chance to get those kids and didn't. Other (WAC) schools took some of them and won a lot of games, but those kids caused a lot of problems in their community.

"So, you pick your poison."

Last season The Aztecs overachieved in finishing 13-15 and advancing to the WAC tournament, despite only having eight players much of the year.

Style of play:  You will see a deeper, more athletic SDSU team than in past seasons, one capable of holding its own on the boards against bigger opponents and having enough talented substitutes to adapt to different tempos. The Aztecs again will run their passing game and set their picks, but will likely take much better shots this season, a testament to the improved skill. It is a team that must improve on its free-throw percentage (66) of last year, keep the few big men it has out of foul trouble and become better at
defending off the dribble.

Did you know? SDSU freshmen David Abramowitz, Myron Epps and Vince Okotie have all been tabbed as the WAC newcomer of the year by different preseason magazines.

Games to watch: 

Nov. 24 vs. Utah State. The Aggies made the NCAA field last year, but lost some key starters and have a new coach in former Colorado State boss Stew Morrill. Still, a very good test for a young SDSU team trying to make a name for itself.

Dec. 19 vs. USD. The local rivalry that really isn't one right now resumes.

Jan. 16 vs. Utah. Rick Majerus and his Final Four Utes visit Cox Arena for the first time.

Feb. 8 vs. New Mexico. SDSU makes its debut on ESPN's Big Monday against Kenny Thomas and the Lobos.

Key stat:

Nine of SDSU's 13 players are new, which means a lot of learning by those playing games and even more and patience from those
watching.

If everything breaks right :

The lower half of the WAC's Pacific Division is there for the taking and SDSU certainly is athletic enough to finish as high as fourth or fifth and return to the WAC tournament. League road victories will be critical for such a young team.

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